Earth Changes
After an unusually strong X-class solar flare and unusual solar activity back in September - possibly related to a series of powerful earthquakes above 7.0M in New Caledonia and Mexico - last month was marked by three powerful earthquakes that caused widespread damage - in Iraq/Iran, Chile and South Korea. Meanwhile, volcanic activity seems to have reached a seasonal peak (yes, soon we'll have to start talking about 'volcano season').
These increased geological phenomena, and the official predictions of an increase in earthquake activity in 2018 due to the slow-down of Earth's rotation, have left affected people with a feeling of dread.
Droughts also worsened in Portugal and Spain last month, while sheets of rain fell in South America, Australia, and in most parts of Asia. All this at a time when meteorologists are finding themselves having to use the term 'atmospheric phenomena' because 'rainfall' just doesn't cut it anymore.
Trumpet sounds and portents in the sky were seen as harbingers of changing times in the past, from the social and political arena, to significant cosmic events. So fasten your seat belts folks, because it seems that things are going to get rough.
Check it out below, and watch it in full screen!
After building 341,000 wind turbines, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, now climate modelers reveal that winds will decrease in the Northern Hemisphere!
Warming temperatures caused by climate change are set to weaken wind energy in the northern hemisphere, a study shows, lessening the amount of wind power produced for wind farms.Rush, invest your money now. The theory called polar amplification has the success rate of a coin toss. Buy a wind farm in NE Australia!
However the southern hemisphere would see a boost in wind, which could potentially turn north-eastern Australia into an attractive investment for energy companies.
Luckily wind speeds are not also influenced by cloud cover, jet streams, oceans currents, forest growth, atmospheric tides, solar factors, magnetic fields, ozone levels, cosmic rays, or butterflies. Otherwise this study might be inadequate, uninformed guesswork being used to inform investment decisions!Key points:
- Atmosphere instability which creates wind changing in northern hemisphere
- North-east Australia could become an attractive investment for energy companies
- At present there is only one operational wind farm in Queensland
Eliot Herman is Tucson, Arizona has been working all year to compile a series of images of every major meteor shower in 2017. So last weekend, as this week's Geminid meteor shower was rising to its peak, he had his automatic camera set-up running all night. You can see one result in the images above. He didn't catch a Geminid (although he did catch a random meteor, which exploded as it fell). But he caught something equally wonderful, a long-lasting halo around the moon.
Eliot said the halo lasted from 2 a.m. to dawn. You can see twilight coming up in the bottom right image. Then, he said, the halo just: "... blinked out."
Claudell Curry and his wife Odell were watching TV Sunday night when all of a sudden:
"This horrendous boom and our house just shook and trembled," Curry said.
At first, they couldn't tell what had happened. Then Claudell walked past their bedroom. "Side glance and I saw all that stuff and I thought what in the world? I went in, and all of the stuff there," he said.
Here's a recording of the boom:
For comparison, this boom (and flash of light) was heard in Bridgewater, New Jersey on November 2nd:

A horrified crowd watched as the man was almost ravaged by the wild cat in the village of Khairi in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh last week
Blood curdling screams can be heard as the man wrestles with the big, muscular cat in the video, after it went on a rampage in an Indian village where it attacked at least two other people.
A horrified crowd watched as the man was almost ravaged by the wild cat but villagers eventually managed to scare it away from the village of Khairi in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh last week.
During the attack, the cat pounced on the man and plunged its claws into his flesh while sinking its teeth into his limbs while trying to wrestle him to the ground.
But he grappled with the cat and grabbed a large stick to use as a weapon and a shield, and eventually managed to pull free from the predator's grasp.
Valais has experienced some of the heaviest December snowfall in years over the last few days, not just in the mountains but down to the valley floor.
Sion, the cantonal capital, received a record 65cms of snow over the weekend, and pictures published by local paper Le Nouvelliste showed residents skiing down the streets. Around 80cms fell at higher altitude.
While most of Switzerland experienced some snow on the weekend, temperatures warmed up on Sunday afternoon turning the precipitation to rain in many places, however the particular meteorological conditions in the Valais meant it kept snowing.
Comment: Even heavier snowfall was recorded in other parts the Alps (as well as other European mountains) over the same weekend, see: Over a metre of snow in 72 hours for the Alps; big falls in the Dolomites and Pyrenees too
CCTV footage captured the moment the driver fended off the dangerous dog with a fire extinguisher.
The woman and the driver have been taken to hospital by onlookers, and the dog is still at large.
According to The Paper, Ms Song saw a Tibetan Mastiff wandering in the middle of the traffic on her way back home in Zibo, Shandong Province.
The canine, usually favoured by rich Chinese people, started to attack her when it spotted her at the lane barriers.
Surveillance video shows the dog pounces onto Ms Song suddenly and attacks her.
Comment: See also these recent reports of canine attacks: Boy killed by 3 dogs in Cherokee County, South Carolina
Woman killed by pack of pit bull terriers in Jackson County, Alabama; second such attack in the state in 10 days
Elderly woman killed by her own pit bull terrier in Alsip, Illinois

Flooding after the River Enza broke its banks in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, December 2017.
Severe weather including snow, rain and freezing temperatures has affected much of Italy since Monday 11 December. Schools have been closed and road, rail and air travel all adversely affected. Several flights from Turin-Caselle Airport were delayed as a result of the cold temperatures.
Heavy rain has affected the north eastern regions of Emilia-Romagna, Liguria and Tuscany in particular.













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