Earth Changes

Snow and heavy rains disrupt mining operations in desert region of northern Chile

Fabian Cambero
Reuters
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 15:52 UTC

© REUTERS/Stringer
BHP Billiton's Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine, is seen snow covered after heavy rains lashed the high altitude desert region of Antofagasta overnight and into Wednesday in northern Chile June 7, 2017.

Mines in northern Chile have suspended key operations after heavy rains lashed the high altitude desert region of Antofagasta overnight and into Wednesday, companies told Reuters.

BHP Billiton's Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine, said it was snowing and all operations had been suspended.

State-run Codelco [COBRE.UL] said mining activities at its flagship Chuquicamata deposit and at nearby Radomiro Tomic and Ministro Hales had been suspended as a preventative measure, while Antofagasta said Centinela and Zaldivar had suffered intermittent interruptions.

Polish miner KGHM's Sierra Gorda said it was considering whether to restrict some operations as a precaution.

'High altitude rainbow' seen over Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Mark Alan Lovewell
Vineyard Gazette
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 12:28 UTC

Circumhorizontal arc in Martha's Vineyard

Last Sunday morning a number of Vineyarders spotted an extraordinary atmospheric event in the sky, a peculiar high altitude rainbow. This was not the usual rainbow we are all familiar with following a summer shower, where rain clouds are nearby. This was different.

What our friends saw on Sunday was what meteorologists call a circumhorizontal arc, not a very attractive name for a pretty event, created by sunlight passing through high altitude ice crystals.

A circumhorizontal arc is far more related and a cousin to a halo and also a sun dog. Though all three are rare, the rarest of them all is the circumhorizontal arc. This is an event that takes place way up high in the neighborhood of cirrus clouds, well over 20,000 feet above ground.

Our changing atmosphere is a giant part in the creation of Sunday's show. The air around us was dry and stable, while high aloft there was change, an approaching cold front. High in the sky, there was bitter cold air interacting with moisture creating ice crystals. One more ingredient in this phenomena involves the relative angle between us, the crystals and the sun.

Sun dogs, halos and circumhorizontal arcs were used to predict the weather. They were a sign of an advancing change in the air. Last Sunday, the cold front passed over the Vineyard and brought with it rainy weather by the end of the day.

60 killed by lightning strikes since the start of year in the Indian state of Jharkhand

A.S.R.P. Mukesh
The Telegraph (India)
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 19:06 UTC

The state emergency response centre, a centralised unit set up in Dhurwa to coordinate with districts and issue timely alerts, has stopped functioning from February, and the government displays no urgency to revive it even though Jharkhand has already recorded more than 60 deaths due to lightning strikes since January.

Today, according to police, three persons died after being struck by lightning while working in the fields at Garadih village at Kairo in Lohardaga. So far in June, 13 people have died of lightning strikes in the state, according to media reports and estimates provided by independent disaster management experts. In May, the toll was 40 across the state with 21 in East Singhbhum alone.

According to sources, the state emergency response centre has ceased to function because state disaster management's special projects officer's post has been lying vacant ever since the contract of Col Sanjay Srivastava, an expert from UNDP, expired over three months back.

The special projects officer was to act as the nodal officer of the disaster management department, under the state home department, and coordinate with district disaster management officers (DDMOs), local administrations and stakeholders during exigencies.

8 inches of hail falls near Canyon, Texas

Karl Wehmhoener
My High Plains
Fri, 09 Jun 2017 18:21 UTC

After Thursday night's hail storm, staff at Camp Don Harrington are getting ready for 150 Cub Scouts to attend camp today.

Officials at the camp say over 8 inches of hail came down and damages several areas and caused flooding in other parts.

"Mrs. Ranger" Brenda Hutson posted that some staff tents were damaged during the storm and some water got into the buildings.

Evacuations following floods in Vrsac, Serbia

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Fri, 09 Jun 2017 18:07 UTC

© Serbia Ministry of Interior
Department for Emergency Situations in Serbia carried out flood rescues in areas near Vršac.

One person has died and as many over 40 people were evacuated when a storm and heavy rain caused flooding in parts of north eastern Serbia on Wednesday 07 June, 2017.

Serbia's Ministry of Interior reported flooding in the villages of Uljma, Izbiste, and Šušara, near Vršac in the province of Vojvodina. Vršac is around 75 km north east of the capital Belgrade, close to the border with Romania.

The Ministry of Interior reported that the Department for Emergency Situations had evacuated 42 people in the affected villages. Dozens of homes were inundated although much of the flood water soon subsided. Local media say that one person, thought to be an elderly woman, died in the floods.

First shark attack on surfer recorded in the UK

Surfer Today
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 18:00 UTC

A 30-year-old surfer survived a shark attack in Bantham Beach, near Devon, in England.

Rich Thomson was grabbed by the leg and bitten by a three-foot smooth-hound shark. As a result, he suffered cuts to his hands and a bruised leg.

According to researchers, it is the first time in the UK that the ocean's predator attacks a surfer. And the strike would have caused worse injuries if he had not worn a thick wetsuit.

"I turned around and saw this little shark was on my thigh and wriggling its head side to side. I hit it on the head, and it swam off. My hand was cut to pieces. I had a quite a sizeable bruise about three inches across," explained Thomson.

Crop failures could result in apocalyptic scenarios, warn experts

Mac Slavo
Shtfplan.com
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 14:03 UTC

Famines have been known to cause widespread starvation, and now with crops and food being traded globally, one hiccup in the growth of just one crop could cause a massive global catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions.

In the past, a poor year for crops, whether it was too wet or too dry, rarely impacted those outside the immediate region. Only those in close proximity to the failed crops would have to contend with the rising prices and shortages. But with the food is now being shipped around the globe, one failure could be apocalyptic, and experts are trying to warn us. Weather and the cyclic nature of the earth, combined with government regulations and war, could make producing viable crops in quantities that will feed humanity difficult in the next several years, especially when considering the increasing human population.

Less than one-quarter of Earth's total cropland produces nearly three-quarters of the staple crops that feed the world's population. These staples include corn, wheat, and rice, and are the most important cereal crops. The areas which grow these crops are our planet's major breadbaskets. But experts warn that simultaneous crop failures could impact our very near future making global famine a reality. When compounded with the effects of war and the ever-increasing government regulations on agriculture across the globe, food production will continue to face even more difficulty in the coming years.

Pardee Center postdoctoral scholar John Patrick Connors and Anthony Janetos with the Conversation and Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and Professor of Earth and Environment, have been using some mathematical models to study the potential environmental and economic impacts of failures in multiple breadbaskets around the world. They limit their study to only "climate change" however, placing no blame on government beasts who actually bloody their own hands when they hamper food production. But these experts do want the government to "help" should this tragedy occur.

Lightning bolt kills three persons in Jharkhand, India

en.prothom-alo.com
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 12:24 UTC

Three persons were killed after lightning struck them in Garadih village in Lohardaga district today, police said.

The incident happened under the jurisdiction of Kairo police station.

The victims were identified as Parmeshwar Munda (35), Mangra Munda (40) and his 13-year-old son Bapan Munda, sources said.

Parameshwar Munda was a teacher and Mangra Munda was a farmer, sources said.

All of them were working in a paddy field when lightning struck them.

Parmeshwar, Mangra and Bapan were seriously injured.

They were shifted to a nearby health centre in Nagjuwa village where doctors declared them dead, sources said.

Comment: On the same day as the above event lightning strikes killed 4 in Savar, Bangladesh.

Heavy pack ice traps boats, triggers rescue operation off Newfoundland

atlantic.ctvnews.ca
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 11:58 UTC

Boats are shown trapped in heavy ice off La Scie, Newfoundland in a handout photo from the Department of Fisheries and Ocean.

© Department of Fisheires and Oceans
Boats are shown trapped in heavy ice off La Scie, Newfoundland in a handout photo from the Department of Fisheries and Ocean.

Unusually heavy Arctic pack ice has trapped multiple vessels, stymied the fishing season and triggered a high-stakes rescue operation from a sinking ship off Newfoundland.

Five fishermen were rescued Wednesday from the Avalon Princess fishing boat, which started to take on water after getting stuck in thick sea ice near La Scie, N.L.

Trevor Hodgson, the Canadian Coast Guard's superintendent of ice operations for the Atlantic region, said the heavy ice is more than two metres thick in some areas off the province's northeast coast.

"We had a bit of stuff that forms over the winter, the normal ice in the area," he said. "What we're experiencing now is the ice that has come south through the Arctic due to melting up there."

What's unusual this year, Hodgson said, is the way the winds have pushed the thick pack ice towards land rather than out to sea.

Powerful storm heading for South Florida days after torrential rains cause flooding

NBC 6 South Florida
Thu, 08 Jun 2017 19:42 UTC

© Luis Felipe Lopez/El Nuevo Herald
Water in the streets of the Savanna community in Weston was up to 18 inches, prompting at least one person to venture out in a kayak to navigate the road.

After three days of serious rain and flooding across the area, South Florida will get a slight break on Thursday but an increased risk of storms as the day goes on continues.

There were no flood watches or warnings in effect Thursday but that could change by the afternoon.

Heavy flooding was reported Wednesday throughout Broward, including the parking lot of the Sawgrass Mills mall, which had to close Wednesday and remained closed Thursday due to the flooding.

In Davie, heavy flooding was reported on some streets, including in the area of Southwest 130th Avenue and 7th Court. One resident said he was going to Home Depot to get sandbags for himself and his neighbors to protect from flooding.

"I'm trying to help out my neighbors, I'm a caring person. I lived in the neighborhood a long time, I see people's homes are getting in bad shape," Mitch Gerber said.