Welcome to Sott.net
Fri, 29 Oct 2021
The World for People who Think

Earth Changes
Map

Bacon

Wild boar population soars in Britain, causing motorway collisions

Ollie Gillman
Daily Mail
Sun, 11 Jan 2015 23:00 UTC
wild boar

Ministers are considering bringing out a 'beware of boar' road sign to warn drivers of the animals straying on to the road
Ministers are considering bringing out a 'beware of boar' road sign following a fatal motorway collision involving one of the wild animals last week.

The new sign could be erected along stretches of roads near 'infested' areas, along with barriers to keep out the 20 stone animals.

The plans, to be discussed by transport officials, follow the death of Raymond Green, who died when his car collided with a boar that had strayed onto the M4 in Wiltshire.

The animal was then struck by an articulated lorry and led to the busy stretch of motorway closing for eight hours.

Boars have caused crashes in the past, with France and Germany already using signs to warn drivers of the animals.

Comment: Not only are they are menace on the highways, but have recently been on the attack around the globe:

      Read More...
Attention

Camel tramples 2 people to death at Texas farm


wtvr.com
Sun, 11 Jan 2015 19:06 UTC
Image
A camel trampled two people to death over the weekend at a farm in Texas, authorities said.

Peggye McNair, 72, the owner of the farm and a well-known camel breeder, was one of the victims of the attack Saturday, police told CNN affiliate KFDX.

The incident at Camel Kisses Farm in Wichita Falls happened after Mark Mere, 53, got into a pen with three camels - one male and two females.

Mere apparently went into the holding pen because the animals' water trough had frozen over.

The male camel was in rut and became very aggressive, Wichita County Sheriff David Duke said. Rut is a male animal's peak period of fertility and sexual excitement.


Comment: See also: Camel escapes from cage and kills owner of wildlife sanctuary

      Read More...
Attention

Manatees moving out of Florida waters west along Gulf coast

Janet McConnaughey
news.yahoo.com
Sun, 11 Jan 2015 18:20 UTC
Image
© AP/ Wilfredo Lee
In this May 15, 2014 photo. a manatee sticks its head out of the water at Miami Seaquarium in Miami. As manatees recover in Florida, their U.S. home base, more and more seem to be showing up farther west along the Gulf of Mexico.
As manatees recover in Florida, their U.S. home base, more and more seem to be showing up farther west along the Gulf of Mexico.

A total of seven stranded manatees had been reported along the Alabama coast before 2007, when a network to report strandings and sightings was created. Since then, "we've responded to dozens" of strandings, said Ruth Carmichael, head of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab's Manatee Sighting Network for Alabama and Mississippi.

"I think things are changing, in the manatee population and in the environment," she said Tuesday. She said scientists know there are more of the big, gentle marine mammals than there used to be. "But habitat is stable or declining. Animals are being forced to do something. The natural thing would be to spread out."

In hope of gathering enough data to learn whether her impression is accurate, she's now working with people in Louisiana and Texas to expand the network - "as far as I know, the only manatee sighting network in the country" - to those states.

Comment: See also: Manatee from Florida makes rare visit to Texas waters

Second manatee found dead in a month, South Mississippi

Florida: Number of annual manatee deaths top 800 for first time on record

      Read More...
Bad Guys

Western Philippines hit by 6.0 earthquake


Sputnik
Sun, 11 Jan 2015 18:24 UTC
2015 earthquake Phillipines
© Agence France-Presse/Ted Aljibe
A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck late Saturday off San Antonio in the province of Zambales in the western Philippines, local seismologists said.

The quake occurred 43 kilometers (26.7 miles) from San Antonio at the depth of 85 kilometers (52.8 miles) under the South China Sea, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

There has been no tsunami warning or casualties reported, following the earthquake.

Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are weak or almost imperceptible, while magnitude 7 earthquakes and over potentially cause serious damage over larger areas, depending on their depth.

In October 2013, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the central part of the Philippines, killing 220 people and injuring thousands. Over 13,200 houses were destroyed.

Comment: Earthquakes are becoming stronger and more frequent all over the world. For more understanding of why see Earth Changes and the Human-cosmic Connection.

      Read More...
Attention

Beached pygmy sperm whale dies at Point Reyes, California

Hamed Aleaziz and Kurtis Alexander
San Francisco Chronicle
Fri, 09 Jan 2015 20:31 UTC
Image
© Ramin Rahimian / The Chronicle
Cara Field, a staff vet, with The Marine Mammal Center takes a blood sample from a dead male pygmy sperm whale
A beached whale, believed to be a pygmy sperm whale, ran ashore in Point Reyes National Seashore this week.

When Emily Klion and her three friends came upon the large, dying animal tossing in the surf at Point Reyes, they weren't sure what it was.

"People we saw said it was a dolphin. I thought it was a shark, though, because of the teeth," said Klion of Berkeley, who visited the isolated beach near Abbots Lagoon on Thursday while hiking at Point Reyes National Seashore.

"When we looked at it closer, it had a blowhole, so then we figured out it was a whale."

Scientists at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito confirmed Friday, after waiting for daybreak to hike to the beach, that the ailing critter was indeed a young, rarely sighted pygmy sperm whale.

It's a species of toothed whale that doesn't often show itself to humans, preferring to hunt octopus, shrimp and small fish in the very deep sea.
      Read More...
Airplane

250mph jet stream blasts plane across the Atlantic in record time

Rob Crilly
The Telegraph, UK
Sat, 10 Jan 2015 19:12 UTC
Image
© Alamy

The Boeing 777-200 jet reached a ground speed of 745mph as it rode winds of more than 200mph across the Atlantic
Boeing 777 reported at speeds of up to 745mph as it flies from New York to Heathrow in just 5 hours 16 minutes

Concorde may have been retired but a British Airways passenger jet approached supersonic speed this week as it rode a surging jet stream from New York to London.

The Boeing 777-200 jet reached a ground speed of 745mph as it rode winds of more than 200mph across the Atlantic. At ground level, the speed of sound is 761mph.

The happy result was a flight time of just five hours and 16 minutes for BA114, which arrived an hour and half before schedule, according to the tracking website, FlightAware.

Dozens of other flights also benefited from the jet stream's winter surge, but those same windshave also triggered severe storms across Britain.

Pilots have long used jet streams - which flow across the globe from west to east - to cut journey times and save fuel.
      Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Flooding hits Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique

Richard Davies
floodlist.com
Fri, 09 Jan 2015 18:29 UTC
Image
Heavy rainfall in parts of south east Africa over the last 2 weeks has resulted in flooding in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique.

As reported earlier this week, as many as 10 people have died in flooding in Zimbabwe. According to media reports, 6 people have been killed in Malawi and as many as 9 people have died as a result of recent severe weather in Mozambique. Heavy rainfall has also been reported in Madagascar and Zambia although no flooding has as yet been reported.

Change in Monsoon - Rainfall 150% higher than normal

According to a report (pdf) on Africa Hazards Outlook by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the heavy rainfall is a result of a change of the southern Africa Monsoon. The report says:
"Since late December, the character of the southern Africa monsoon has shifted considerably, as several regions of southeastern Africa continue to experience a significant increase in rains and available ground moisture. This increase has helped both alleviate and completely offset seasonal moisture deficits associated with a poor/delayed start of the monsoon during November and December."
The report goes on to say that areas of south east Africa have seen rainfall amounts 150% higher than normal.
      Read More...
Ambulance

Deadly 115-vehicle pileup on I-94 near Battle Creek, MI; evacuation orders issued


woodtv.com
Fri, 09 Jan 2015 01:21 UTC

Both directions of I-94 are closed west of Battle Creek and a shelter-in-place order is in effect due to two pileups including as many as 115 vehicles and one fatality, according to Michigan State Police Lt. Rick Pazder.

Michigan State Police currently have a one-mile radius shelter-in-place order from I-94 at the 90 mile marker, which is located near 44th Street in Charleston Township, as authorities believe all hazardous materials have burned off in a fire. A three-mile radius evacuation order that centered on the same location has been lifted.

Both directions of I-94 were shut down shortly after 10 a.m. between the Galesburg and Climax exits (exits 88 and 92) after pileups occurred in both the eastbound and westbound lanes.

Comment: Winter has only just begun. If you have to go out in inclement weather, do be careful. Make sure you're dressed appropriately, have a full tank of gas, bring a charged phone (if you own one), and let someone know where you're going and the route you'll be taking. These winter storms and below freezing temperatures are not to be ignored.

      Read More...
Igloo

Snow blankets the Middle East from Turkey to Israel


The Weather Network
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 18:37 UTC
snowman Syria
© AP Photo
Children make a snowman in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015.
The Middle East looked more like central Canada Wednesday as a rare winter storm covered an area from Turkey to Israel with snow and falling temperatures. But for residents in the affected areas, the past few winters have brought snow, despite previously going decades without seeing it at all.
Snow in the Middle East. Lebanon for sure -- perhaps on Sinai peninsula. pic.twitter.com/opXMsrOiT4

- Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) January 7, 2015
However, the area is not typically prepared for winter weather, and the result travel and transportation in the region has been brought to a crawl.

Comment: Temperatures reported in 14 U.S. states - from Washington to Maine - were colder than Mars

      Read More...
Igloo

Temperatures reported in 14 U.S. states - from Washington to Maine - were colder than Mars


Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 09 Jan 2015 10:06 UTC
Image

It's officially colder than Mars: NASA recorded a daytime high of 17.6 F on Mars today, which was warmer than many parts of the Midwest and Northeast. Above, a postal service worker braves the cold in Rockford, Illinois where the high was 18 F.
Time to stop remarking about how unearthly cold it is outside because on Thursday, Mars was actually warmer than many parts of the U.S. The daytime high in the red planet's Gale Crater, as recorded by NASA's Curiosity Rover, was 17.6 degrees F - a whopping 11 degrees warmer than the 6-degree high in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Temperatures in fourteen states from Washington to Maine reported temperatures colder than Mars, as a brutal blast of Arctic air sweeps the country. Mars just recently passed its closest orbit to the sun, which partially explains why the temperature was relatively balmy. The Gale Crater is also located in one of the warmest parts of the planet, near the equator.

It's officially colder than Mars: NASA recorded a daytime high of 17.6 F on Mars today, which was warmer than many parts of the Midwest and Northeast. Above, a postal service worker braves the cold in Rockford, Illinois where the high was 18 F.

Comment:
"Studies reveal that ice ages are probably preceded by periods of freak weather patterns (check) hot spots and cold spots (check) torrential, localized rains and flooding (check) increased comet dust in the atmosphere (check), increased volcanism (check) a series of particularly cold and harsh winters (check) interspersed with localized heat-waves and drought (check); and then, finally, the watershed winter comes when the increased heating from within the planet itself (evidenced by the increasing volcanism) and its concomitant increased evaporation of the seas, combines with the cooled and lowered upper atmosphere, and the snow begins to fall and fall... and fall... and fall. Convert the extraordinary rains that have fallen in parts of the upper northern hemisphere in the past few years to snow volumes, and you can easily see that entire regions could be quickly buried under many meters of snow that, assuming that the albedo effect does not rapidly take over and prevent the snow from melting, by the time it did melt, multiplied millions of living things - including people - would have perished, buried along with the pathological leaders they have erroneously believed had their best interests at heart."

The Global Situation Has Taken a Turn For the Worse: Recovery Unlikely
See also: A Different Kind of Catastrophe - Something Wicked This Way Comes

      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts