Earth Changes

Flash flooding in Afghanistan kills 16 including children

Yahoo! News
Sat, 01 Aug 2020 11:49 UTC

Flash flooding in eastern Afghanistan killed at least 16 people after heavy rains swept parts of a mountainous area, an Afghan official said Saturday.

Heavy floods hit the Khewa district, said Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarharn province. He added that four others were wounded in the incident.

The majority of the victims are children, said Khogyani. He added that a team has been sent to the area to help with emergency services following the foul weather.

The flash floods damaged dozens of homes, the spokesman added.

Summer often brings heavy rainfalls in eastern Afghanistan leading to floods that can leave hundreds of people dead and many more injured every year.

Source: AP

California's sinking coastal hotspots revealed in new survey

Arizona State University
Phys.org
Fri, 31 Jul 2020 20:51 UTC

© USGS NED
Coastal elevation in California. Coastal zones, which are defined to be those with elevations less than 10 m, are shown in red. Segments of the coast with elevations higher than 10 m are colored by a yellow gradient.

A majority of the world population lives on low lying lands near the sea, some of which are predicted to submerge by the end of the 21st century due to rising sea levels.

The most relevant quantity for assessing the impacts of sea-level change on these communities is the relative sea-level rise — the elevation change between the Earth's surface height and sea surface height. For an observer standing on the coastland, relative sea-level rise is the net change in the sea level, which also includes the rise and fall of the land beneath observer's feet.

Now, using precise measurements from state-of-the-art satellite-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) that can detect the land surface rise and fall with millimeter accuracy, an Arizona State University research team has, for the first time, tracked the entire California coast's vertical land motion.

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Record snowfall in Patagonia bury livestock alive

Robert W. Felix
IceAgeNow
Fri, 31 Jul 2020 20:04 UTC

Historic snowfall could destroy sheep farming in the area for years. Five feet (1½ m) of snow and temperatures around 20 degrees below zero.
Can you imagine even trying to walk through snow up to your chin?

This climate combo, which has been taking place for 20 days in the region, left livestock farming in a critical state and led to the Rio Negro government this week declaring a state of Emergency and / or Agricultural Disaster in 6 departments of the western province.

In the departments of Bariloche, El Cuy, Ñorquinco and Pilcaniyeu were hit by "extraordinary snowfall" that "have caused damage" in rural livestock farms in the area, leading to a crisis for many sheep farmers and other productions in Patagonia and the south of the country.

Lightning claims 10 lives in a day across Bihar, India

United News of India
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 18:59 UTC

The separate lightning incidents claimed 10 lives at different places in Bihar on Thursday.

According to reports pouring in here from different districts 5 people died due to lightning in Jamui, three in Sheikhpura and one each in Aurangabad and Begusarai during the day.

Meanwhile expressing deep sorrow over the lightning incident the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar directed the authorities to pay an exgratia of rupees 4 lakh to the kith of those killed in the incident.

Flash floods doubled in Western Himalayan rivers between 1980-2003

Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar
Times of India
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 18:49 UTC

Flash flood events in the Western Himalayan rivers doubled between 1980-2003 due to increases in extreme rainfall, according to a new study.

The findings provide the first observational evidence of increases in "extreme streamflow" in the rivers of this highly vulnerable region, and highlight an urgent need for a real-time flood-forecasting system for the area, the study said.

Floodplain zoning to regulate construction should also be considered, researchers added. Around 17 million people live in this region.

Although the data analysis does not cover recent years, the frequent floods over the past decade suggest the findings are representative, said Subimal Ghosh, study co-author and professor at IIT Bombay. There have been floods almost every other year in the past decade in the Western Himalayan states, including in Uttarakhand in 2013 and Jammu and Kashmir in 2018.

A sizable earthquake just hit Los Angeles, and the clock is ticking for the West Coast of the United States

Michael Snyder
End Of The American Dream
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 00:00 UTC

Every time the west coast shakes, it is another reminder that a day of reckoning is fast approaching. Someday time will run out and "the Big One" will finally strike, and the devastation will be far more immense than most people would dare to imagine. Over the last 7 days, there have been 1,957 earthquakes in California and Nevada, but the one that everyone is talking about is the magnitude 4.2 earthquake that just shook up Los Angeles. According to ABC News, this quake was large enough to trigger "alerts from the state's new quake warning system"...

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake gave the Los Angeles region a predawn wake-up call Thursday, triggering local alerts from the state's new quake warning system but resulting in no reports of significant damage.

The 4:29 a.m. jolt was centered in the northern San Fernando Valley and occurred at a depth of 5.5 miles (8.9 kilometers), the U.S. Geological Survey said. Dozens of aftershocks followed.

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Bangladeshi floods continue unabated, 129 dead, 5 million affected

huaxia
Xinhua
Thu, 30 Jul 2020 14:33 UTC

Floods triggered by heavy seasonal rains and onrush of water from hills have continued unabated in parts of Bangladesh, leaving a trail of death, misery and destruction in their wake.

The ongoing floods caused widespread damage to habitation, crops, roads and highways across vast swathes of the country.

According to the daily disaster situation report by the country's National Disaster Response Coordination Center (NDRCC) under the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, 5,097,424 people were affected due to floods in 31 out of the country's total 64 districts as of Thursday.

Summer storms cause destruction and flooding in Medina, Saudi Arabia

World Disaster Compilations
YouTube
Fri, 31 Jul 2020 14:17 UTC

Storms cause destruction and flooding in Medina, Saudi Arabia. July 30, 2020

Strong winds destroy cars and planes and cause floods in Medina, Saudi Arabia. July 30, 2020.

Medina is a city in western Saudi Arabia. In the city center, the vast Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) is a major Islamic pilgrimage site. Its striking Green Dome rises above the tombs of the Prophet Muhammad and early Islamic leaders Abu Bakr and Umar. The Masjid al-Qiblatain (Qiblatain Mosque) is known as the site where the Prophet Muhammad received the command to change the direction of prayer to Mecca.

The floods resulted from a powerful storm, which brought heavy rains to the desert kingdom during the final days of the annual Hajj pilgrimage when millions were visiting the region. According to news reports, 29 people have died attempting to travel in the flooded valleys around Medina.

Violent hailstorms hit Slovenia

Total Slovenia News
Fri, 31 Jul 2020 13:35 UTC

Violent storms with strong winds, downpours and hail hit Slovenia Wednesday evening, causing huge damage and disruption across central, eastern, northeastern and southeastern Slovenia.

Several hundred firefighter units were dispatched to over 500 locations across the country to pump water from houses, patch up roofs, divert torrents and clear fallen trees and debris from roads, the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration said.

The biggest damage was sustained by the area of Domžale about 15 kilometres north-east of Ljubljana, which was battered by hail the size of an egg for more than half an hour. Other parts of the country experienced landslides and flooding and power outages.

The state of the damage in Domžale was inspected on the ground by Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, who said more than 390 buildings had been damaged there. Deputy Mayor Renata Kosec put the damage estimate at around EUR 2.5 million.

Large hail bombardment in Rodica near Domzale, Slovenia last night, July 29th. Video by Nastja Volf - posted with permission. pic.twitter.com/1eoEwOKCEj
— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) July 30, 2020

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Beijing July snow, gold scarcity & unusual Arctic events

Adapt 2030
Fri, 31 Jul 2020 13:27 UTC

Summer snow in Beijing shocks the country as the worst flooding in 400 years submerges the central crop growing and grain storage areas, leading to a food crisis inbound.

U.S Mint reduces to almost nothing available sales of gold and silver and the 2nd lowest pressure reading for a cyclonic low in the Arctic ever recorded. The cosmic egg and dragon streamers return.