Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Atlantic storm brings more misery to drenched Britain: heaviest rainfall in 250 years

Laura Smith-Spark
cnn.com
Fri, 14 Feb 2014 14:14 UTC
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Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, helps with flood defenses on February 14, 2014 in Datchet, United Kingdom
Princes William and Harry rolled up their sleeves Friday to help out with flood defense efforts as Britain braces for another hammering Friday from a major storm off the Atlantic.

The princes showed up at 6 a.m. local time in the flood-hit village of Datchet, west of London.

The community is one of several in Berkshire and Surrey to have been hit by flooding in recent days after the River Thames burst its banks.

Nearly 6,000 homes have been inundated along the Thames Valley and elsewhere following England's wettest January in 2½ centuries.

Some communities in low-lying areas of Somerset, in southwest England, have been under water since December.

And there's no letup in sight just yet.

The Environment Agency has warned of more flooding along the Thames over the weekend as the river reaches its highest level in 60 years.

A powerful Atlantic storm that is blowing in on Friday will add to people's woes.
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Bandaid

Canadian rabbit trapper says owl attack left his head bleeding


ahki.co
Thu, 13 Feb 2014 13:16 UTC
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A Canadian trapper says an owl viciously attacked him while he was checking his rabbit snares one night this week, leaving his face bloodied.

Kevin O'Neil, 55, of Digby County in Nova Scotia, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. the attack occurred Tuesday night while he was checking his traps after a day of lobster fishing.

O'Neil said he spotted the bird, probably a barred owl, before it targeted him.

"I kind of looked up at it jokingly and said to it, 'You bugger, you better not be eating my rabbits,'" he said.

But a few minutes later, he said: "It swooped down and struck me right in the face. Feet first."

He said the owl's talons ripped into his forehead and around his right eye.
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Eggs Fried

Prince Charles ignorantly labels global warming skeptics as "headless chickens" - response from Lord Monckton

Anthony Watts
Watt Up With That
Sat, 01 Feb 2014 00:00 UTC
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© Wattupwiththat
The royal prince in waiting of Britain labels climate skeptics as "headless chickens"

From The Telegraph:
Prince Charles has criticised climate change deniers, describing them as the "headless chicken brigade" during an awards ceremony recognising a leading young green entrepreneur.
Charles, who has campaigned for years to reduce global warming, also spoke out against "the barrage of sheer intimidation" from powerful anti-climate change groups during the event held at Buckingham Palace last night.
The mark of a true leader is bringing people with diverse views and backgrounds together, clearly with this recent pronouncement, Prince Charles clearly has failed as a leader.

I'll point out a few things the prince who may be king should know, but doesn't, or chooses not to.

1. Rational climate skeptics don't doubt that some portion of the proposed greenhouse effect is real, it's just that nobody (and that includes many scientists) seems to be able to agree upon how much. The few who actually deny the Greenhouse effect exists, such as the "Slayers" aka "Principia Scientific" only represent the views of a fringe.
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Sherlock

Toxic kitty litter parasite found in arctic whales

Irene Klotz
Discovery News
Thu, 13 Feb 2014 15:00 UTC
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© Getty ImagesA beluga whale in Hudson Bay, Canada
A parasite found in cat feces is showing up in Arctic beluga whales, one of the most graphic examples of the world's changing ecosystems, scientists said.

The finding, announced Thursday, comes with a warning for Inuit residents who eat whale meat. The cat parasite, known as Toxoplasma gondii, is infectious.

Toxoplasmosis, also known as "kitty liter disease" is the leading cause of infectious blindness in humans. It can be fatal to fetuses and people and animals with compromised immune systems.
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Snowflake

At least 17 injured after 50-100 vehicles crash on Pennsylvania turnpike near Bensalem


6abc.com
Fri, 14 Feb 2014 10:16 UTC

At least 17 people were injured after some 50 to 100 vehicles were involved in a series of crashes on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bensalem on Friday morning.Abington Hospital said 11 injured people were taken there, and five of those people were listed as trauma cases.
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Phoenix

Despite hurricane and record flooding, fire crews dealing with large bog fire near Aberystwyth, Wales

Cathy Owen
Western Mail, UK
Fri, 14 Feb 2014 09:14 UTC
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Large parts of Cors Fochno (Borth Bog) wetland nature reserve are on fire

We know it sounds strange with all this wet weather, but bog land near Aberystwyth is well alight this morning

Firefighters from Aberystwyth are tackling a major fire at bog land in Borth, near Aberystwyth.

The first call came at 5.20am, but fire crews were having difficulty accessing the land where the fire is raging because of the terrain.

A spokeswoman for Mid and West Fire Service said that around a hectare of land was alight, and that fire crews were assessing the situation as the fire is near to the railway line.

The area has been made famous in the recent Hinterland programme, with the final programme being set in and around the bogland.

Scottish Power has also sent representatives to the area because the fire is close to overhead cables.

Comment: Actually, it's the sogging wet grasses that are on fire, not the peat.

See also:

Flashback: 2 April 2013: Huge wildfires across Scottish Highlands

28 Jan 2014: Many Tibetan monasteries and famous sites destroyed this winter by mysterious 'wildfires'

29 Jan 2014: Third 'winter wildfire' breaks out in Norway - Second in two days - What is going ON?!

10 Feb 2014: As wildfires break out in Alaska and Oregon, Georgia declares state of emergency due to continuing snowfall

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Cow Skull

Pod of nine Orca whales die on New Zealand beach after being stranded overnight

Reissa Su
International Business Times
Fri, 14 Feb 2014 08:17 UTC
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© SouthlandScientists examine orcas who stranded on New Zealand beach
Marine biologists are baffled by the mysterious deaths of nine orca whales stranded on New Zealand's Southland beach on Feb 12. New Zealand experts continue to investigate and conduct scientific testing to determine the cause.

Nine orca whales, including a calf, had died while beached on Te WaeWae Bay overnight. The deaths of the orca whales were described as a tragedy for the entire species in New Zealand. According to reports, the population of orca whales in New Zealand waters is estimated to be less than 200. The stranded pod of whales accounted for five per cent of the total population in the country, but New Zealand scientists have been unable to identify the dead whales.

Did earthquakes cause the stranding?

Orca Research Trust founder and whale expert Dr Ingrid Visser said it was possible the whales came from southern waters and became stranded on the bay. Dr Visser has been working with orca whales in the country for about 20 years. She said scientists still have no explanation why the whales became stranded.

Ms Visser declared the recent deaths of the orca whales is the "third largest stranding" of the species in New Zealand. When seen from an international perspective, it could be included in the world's top 10.
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Palette

Global laughing stock UK Met Office - "Lost touch with reality...Corrupted valuable British institution"

Pierre Gosselin
No Tricks Zone
Fri, 14 Feb 2014 03:18 UTC
Met Office predictions
© Pugh
Just days ago I posted on a how veteran German Die Welt journalist Ulli Kulke was amazed at how supposedly one of the world's best meteorological outfits, the Met Office of England, had botched 13 of the last 14 annual forecasts. Read here.

Kulke accused the Met Office of "systematic false alarms", saying they "refuse to accept the reality" of no warming and that it was "stunning" that they "never learn."

Today Paul Homewood's site features an article that focuses on the very competence of the Met Office Director asking: Can Slingo Get Anything Right? Homewood writes:
Last April, Julia Slingo told us that 'climate change was loading the dice towards freezing, drier weather.'

Apparently, she actually meant milder, wetter weather."

Comment: Super computer or not makes no difference to the essential fact called the GIGO principle: Garbage In, Garbage Out!

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Igloo

20-inch snow dump burying parts of Northeast in massive winter storm

Greg Botelho and Ben Brumfield
CNN
Fri, 14 Feb 2014 02:59 UTC
snow clearing
© AP Don Hammond of Newtown shovels his driveway as snow continues to fall in Connecticut on February 13

As if the East Coast hadn't gotten the point by now, Mother Nature drove it home yet again -- that this is winter, hear it roar.

The storm that threw down a concoction of sleet, snow and freezing rain over the South is pounding an icy path from Philadelphia to Maine Friday.

It is burying many places in the Northeast under up to 20 inches of total snow accumulation, the Nation Weather Service says.

The skies will be teeming with flakes falling at a rate of 2-3 inches per hour in the northernmost regions. Massive piles of snow will become a stumbling block to most people there.

But closer to Philadelphia, freezing rain could make things dangerously slick, the weather service said.

Winter storm wallops Northeast Snowplow kills pregnant woman in NYC Vehicles slipping and sliding in the storm Storm might ruin Valentine's Day

Even in the North, where people are more accustom to dealing with winter's trickery than their compatriots farther South, fast-falling snow on Thursday caused tractor-trailers to jackknife. It prompted authorities in New York to ban commercial traffic on Interstate 84 -- a major east-west highway running through the state.
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Footprints

Two dead and 200,000 told to evacuate as Indonesia's Mount Kelud erupts

Bintang Senandung Nacita
The Jakarta Post/AFP
Fri, 14 Feb 2014 02:34 UTC
Mount Kelud eruption
© APA pedicab makes its way on a street covered with volcanic ash from an eruption of Mount Kelud, in Solo, Central Java, Friday. Volcanic ash from a major eruption in Indonesia shrouded a large swath of the country's most densely populated island on Friday and closed three nearby international airports.
A spectacular volcanic eruption in Indonesia has killed at least two people and forced mass evacuations, disrupting long-haul flights and closing international airports Friday.

Mount Kelud, considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes on the main island of Java, spewed red-hot ash and rocks high into the air late Thursday night just hours after its alert status was raised.

TV images showed ash and rocks raining down on nearby villages, while AFP correspondents at the scene saw terrified locals covered in ash fleeing in cars and on motorbikes towards evacuation centres.

A man and a woman, both in their 60s, were crushed to death after volcanic material blanketed rooftops, causing their separate homes in the sub-district of Malang to cave in, National Disaster Mitigation Agency Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

"The homes were poorly built and seemed to have collapsed easily under the weight," he said.

Some 200,000 people in a 10-kilometre (six-mile) radius from the volcano were ordered to evacuate, according to national disaster officials, though many tried to return to their homes to gather clothing and valuables -- only to be forced back by a continuous downpour of volcanic materials.

"A rain of ash, sand and rocks is reaching up to 15 kilometres (nine miles)" from the volcano's crater, Nugroho said.
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