Earth ChangesS


Snowflake

Flashback Arctic summers will be ice-free 'by 2013'

Jonathan Amos
BBC News
Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:20 UTC
ice sheet
© BBC NewsThe US NSIDC monitors Arctic sea ice extent on a five-day mean. The 16 September 2007 record low falls below the previous minimum set on 20-21 September 2005, by an area roughly the size of Texas and California combined, or nearly five UKs.
Scientists in the US have presented one of the most dramatic forecasts yet for the disappearance of Arctic sea ice.

Their latest modelling studies indicate northern polar waters could be ice-free in summers within just 5-6 years.

Professor Wieslaw Maslowski told an American Geophysical Union meeting that previous projections had underestimated the processes now driving ice loss.
Read More...
Ice Cube

Best of the Web: Ice Age cometh: Record return of Arctic ice cap as it grows by 60% in a year; top scientists warn of global cooling

David Rose
Daily Mail UK
Sun, 08 Sep 2013 00:42 UTC
A chilly Arctic summer has left nearly a million more square miles of ocean covered with ice than at the same time last year - an increase of 60 per cent. The rebound from 2012's record low comes six years after the BBC reported that global warming would leave the Arctic ice-free in summer by 2013.

Instead, days before the annual autumn re-freeze is due to begin, an unbroken ice sheet more than half the size of Europe already stretches from the Canadian islands to Russia's northern shores. The Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific has remained blocked by pack-ice all year. More than 20 yachts that had planned to sail it have been left ice-bound and a cruise ship attempting the route was forced to turn back.

Some eminent scientists now believe the world is heading for a period of cooling that will not end until the middle of this century - a process that would expose computer forecasts of imminent catastrophic warming as dangerously misleading.

The disclosure comes 11 months after The Mail on Sunday triggered intense political and scientific debate by revealing that global warming has 'paused' since the beginning of 1997 - an event that the computer models used by climate experts failed to predict.
icesheet

Comment: This comes as no surprise to SOTT's regular readers since we've been disputing so-called global warming for years. Here's just a few recent articles to add to the mix:

Ice delays supply barge for Western Arctic communities
Tom Coburn: I'm a 'man of science' and the Earth is moving into a 'mini-ice age'
Record cold in parts of Alaska
South American countries gripped by snow

Read More...
Heart - Black

41 Zimbabwe elephants poisoned with cyanide in worst national case ever


globalpost.com
Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:20 UTC
Police in Zimbabwe arrest 6 men accused of poisoning watering holes frequented by elephants for $120,000 worth of ivory.

Image
© MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty ImagesAn African elephant and her baby are pictured on November 17, 2012 in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe
Police in Zimbabwe arrested six men accused of using cyanide to poison elephants on Friday, according to local media reports.

Authorities recovered about $120,000 worth of ivory from 17 tusks, the Zimbabwe Chronicle reported.

The men stood accused of lacing watering holes frequented by the elephants.

"What they were doing is very cruel because it does not end with the death of the elephants," Chief Inspector Muyambirwa Muzzah told the Chronicle.

"We have what we call the fourth generation effect due to the potency of cyanide as a poison. Animals that feed on the dead elephants will die, and those that feed on the dead animals will also die."

The elephants were found in the Hwange National Park after a ranger heard gunshots.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Vehicle swept down sinkhole in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario


SaultStar.com
Wed, 11 Sep 2013 13:14 UTC
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
© Ontario Provincial Police News PortalSault Ste. Marie, ON
Ontario Provincial Police News Portal [SAULT STE. MARIE] UPDATE - SEVERAL AREA ROADS CLOSED 2013-09-10

FLOODING AND WASHOUTS REPORTED

(Sault Ste. Marie, ON) - Due to the severe thunderstorms earlier this morning, the

Sault Ste. Marie Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police reported several road closures due to flooding and washouts.

A further washout has been reported on Goulais Mission Road at the 2400 block.
Read More...
Attention

100 Pilot whales beach in West Iceland


whalesandmarinefauna.wordpress.com
Mon, 09 Sep 2013 12:46 UTC
Image
September 9th, 2013. Up to 100 pilot whales swam into the harbor at Rif in Snæfellsnes, West Iceland, on Saturday. Attempts were made by local residents to direct the whales back out to sea but around ten whales died.

Around 200 people - both locals and tourists - gathered on the beach yesterday afternoon to view the dead whales, with some people cutting the meat from the carcasses to take home, ruv.is reports.

However, Róbert Arnar Stefánsson, biologist at the West Iceland Institute of Natural History, says that proper procedures were not followed when the whales drifted into the harbor.

Read More...
Question

Badgers in shock attack on walker and dog in North Wootton, United Kingdom


Wells Journal
Thu, 12 Sep 2013 11:13 UTC
Image
One man and his dog had a nasty surprise when badgers attacked them during an evening walk.

John Harvey, of North Wootton, was walking Dolly near his home when he was charged by one badger while another bit Dolly's tail.

Mr Harvey said: "It was quite scary at the time. It was just after dark. I regularly walk the dog at that time and I see badgers often. Usually they are 10 to 20 yards away and they are passive.

"But this time when we passed a storm drain a badger came out of it and charged straight towards us.

"It charged into me and I put the torch on it and gave it a kick. It ran between my legs.

"Then another badger came from the other side of the road and went for the dog. It bit her tail and she span round and growled at it.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Flash floods wash away homes, kill at least 2 near Boulder, Colorado

Alexander Smith and Matthew DeLuca
NBC News
Thu, 12 Sep 2013 10:19 UTC
Road closed due to flooding in Boulder County, Colo.
© 9News.comRoad closed due to flooding in Boulder County, Colo.
Torrential rain drenched parts of Colorado, washing away homes and causing at least two deaths as officials worked Thursday to evacuate towns and keep people out of the path of the rising water.

The National Weather Service described a "life-threatening situation" in an emergency message issued just after midnight local time for several areas around Boulder, where about 6.5 inches of rain fell in the last 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service.

The first death was reported near Jamestown, according to officials, and was thought to be because of a building collapse. The Colorado Springs Fire Department reported a second death on Thursday morning after a body was recovered near Interstate 25.

John Schulz , Public Information Officer of the Larimer County Sheriff's office in Colo., said a series of dams overflowed and one broke overnight, killing one, and threatening hundreds more.

Authorities found the second body while out patrolling in the I-25 area around 5:30 a.m. local time, Colorado Springs Fire Department spokeswoman Sunny Smaldino told NBC News affiliate KUSA.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

2 dead as flash flooding hits parts of Colorado


SunTimes.com
Thu, 12 Sep 2013 09:41 UTC
Lyons - Flash flooding in Colorado has left two people dead and the widespread high waters are keeping search and rescue teams from reaching stranded residents and motorists in Boulder and nearby mountain communities as heavy rains hammered northern Colorado on Thursday.

The National Weather Service warned of an "extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation" throughout the region as the flooding forced people from their homes, canceled classes and led to mudslides and rockslides in some areas.

"Move to higher ground now. Act quickly to protect your life," the Weather Service warned in numerous bulletins that went out throughout the morning.

Read More...
Fish

233,000 gallons of molasses spills into Honolulu Harbor causing fish kill

Tannya Joaquin
HawaiiNewsNow
Wed, 11 Sep 2013 19:11 UTC
Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

Honolulu - A massive molasses spill at Honolulu Harbor that Hawaii News Now first reported on Monday is killing fish and the State has no way to clean up the sticky substance.

The culprit was a faulty pipe that discharged 233 thousand gallons of molasses, or 1400 tons from a 16-hundred ton load meant for a California-bound Matson container ship. 24 hours after the massive spill, dead fish are popping up near Keehi Lagoon.

Boater Lexi Ray told us, "I've already seen tons and tons of the dead fish floating around."

Ray scooped a distressed eel out of the water with the bucket to save it, but the damage was done.

According to Gary Gill of the Department of Health, "There may be thousands of fish that have died from this spill so far."

We first spotted distressed fish near Pier 41 yesterday crowding the shore, gasping for air.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

'Unusual' outbreak hits New Jersey: Four foxes test positive for rabies

Joe Moszczynski
NewJersey.com
Wed, 11 Sep 2013 15:54 UTC
Fox
© Associated PressA fox wearily eyes the camera while out for a walk in this file photo.
Four foxes have tested positive for rabies in Stanhope, an unusual occurrence that has prompted health officials to urge residents to get their pets vaccinated immediately.

The rabies-infected animals were among five foxes that were destroyed by police and tested after they had charged two police officers and people walking their dogs in the vicinity of Lake Musconetcong.

One woman was bitten on both ankles and her dog was also bitten by a fox Wednesday on Musconetcong Road. Her dog was one of two that bitten last week, police said.

"This is unusual, four out of five is unusual. It's an anomaly" Sussex County health administrator Herb Yardley said.

"People need to have their animals vaccinated for rabies. Even pets that don't go outdoors. If they get out just once, they could be exposed," said Yardley, speculating that a single den of foxes could have been exposed in Stanhope after one of its members became rabid.
Read More...