Earth Changes
CBS11 Meteorologist Jeff Ray has been tracking the dust and said, "Things will get a little bit better, but probably not until Thursday or Friday will we get back to where we actually have some blue skies."
In the meantime Ray's forecast for the haze means people with air quality sensitivities will have to endure the conditions for several more days.
Dr. James Haden of Haden Allergy pointed out the haze isn't an allergen but rather an irritant.
Lisa Tretiak is President of the Centre. She says it is very typical for there to be animal deaths in summer. Often it is a bird that falls to its death while learning to fly or a young animal that can not survive the harsh world it lives in. But Tretiak says this year, there seems to be a trend towards the death of birds, and very specific breeds. According to Tretiak, a lot of Crows and Merlins are dying this summer. In fact, she says they have seen between 30 and 50 dead of each type.
Tretiak says many of the sick birds being brought to the centre are shaking and showing neurological signs; some of them are in good weight, while others are not.
"We're just wanting to sort of figure out if there is something new that has come into the province," she says. "Or if it is something that has already come into the province, we will be able to help treat them better."
A boy and a girl were bitten by sharks in separate attacks off Fire Island Wednesday, according to local officials and the father of one of the children.
A spokeswoman from the town of Islip said the 13-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl were bitten off the shores off Atlantique Beach and Sailors Haven -- two beaches about 4 1/2 miles apart -- around 11:15 a.m.
In the Atlantique Beach attack, the boy was boogie boarding when he was bitten, the spokeswoman said. He stumbled out of the ocean; a lifeguard ran to him and discovered the bite.
The wound was dressed and cleaned, according to the spokeswoman, and responders found a tooth lodged in the child's leg. The tooth was removed and is being analyzed to determine the shark species.

Scientists tracking a massive iceberg that broke free from Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf last year say dense sea-ice cover has so far prevented it from drifting far out to sea. It is shown above in July, 2018
Sources
The worst-affected areas include Jämtland, Västerbotten, Gävleborg and Dalarna counties, where residents have been advised to evacuate a number of villages.
The Red Cross will start to coordinate volunteer efforts across the country, it said Thursday, after talks with the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. The volunteers will help with evacuations, distribute essential supplies and give out information.
Sweden has been struggling to cope as unusually hot, dry conditions fuel more forest fires than the emergency services can handle.
The massive waterspout formed off the coast of Minori, Salerno (Campania), southwestern Italy in the morning of July 17. The waterspout grazed a boat, passing it within meters. We would definitely love to see the footage from the boat! Definitely a view worthy of "Storm Chasers"!
Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said a tourist boat reportedly sank on Table Rock Lake. He said weather was believed to have caused the boat to capsize. High winds had hit the area, according to weather reports.
Rader said an off-duty sheriff's deputy working security helped rescue people and that recovery efforts were ongoing, with some passengers still to be accounted for. A dive team was assisting.
"It's going to be a challenging night and tomorrow," the sheriff said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Linderberg said a top wind speed of 63mph was measured around 7pm on Thursday at Branson Airport. The winds were probably stronger over the lake, Linderberg said.
Comment: This is the second storm to sink a boat in the last few weeks. On July 6th 2018 41 people died with 15 still considered missing, when a tourist boat capsized in Thailand; making it Thailand's worst tourist-related disaster in years. While studies report that overall global winds have been decreasing, localised events in the form of storms and microbursts seem to be increasing, along with their intensity and frequency, and their unusual behaviour is making them difficult to forecast:
- Study reveals atmospheric rivers to double in size
- Sheets of rain: Austrian photographer creates stunning time-lapse of cloud dumping 'tsunami' over lake
- Extreme winter storms and wave heights have been increasing over the last 70 years in the Western Europe
- Global wind speeds slowing since 1960, but nobody knows why
- UK's "wind drought" has turbine generation down 40% - And the high pressure system is sticking around
The Froward Point National Coastwatch reported the attack which happened while a man was swimming in Mill Bay Cove, south of Kingswear Castle on the River Dart.
Visibility in the water was poor on Friday, July 13, and the man from Exeter was swimming on his own when the seal attacked.
Malcolm Dando from Froward Point NCI explained the man swimming felt something brush his feet and then felt a blow to his back. The seal surfaced and looked at the man again before biting him on the thigh.
This caused the man's skin to break and some bleeding and bruising which was later described as a minor injury.
He said: "We've been typically doing between two to three gigawatts of wind [generation].
"At a windier time of the year we might be doing nine or 10."
The unusual stillness in the air is the result of a sustained period of high, dense pressure over the UK, according to the Met Office.
A Met Office spokesman said: "It's like a lid, it keeps everything still.
"From the forecast looking out over the next couple of weeks, there doesn't seem to be any significant change on the way."
A National Grid spokesman said: "Between June 4 and July 15 wind generation was around 30 per cent lower compared to the same period last year.
"Electricity demand is low and we're comfortable with the level of spare generation we have available.
Comment: Electricity demand was 'low' and yet demand for natural gas increased! And one of the cheapest and most reliable suppliers is Russia, whom the UK has spent the last couple of years smearing with nonsensical lies.
Comment: In light of a recent study showing global wind speeds have been decreasing since 1960, meanwhile extreme winter storms and wave heights have been increasing over the last 70 years, one wonders whether this will become a repeating pattern and what other changes may accompany it. And if it does become a repeating pattern those supporting unreliable renewables, as evidenced elsewhere, will sorely regret their ignorance.

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck to the south of the Alaska peninsula about 100 kilometres south-southwest of Sand Point, Alaska.
No tsunami warning issued, says National Weather Service
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck to the south of the Alaska peninsula early on Thursday, but the National Weather Service said no tsunami warning has been issued.
The quake was centred about 100 kilometres south-southwest of Sand Point, Alaska, at a depth of 17 kilometres according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
"No tsunami warning, advisory, watch or threat," said officials from the National Weather Service, a unit of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.













Comment: A few days earlier: Rare, double shark attack off Fernandina Beach, Florida