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Australian scientists at Bureau of Meteorology again caught tampering with weather data

climate change
Australian scientists at the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) ordered a review of temperature recording instruments after the government agency was caught tampering with temperature logs in several locations.

Agency officials admit that the problem with instruments recording low temperatures likely happened in several locations throughout Australia, but they refuse to admit to manipulating temperature readings. The BOM located missing logs in Goulburn and the Snow Mountains, both of which are in New South Wales.

Meteorologist Lance Pidgeon watched the 13 degrees Fahrenheit Goulburn recording from July 2 disappear from the bureau's website. The temperature readings fluctuated briefly and then disappeared from the government's website.

"The temperature dropped to minus 10 (13 degrees Fahrenheit), stayed there for some time and then it changed to minus 10.4 (14 degrees Fahrenheit) and then it disappeared," Pidgeon said, adding that he notified scientist Jennifer Marohasy about the problem, who then brought the readings to the attention of the bureau.

Comment: See also: Australia's BOM backs down on warming at Antarctic bases


Attention

Grounded Fin whale dies at Salvage, Newfoundland

A Fin whale that grounded itself in Salvage, and later perished on July 30, has brought a number of spectators to the area.
© Adam Randell/The Beacon
A Fin whale that grounded itself in Salvage, and later perished on July 30, has brought a number of spectators to the area.
Gathered along the shore in Salvage, a group of people look on as the remains of a Fin whale, estimated to be 40 feet long, lists in the shallows.

The whale grounded itself on Sunday and later perished.

Gander resident John King made the approximately 100-kilometre trip to the Eastport Peninsula community after hearing about the beaching from a friend.

An avid sea kayaker, King has encountered whales during his travels and he holds a lot of respect for the massive mammals.

Attention

Two whales die after beaching themselves off Fraser Island, Australia

First responders on the scene commencing bucketing and setting up pumps to keep the whales cool and wet
© NPSR
First responders on the scene commencing bucketing and setting up pumps to keep the whales cool and wet
It was a case of misadventure for the two humpback whales who tragically died after beaching themselves off Fraser Island, said a whale tour operator.

Blue Dolphin owner Peter Lynch said it was rare for whales to venture into that part of the Great Sandy Strait.

"It's a shallow, narrow area that's difficult for vessels to navigate," Mr Lynch said.

"There's a few whales that go down that way each season."

With the rapid increase in whale numbers, Mr Lynch said it was only expected that there would also be more whale deaths from accidents.

There is estimated to be 27,000 whales migrating this season, which is double what the number was just years ago.

"As the population increases, more and more will die naturally and more will die from fatality events like being hit by ships," he said.

"And more will die from human effect like being trapped in fishing gear."

Attention

Dead baby whale found on Gold Coast beach, Australia

A baby whale carcass being eaten buy a tiger shark 4km off the Gold Coast Seaway last week.

A baby whale carcass being eaten buy a tiger shark 4km off the Gold Coast Seaway last week.
A dead baby whale has washed up on shore between Nobbys and Main Beach this morning.

The news comes just one day after two humpback whales tragically beached themselves off Fraser Island.

The carcass was found just before 11am this morning and it is believed council animal management will remove the whale.

Sea World marine sciences director Trevor Long said about 20 per cent of baby whales were lost each year "for a range of reasons."

Attention

Dead whale washes ashore at Pebble Beach, California

dead whale
A dead whale, believed by marine biologists to be a humpback, has washed ashore in Northern California.

KSBW-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2uNlua8 ) the whale appeared Saturday at Pebble Beach near Bird Rock Point.

Marine biologist Katlyn Taylor called in the sighting.

A necropsy will help marine biologists determine the cause of death.


Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill at least 35 people in 2 days across Odisha, India

lightning
At least 17 persons were killed by lightning strikes across the State on Monday taking the toll to 35 in the last 48 hours. Six of the deaths came in from Sambalpur and Cuttack districts. At least three persons were killed while working in the farm fields in Cuttack's Athagarh sub-division. The victims were identified as Ashok Biswal (30), Santosh Rout (45) and Hadibandhu Sahoo. They were declared dead by doctors at Sub-Divisional Hospital in Athagarh.

Eight students of the sub-division headquarters were also struck by lightning and had to be hospitalised. They were released after treatment. All of them belonged to Rasrasikpur UGME UP School. President of the school was also hurt while taking the students to the hospital.In Sambalpur, three persons were struck by lightning whereas Bargarh recorded two more deaths. In neighbouring Deogarh district, another lightning casualty was reported.

Windsock

After explosive strengthening, Super Typhoon Noru is 2017's strongest storm so far

super typhoon Noru
© JMA via CIRA/RAMMB
On Saturday, it was just an ordinary tropical storm in the western tropical Pacific Ocean. But in a day's time, the storm named Noru exploded - becoming a super typhoon and the planet's most intense storm of the year so far.

In a mere 18 hours, Noru's peak winds increased by 90 mph, the Weather Channel reported.

"What a change," commented David Ornauer of the Star and Stripes Pacific Storm Tracker blog. "What a major, major change."

The imagery of Noru's transformation is remarkable. Here is a satellite animation showing it morph from tropical storm to Super Typhoon status (to become a Super Typhoon, a storm's peak winds must reach at least 150 mph):


Comment: Eight tropical cyclones spinning simultaneously in the north Pacific Ocean for first time since 1974


Seismograph

Shallow 5.3 magnitude earthquake strikes off Crete

Crete earthquake
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake jolted the Greek island of Gavdos, south of Crete, in the early hours of Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The USGS said the quake struck at 00.29 a.m. (UTC) and was at a depth of 16.6 km.

Experts said they do not expect any serious damage from the earthquake as the epicenter is too far from the southern coast of Crete.

Crete is a popular island resort usually packed with tourists.

In July, a magnitude 6.7 quake shook beach resorts in Greece and Turkey, killing two tourists who were crushed when a building collapsed on a bar on the Greek island of Kos and injuring nearly 500 others across the Aegean Sea region

Info

New avian virus discovered in bird that migrates to Brazil

white-rumped sandpiper
© Isaac Simão Neto
Researchers have discovered a new virus in a white-rumped sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis), a migratory bird species.
Researchers at the University of São Paulo's Biomedical Science Institute (ICB-USP) in Brazil have discovered a new virus in a migratory bird species. This is such a rare find that it can be considered a stroke of luck, especially because the virus in question is avian paramyxovirus 15, which belongs to the same family as avian paramyxovirus 1, the pathogen that causes Newcastle disease. This disease is not a health hazard for humans but can be lethal to wildfowl and domestic poultry.

"We perform active monitoring of viruses in migratory birds. I was looking for Newcastle disease virus, a type 1 avian paramyxovirus, and my colleague Jansen de Araújo aimed to detect avian influenza virus for his research project. Finally, we found a co-infection by two viruses, one of which was totally unknown until then," said Luciano Matsumiya Thomazelli, a researcher at ICB-USP's Clinical & Molecular Virology Laboratory.

Since 2005, the lab team has been going into the field to perform epidemiological surveillance in different parts of Brazil as part of the Viral Genetic Diversity Network (VGDN), funded by FAPESP and headed by Professor Edison Luiz Durigon.

Their goal is to detect the presence of avian influenza virus and Newcastle disease virus, among others, in birds and other wild animals. In addition to monitoring, they aim to assess the risk of new strains arriving in Brazil. The samples collected by the team are stored in freezers at -80 °C and used in scientific research.

Tornado1

Tropical Storm Emily triggers state of emergency in Florida but no evacuations

July 31, 2017 - St. Petersburg, Florida
© Dirk Shadd / Global Look Press
July 31, 2017 - St. Petersburg, Florida
Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in 31 counties as Tropical Storm Emily hit Florida's west coast. The order comes as the tropical depression was upgraded to a tropical storm by the National Hurricane Center.

"At this time, there are no evacuation orders in effect," Scott said in a statement released on Monday, after the storm made landfall. "The Florida National Guard stands ready to assist with any storm-related impacts."

A state of emergency order gives the state more flexibility to work with local government to keep people safe.