Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Mass Bird Deaths in Turkey

Turkish Dead Birds
© Rambler
In Turkey, there was a case of an unexplained mass deaths of birds.

Dead starlings found residents of the county Karacabey in Bursa province. On the road were dozens of carcasses of birds. Promptly reported the incident to local authorities launched an investigation of the incident.

Experts are currently conducting the necessary tests. However, while they failed to establish the cause of death of starlings. According to ITAR-TASS news agency, according to one version, the flock of birds could crash a few heavy-duty trucks, marching one after another.

On the unexplained mass death of birds, the world's media began reporting on New Years Eve, when about 4 thousands of blackbirds fell dead near the small town Biib in Arkansas. Later, similar cases occurred in Louisiana and Kentucky. Also, incidents of mass deaths of birds have been recorded in Canada, Sweden and Italy.

On the unexplained mass death of birds, the world's media began reporting on New Years Eve, when about 4 thousands of blackbirds fell dead near the small town Beebe in Arkansas. Later, similar cases occurred in Louisiana and Kentucky. Also, incidents of mass deaths of birds have been recorded in Canada, Sweden and Italy.

Cloud Lightning

8 die, 72 missing in Australia flash floods

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© ReutersCars were tossed around by flash flooding Monday in Toowoomba, an Australian city about 65 miles west of Brisbane.
Brisbane, Australia - Rescuers raced Tuesday to reach people trapped on roofs after a flash flood hurled a tsunami-like wall of water through Australia's waterlogged east, tossing cars like toys, killing at least eight people and leaving 72 missing.

The violent surge near the town of Toowoomba after a fresh storm Monday escalated Australia's 2-week-old flood crisis in Queensland state and brought the overall death toll to 18. Until then, the flooding had unfolded slowly as swollen rivers burst their banks and inundated towns while moving downstream toward the ocean.

Emergency services officers plucked more than 40 people from houses isolated overnight by the torrent that hit the Lockyer Valley on Monday. But thunderstorms and more driving rain hampered efforts to send helicopters to help an unknown number of other people still in danger Tuesday.

Thousands were being evacuated from flood-prone areas, and residents in some sections of Brisbane - Australia's third-largest city - were being urged to move to higher ground as water from Toowoomba's flash flooding worked its way toward the coast.

Igloo

US Southerners struggle to dig out from heavy snow

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© Chuck Burton/Associated PressA police officer examines the wreckage of a car after it slid into a power pole during a snowstorm in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Jan. 10, 2011.
Atlanta - Temperatures plummeted late Monday, turning slushy streets into sheets of ice across Southern states that are more accustomed to sunshine than snow. The wintry blast has grounded flights, cut power to thousands of homes and even forced Auburn University to cancel viewing parties for the national championship bowl game.

Snow ranging from several inches to more than a foot blanketed states from Louisiana to the Carolinas - a region where many cities have only a handful of snow plows, if any. In many areas, the snow began turning to freezing rain, making roads even more treacherous.

"If you're off the main roads, it's a skating rink," said Tim Loucks, manager of the Pilot Truck Stop in Haughton, La.

The storm shut down most cities and towns, closed many businesses, and canceled most flights at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world's busiest. At least nine people were killed in weather-related traffic accidents.

Black Cat

US: Sonoma County mystery: What killed 100 birds near Geyserville?

dead birds
© naAn warden with California Fish and Game inspects the area where about 100 birds were found dead Saturday.
While scientists and specialists are investigating why massive numbers of birds have dropped dead from the sky elsewhere in the country, Sonoma County now has its own bird deaths mystery to solve, reported the CHP.

More than 100 birds were found dead Saturday afternoon clustered on the ground off of Highway 101, south of Geyserville, Officer Jon Sloat reported Monday. Officers responded to Independence Lane at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday and found dozens of birds dead on and around the roadway.

The California Department of Fish and Game was notified and a local warden responded. He took several of the birds away to be identified and tested by a biologist, Sloat said.

The birds all appeared to be the same type, small with feathers in brown and black, according to photos taken by officers. The birds hadn't been shot and most were intact, officers reported.

What caused the deaths wasn't clear Saturday.

Magnet

Magnetic North Has Shifted 10 Degrees, A Full Magnetic Flip Is Overdue

Following up on The Tampa Tribune's report that the Tampa, Florida airport authority had its runway landing sights repainted to reflect Magnetic North's lurch into Siberia, mainstream TV news has picked up on the story and ponders whether the planet is due a complete polar reversal.


Igloo

Winter weather slams US South with snow, icy roads

Several inches of snow and freezing rain were expected to make the Monday morning commute for those forced to venture out nearly impossible in parts of the South, including Atlanta, where countless cars were stuck on impassable highways and roads while the world's busiest airport canceled thousands of flights.

The winter blast rolled across the South on Sunday, coating bridges and roads with snow, sleet and freezing rain and causing at least one death in Louisiana. The governors of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee declared emergencies and schools and colleges called off classes. Snow and ice had blanketed several cities, including up to 3 inches in parts of Atlanta, which rarely gets so much.

"We don't have weather events like this," Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said in an on-air interview with CNN. "I think the amount of snow we're getting is probably a 10-year event for the city of Atlanta."

Despite officials imploring people to stay off the roads, interstates around Atlanta were clogged with cars early Monday.

Bizarro Earth

German cities threatened by flooding after winter thaw

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© UnknownA boat was the only form of transport in Zell in southern Germany
Rivers in many parts of Germany have burst their banks, flooding several cities, because of melting winter snow.

In the west, the Rhine has overflowed in Bonn and Cologne and levels are set to peak in Koblenz where it meets the River Mosel.

Firefighters are searching for a man whose car was found abandoned in the central state of Thuringia beside the swollen River Unstrut.

The body of a kayaker was pulled from the River Enz in the south.

Experts are blaming the high river levels on the record amounts of snow that fell in December and the sharp rise in temperatures that has brought about a fast thaw.

Up to 30 villages in the wine-growing area south of Koblenz on the River Mosel have been flooded but the centre of attention appears to be Koblenz itself, where the Mosel flows into the Rhine at Deutsches Eck.

Some low-lying areas of Koblenz are already under water and officials expect the waters to reach 7.7m (25ft) on Monday afternoon. The normal level is around 2.4m, reports say.

In Cologne, river levels are not expected to reach their peak until Tuesday, although two districts have already been affected.

Hourglass

Australia: Queensland Residents On Edge As Floodwaters Rise

Queensland Floods 1
© Tomas GuerinA car is engulfed by floodwaters in Toowoomba
Sodden Queensland continues to battle its week-long flood crisis, with one town facing its second inundation since Christmas, residents forced to evacuate in several areas and waters receding ever so slowly in other drenched cities.

Toowoomba in the state's south-east is currently in shock after a raging torrent of water swept through the city this afternoon, claiming the lives of at least two people and leaving enormous damage across the city.

Elsewhere in the south-east, emergency services are focused on Dalby and Gympie, which are both on flood alert.

Comment: Here is a sample of what took place in Toowoomba earlier today. A deadly torrent of water unleashed its force with unbelievable fury - it was gone as quickly as it appeared.




Better Earth

Switzerland hit by three minor quakes

Three small earthquakes shook the west of Switzerland overnight but there were no reports of damage, Swiss police said on Sunday.

The quakes, which registered between 2.8 and 3.3 on the open-ended Richter scale, were recorded in the Valais canton.

Bizarro Earth

Triple Punch Hole Clouds

Hole Punch Clouds
© Wesley TylerHole punch clouds over Myrtle Beach.

"I've lived by the sea for many years, but never seen anything like this," reports Wesley Tyler of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. "On Friday, Jan. 7th, there were three punch hole clouds in the same place." He grabbed his camera and recorded the phenomenon.

Considered a mystery for many years, punch hole clouds appear on rare occasions all over the world, sometimes attracting widespread attention, e.g., the famous Moscow UFO cloud of 2009. Recently meteorologists have penetrated the mystery: punch holes form when airplanes fly through thin layers of high altitude clouds. If water droplets in the cloud are supercooled (below freezing but still liquid), they can suddenly turn to snow when shocked by the passage of the plane. This mini-snowstorm occurs over a circular area much wider than the airplane itself.