Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

US: Hot weather forecast for Texas as battle against wildfires continues

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© Getty Images

Hot, dry weather returns to Texas this week, whisking away the limited relief scattered thunderstorms brought to firefighters in parts of the Lone Star state over the weekend.

In a trifecta of potentially bad news for fire crews, the Texas Forest Service said a low-pressure system will push temperatures into the 90s, humidity to 10% or less and winds up to 45 mph on Monday and Tuesday.

The conditions have prompted the National Weather Service to issue a red flag warning for a large portion of west Texas, urging residents to avoid the use of open flames and to avoid activities that may generate sparks.

Bizarro Earth

Quake shakes Acapulco, tourists to streets

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© Lalate
Acapulco, Mexico - A moderate earthquake shook the Mexican Pacific coast resort of Acapulco on Tuesday, forcing dozens of nervous spring vacationers into the streets. No damages or injuries were reported.

The magnitude-5.7 quake occurred at 6:07 a.m. local time (1107 GMT) and was centered about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero, the U.S. Geological Survey in Colorado reported on its website. It was followed by a magnitude-4.6 replica at 6:18 a.m. (1118 GMT), the agency said.

The quake occurred at a depth of nearly 13 miles (20 kilometers).

Cloud Lightning

U.S.: Extremely Dangerous Tornado Situation Today

An extremely dangerous outbreak of tornadoes will endanger many lives and property from northeastern Texas into Arkansas, northern Louisiana, northwestern Mississippi and western Tennessee this afternoon into tonight.

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These are the same areas that were just hit by tornadoes Monday afternoon and night, and today's outbreak is expected to be worse than Monday's. Large, long-track tornadoes are a major concern through tonight.

"It's a very dangerous day," said AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity. "It's the kind of day where tornadoes could cause massive destruction."

The Little Rock, Ark., area is at risk again after multiple tornadoes, including one large twister, just tore through Monday night.

Thunderstorms were starting to initiate over northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas around mid-afternoon and will continue developing and becoming more widespread and powerful into this evening.

The thunderstorms and tornado danger will reach the western Tennessee Valley by tonight, before shifting farther east through the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys Wednesday into Wednesday night.

Cloud Lightning

US: Missouri levee fails; prompting more evacuations

A compromised levee in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, failed Tuesday, forcing authorities to order more evacuations in the region.


The levee failed in at least four locations along a two-mile stretch along the Black River, City Manager Doug Bagby said.

The failure was sending flood waters from the Black River racing into a populated but rural area of Butler County, sparing the city of Poplar Bluff, said the city's deputy police chief, Jeff Rolland.

Attention

'The town's gone': Seven dead as storm slams Arkansas

50 to 60 still unaccounted for in Vilonia; trail of destruction 15 miles long, three miles wide


The National Weather Service says first light has revealed the track of a deadly tornado that flattened trees and power lines, tore the roofs from homes and left a debris-strewn path through a small central Arkansas town.

The tornado that swiped Vilonia late Monday killed at least four residents, while the severe storms sweeping much of the Midwest left at least three people dead elsewhere in the state.

Emergency crews are preparing to search for dozens of people still missing early Tuesday before more forecast storms strike the area in the afternoon.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe declared a state of emergency Monday night. So far this month, 14 people have died in storm-related incidents in the state.

Get the latest on this story, including user photos, on breakingnews.com

The suspected tornado that hit Vilonia left a path of damage three miles wide and 15 miles long, officials said. Between 50 to 80 houses were destroyed, according to Faulkner County emergency management.

Fish

More than 40 species of fish 'at risk of extinction' in Mediterranean due to pollution

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© Associated PressAt risk: The number of bluefin tunas in the Mediterranean is decreasing and they may be wiped out from the area completely

Bluefin tuna are among more than 40 species of fish in the Mediterranean which are under threat of vanishing from the region, experts warned today.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said 43 species of marine fish were assessed as being at risk of extinction in the region, largely as a result of overfishing, damage to habitat and pollution.

The latest assessment found almost half of the sharks and rays found in the Mediterranean are at risk of extinction.

In total, 15 species were considered to be in the highest-risk category, critically endangered, 14 of which were sharks and rays including all three angel shark species found in the region.

And commercial species such as Atlantic bluefin tuna and dusky groupers are endangered, the assessment found.

Species which fall into the three most at-risk categories in the Red List assessment - critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable to extinction - are considered to be under threat of dying out.

Cloud Lightning

US: Heavy rain and hail possible for North Texas tonight

The Easter bunny may need to take cover.

Forecasters have issued a tornado watch for most of North Texas until midnight as a cold front moves into the area bringing with it storms that will be packing damaging winds, large hail and heavy rains.

"These storms could produce tornadoes," said meteorologist Dan Shoemaker of the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth referring to the Sunday storms.

There's a 40 percent of thunderstorms today, and there are chances of rain on Monday and Tuesday.

North Texans could be in for gusty winds like the ones Saturday night.

National Weather Service officials said that 59 mile-per-hour winds hit Fort Worth late Saturday night. Other wind totals included the Dallas//Fort Worth Airport, 58 mph; Meacham Airport, 62 mph; and Addison, 58 mph.

Cloud Lightning

Ohio, US: More rain expected as region surpasses April record

Mostly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms likely throughout much of the day.

Sound familiar?

Once again, local residents experienced more rain Monday, adding to the April record of 11.32 inches set over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

The previous April record of 9.77 inches was set in 1998, and there are still five days remaining this month.

So far, this month has been the fifth-wettest in history and the area could break the all-time record of 13.86 set in January 1937, according to meteorologist Julie Reed.

Totals could approach 14 inches, Reed said, as heavy rains Tuesday night into Wednesday move in.

"It could be pretty volatile throughout the area into Wednesday evening," Reed said.

Cloud Lightning

Brazil: Dozen die in floods and landslides

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© Unknown
Landslides and floods in southern Brazil over the weekend are now known to have left a dozen people dead.

Some 40,000 people have been affected by the torrential rain and several hundred left homeless.

The authorities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul have declared a state of emergency in seven cities.

Among the dead were seven family members whose homes in the town of Igrejinha were buried by a landslide.

Radar

Series of five tremors off Maltese coast

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© Malta Tourism Authority
A series of five earth tremors, with the first occurring at around midnight, were felt in various localities in Malta yesterday, as reports of shaking and objects moving on the shelves reached this newspaper.

The first earthquake, of magnitude 3.5, occurred early this morning at around eleven minutes past midnight, about 37 km east of Malta. This was followed by other events at approximately the same location.

The next quake, of magnitude 3.3, occurred at 3:34am, then at 4:44am a third quake of magnitude 2.5 occurred. The next one was at around 6:39am, and of magnitude 3.5 and the final one happened at around 11.30am. Another tremor, the strongest at 4.0 on the richter scale was felt just after 3pm. The tremor was located at a depth of 2km in the sea 25km off Zabbar. It was also felt in Italy.