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Mon, 08 Nov 2021
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Odd animal behaviour: A beaver walks into a hardware store in Fairbanks, Alaska

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© Angelesa Ward
A beaver pauses in the middle of an aisle at the Lowe's store in Fairbanks, Alaska, Friday, May 15, 2015.
Sometimes driftwood just isn't enough, one beaver decided when it took an impromptu trip to Lowe's early Friday morning.

The beaver wandered into the parking lot of the Lowe's construction and home improvement store on the Johansen Expressway at about 7 a.m., triggering the automatic doors and strolling inside.

Once inside the store, the beaver made its way to the plumbing department, where store employees attempted to provide assistance to the wild animal.

A cellphone video of the incident shows employees asking the beaver if there is anything they can help it find in the store. However, the beaver — like many construction store shoppers — seemed to prefer to wander aimlessly through the store instead of asking for help.

One witness in the video observed that the beaver appeared to be injured.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill 7 in three districts of Bangladesh

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At least seven people, including two siblings, have been killed after being struck by lightning across Bangladesh, doctors and family members say.

Five of them were killed on Friday when parts of the country recorded rain accompanied by gusty winds and thunder.

Mobarak Hossain, 10, and his sister Jannatul Bakia, 8, were hit by lightning on Saturday morning in Chittagong's Banshkhali.

They died before they could be taken to Banshkhali Upazila Health Complex, doctors said.

In Magura, three people were killed by lightning on Friday evening, Sadar Hospital's emergency ward doctor Nasimul Hasan said.

The victims are 'Molin', 18, of Laxmipur village, 'Sindbad', 35, from Andolbarhia and 'Iadul', 80, from Gopalpur village.

Snowflake

8 inches of snow falls in May in Flagstaff, Arizona

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© National Weather Service
The National Weather Service office in Bellemont just west of Flagstaff had received 8.4 inches of snow from the storm through late Friday afternoon.
May is looking like March in Flagstaff -- and the National Weather Service in Bellemont is right in the middle of it.

The most recent storm to roll through the Flagstaff stalled over the Weather Service office early Friday, dumping more than 8 inches of snow into its gauge through 5 p.m.

"It's always good to see rain and snow this late in the season," said Brian Klimowski of the National Weather Service. "Every storm we get like this helps push back the onset of our fire season."

Meanwhile, just to the east, Flagstaff's Pulliam Airport recorded just 0.3 inches of snow along with a half-inch of rain.

The snow was coming down so fast early Friday morning that snowplows were dispatched to the I-40 and I-17 corridors.


Rainbow

Rare rainbow phenomenon 'circumhorizontal arc' appears in Tennessee sky

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© Wate.com
As you look up into the sky, you will see a different view each day. Many saw a fairly rare weather phenomenon Thursday called a circumhorizontal arc, which may look similar to a sun halo, but it's not the same thing.

A number of viewers sent in photos of the circumhorizontal arc, but many didn't understand what exactly was in the sky.

The sun refracts off of ice crystals in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds to form a spectrum-colored band. The arc was either in full or close to that Thursday, resulting in a well-defined spectrum-colored band running parallel to the horizon below the sun.

We also need a high sun angle, so the sunlight can hit the ice crystals at the needed angle or 58 degrees or more. Since our days are getting longer, we met that requirement and most of the viewer pictures were taken around midday.

Fire

Shake, rattle and explode: The planet is waking up

volcano
You may not have noticed, but our planet is becoming increasingly unstable. According to Volcano Discovery, 40 volcanoes around the globe are erupting right now, and only 6 of them are not along the Ring of Fire. If that sounds like a very high number to you, that is because it is a very high number. As I have written about previously, there were a total of 3,542 volcanic eruptions during the entire 20th century. When you divide that number by 100, that gives you an average of about 35 volcanic eruptions per year. So the number of volcanoes that are erupting right now is well above the 20th century's average for an entire calendar year. And of course we are witnessing a tremendous amount of earthquake activity as well. Nepal was just hit by the worst earthquake that it had seen in 80 years, and scientists are telling us that the Himalayas actually dropped by an astounding 3 feet as a result of that one earthquake. How much more does our planet have to shake before people start paying attention?

Of course the things that we have been seeing lately are part of a much larger long-term trend. Seismic activity appears to have been getting stronger over the past few decades, and now things really seem to be accelerating. The following is how one news source recently summarized what we have been witnessing...

Comment: For more information on what is behind the uptick in planetary activity see: Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection.


Bizarro Earth

Seismic tension continues to build in the Pacific Ring of Fire - alert status ongoing

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Seismic tension continues to mount in the volatile Pacific Ring of Fire, with a cluster of earthquakes now being reported in Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, as well as New Zealand. People in high-risk seismic regions should remain alert for the possible occurrence of moderate to large earthquake events.

Bizarro Earth

Guatemala's Fuego volcano becoming more active, officials warn of full-blown eruption

guatemala fuego volcano

Ash billowing from the Fuego volcano is seen from the Palin municipality, Escuintla departament, 40 km south of Guatemala City on February 13, 2015
Guatemala's Fuego volcano is becoming more active, belching out increasing amounts of smoke and ash, officials said on Friday.

Fearing a full-blown eruption of the volcano, located just 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital of Guatemala City, disaster officials warned that aircraft should exercise caution when flying over Fuego.

Conred, the national disaster coordination agency, said the volcano's eruptions could range in intensity from weak to moderate, and that columns of ash could reach 4,500 meters (15,000 feet) above sea level.

Authorities also warned that wind-borne ash particles could travel as far as 12 kilometers from the volcano, possibly causing respiratory and other health problems for some Guatemalans.

Comment: Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes increasing across the planet


Hardhat

Huge amount of oil leaking into Gulf of Mexico ten years after Hurricane Ivan toppled drilling rig

hurricane ivan
© AP Photo/John Bazemore
In this Sept. 16, 2004 photo, waves crash against a sailboat lodged under a bridge in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., after Hurricane Ivan struck the gulf coast. Federal regulators believe a persistent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that began after a drilling platform was toppled during Hurricane Ivan in 2004 will continue for 100 years or more if left unchecked.
For more than a decade, oil has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico where a hurricane toppled a drilling company's platform off the coast of Louisiana. Now the federal government is warning that the leak could last another century or more if left unchecked.

Government estimates obtained by The Associated Press provide new details about the scope of a leak that has persisted since Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

Taylor Energy Co., which owned the platform and a cluster of oil wells, has played down the extent and environmental impact of the leak. The company also maintains that nothing can be done to completely eliminate the chronic oil slicks that often stretch for miles off the Louisiana coast.

Taylor has tried to broker a deal with the government to resolve its financial obligations for the leak, but authorities have rebuffed those overtures and have ordered additional work by the company, according to Justice Department officials who were not authorized to comment by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

"There is still more that can be done by Taylor to control and contain the oil that is discharging" from the site, says an Interior Department fact sheet obtained by the AP.

Federal regulators suspect oil is still leaking from at least one of 25 wells that remain buried under mounds of sediment from an underwater mudslide triggered by waves whipped up by Hurricane Ivan.

Comment: Oil and gas drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico produce an extraordinary number of situations in which severe pollutants are produced and dispersed throughout the Gulf. The process of drilling and transport, refinement and utilization of the oil and gas creates multiple opportunities for pollutants, toxins, contaminants, poisons and chemicals to further pollution. Due to the deterioration of the environment in the GOM, fishing in the waters, swimming, and sunning on the beaches can no longer be done without risk. Even those who live at a distance can be affected by the Gulf's chemical profile as the regional hydrological cycle brings moisture and chemicals (remember acid rain) from the Gulf over their homes and businesses. Yet there seems to be nothing that will stop the endless drilling in sensitive areas and the refusal of the industry to take real responsibility for their actions which have caused so much devastation.

Gulf of Mexico dying from polluted and poisoned bioterrain, thanks to BigAg, Big Oil and BigPharma


Bizarro Earth

Fresh tremors in Nepal as 5.7 magnitude earthquake hits Kathmandu

A collapsed house in Nepal
© Athit Perawongmetha
A collapsed house during a landslide after Tuesday's earthquake at Singati Village in Nepal

A 5.7 magnitude earthquake has struck in Nepal, sending tremors across Bihar and parts of northern India
.

Buildings shook throughout the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar regions on Saturday, as the the US Geological Survey recorded a "shallow quake" about 76 km east south east of the capital Kathmandu.

Centering on Nepal, the quake is the third so far this month and lead to fresh panic among those trying to rebuild after an earthquake killed 8,000 people in April and leveled more than 250,000 homes throughout the region.

There has been no reports yet of deaths from this most recent quake, though at least 17 people are thought to have been killed in northern India.

Some 117 persons were killed, and more than 1000 were injured, when a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on May 12.

The quake shook neighbouring countries including India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.

Reuters

Fire

Little Bobtail Lake wildfire in British Columbia has burned over 32,000 acres, shows no sign of extinguishing

little bobtail lake fire, British columbia
© MODIS Rapid Response Team
The MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite captured this image of the Little Bobtail Lake fire in British Columbia, Canada.
The MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite captured this image of the Little Bobtail Lake fire in British Columbia, Canada. It is unclear how the fire started and was first spotted on Saturday, May 9. Since then the fire has grown significantly and has burned over 13,000 hectares (32,123 acres) and is zero percent con[tained]. The wildfire is located about 70 km southwest of Prince George. Eighty people have already been evacuated and close to 700 homes are in danger of being consumed should the fire spread.