Thousands of fish are dying in the Midwest as the hot, dry summer dries up rivers and causes water temperatures to climb in some spots to nearly 100 degrees.
About 40,000 shovelnose sturgeon were killed in Iowa last week as water temperatures reached 97 degrees. Nebraska fishery officials said they've seen thousands of dead sturgeon, catfish, carp, and other species in the Lower Platte River, including the endangered pallid sturgeon. And biologists in Illinois said the hot weather has killed tens of thousands of large- and smallmouth bass and channel catfish and is threatening the population of the greater redhorse fish, a state-endangered species.
So many fish died in one Illinois lake that the carcasses clogged an intake screen near a power plant, lowering water levels to the point that the station had to shut down one of its generators.
Earth Changes
© The Associated Press
Part of a three-storey building washed away in flash floods in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state on Sunday.
Part of a three-storey building washed away in flash floods in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state on Sunday.
Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed at Gangori, where the maximum number of deaths were reported, with relatives and villagers crying for help.
Efforts were on to move about 700 Char Dham pilgrims stranded at various places to safer spots on foot, as the roads were completely damaged and the hostile weather was not allowing airlifting of the people.
The State government released Rs. 20 crore from the disaster mitigation fund for immediate relief work and urged civil society organisations to rush help to the victims.
The weather department has sounded an alert for heavy rains and flash floods for the next 24 hours.
© The Associated Press/David McFadden
Fisherman Daniel Edwards bails his small wooden skiff out in Port Royal, a fishing village just outside of Kingston, Jamaica, Sunday Aug. 5, 2012.
Fisherman Daniel Edwards bails his small wooden skiff out in Port Royal, a fishing village just outside of Kingston, Jamaica, Sunday Aug. 5, 2012.
Emergency officials said some eastern parts of Jamaica were drenched by rain from Ernesto and more heavy rainfall and gusty winds were likely as the rapidly moving storm passed by, though U.S. forecasters said it was becoming less organized.
Jamaica's emergency management agency urged people in flood-prone areas to be on alert and avoid flooded waterways and submerged roads. The government earlier ordered fishermen on outlying cays to evacuate and move to the main island.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller called on all Jamaicans to make the necessary preparations to ensure their safety.
"I urge you to especially consider the children, the sick, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and the most vulnerable in the society," she said.
Daniel Edwards, a dreadlocked fisherman in Port Royal, a small fishing village at the tip of a spit of land near Kingston's airport, said vigorous lightning lit up the sky over the sea late Saturday and early Sunday.
Bailing out his small wooden fishing boat next to a dilapidated wooden dock, Edwards said he wasn't overly concerned about the storm.
"It's not much of a muchness," said the veteran fisherman, decked out in rain gear.
© NASA
Greenland: nearly all gone. We are doomed
Greenland: nearly all gone. We are doomed
I'll tell you what doesn't amuse me, though. Here I am in Wales, on my holidays, enjoying the semi-sun, and suddenly I get emails from and Tweets from sensible people on my side of the argument saying: "Help! Help! The BBC has gone mad for this story about the NASA satellite showing that 97 per cent of Greenland has melted and apparently it's 'unprecedented'. What do we do?"
Sigh. The right thing to do on occasions like this, I find, is to head straight for Watts Up With That? Unlike, say, the BBC, or the Guardian, or the Independent or most of the rest of the MSM, WUWT's posts are grounded in actual science and real world data.
© Stacye Sullivan/The Fairview Observer
Phillip Rykwalder with Cave Now checks the rope of Sara Goning as she ascends into the sinkhole on Cumberland Drive.
Phillip Rykwalder with Cave Now checks the rope of Sara Goning as she ascends into the sinkhole on Cumberland Drive.
"My wife just cut the grass in that very spot yesterday," explained Dean, as he looked down into the ten-foot-wide hole.
The sinkhole is located along the property line between the Parker's property and neighbors Michael and Jennifer King. It sits approximately 75 feet from the Parker's home and 105 feet from the center line of Cumberland Drive.
The Parkers began making calls and Williamson County Emergency Management arrived on the scene to do an initial assessment, placing caution tape around the sink hole so that nearby neighborhood children would be warned of the danger.
Family friend and local resident Steven Brison came by on Sunday afternoon and rappelled down into the nine-foot wide hole for a closer look.
© Navteq/MS/Bing™
See article 'Title' link for interactive map.
See article 'Title' link for interactive map.
Florence has sustained winds up to 45 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported.
It was still in the deep Atlantic, but on a path towards the Caribbean.
Ernesto was packing sustained winds of 50 mph and should pass south of Jamaica on Sunday, the center stated. "Ernesto is forecast to become a hurricane ... in a day or two," it added.
After Jamaica, which issued a tropical storm warning, Ernesto will likely head toward Grand Cayman, arriving Monday, and then Cancun/Cozumel in Mexico on Wednesday, weather.com reported.
© Associated Press
Residents wade through a flooded street in the town of Navotas in suburban Manila
Residents wade through a flooded street in the town of Navotas in suburban Manila
The Philippines recorded 37 deaths in floods and accidents caused by Saola's torrential rains and strong winds, officials said on Friday. Four people were missing and feared dead.
Taiwan residents spent Friday cleaning up storm damage and returning to work, a day after Saola slammed into the island, packing winds of up to 155 kilometres an hour, dumping 1.8 metres of rain and killing five people. Two were reported missing.
Saola weakened into a tropical storm before making landfall on Friday morning in Fuding in China's south-eastern province of Fujian with winds of 90km/h at its centre, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
Napoleonville - Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Friday in Assumption Parish after officials ordered an immediate evacuation of the Bayou Corne area because a slurry area appeared to be expanding.
"The fear of the unknown prompted the evacuation order," said John Boudreaux, director of the parish's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. "The fear of it possibly compromising either the nearby pipelines or cavern storage areas, that could cause a risk to the community."
Boudreaux said about 150 homes are affected by the order. He was unsure how long it would remain in effect. The governor's emergency proclamation extends through Sept. 2 unless terminated earlier.
Boudreaux initially estimated the area was about 200 feet by 200 feet. He said it's on private land near the Texas Brine Co. LLC facility. Police Jury President Marty Triche said that in speaking with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and the Governor's Office, he was advised there was a risk that the slurry area could grow to a size of about 2,000 feet across.
Emergency workers at the scene of the enormous sinkhole.
Unbelievable footage captures the moment a man was swallowed by a sinkhole that suddenly opened up on a Taiwan street.
The unidentified man was reportedly walking in Taipei Wednesday morning when the road beneath him suddenly collapsed, pulling him to his death.
CNN reports the incident occurred near the Temple of Sansha.
© CNN
A line of flames from one of several wildfires advances through an Oklahoma field.
A line of flames from one of several wildfires advances through an Oklahoma field.
The largest of the fires is just south of Oklahoma City in Cleveland County, according to Jerry Lojka, spokesman for the department of emergency management.
"The metro area is not in danger, but there are still homes out there, and there are subdivisions that are in those wooded areas," he said.
Twenty-five structures have burned in Cleveland County, according to Kelli Cain, another spokeswoman at the emergency department. Roughly 100 or so homes there are threatened.
Comment: It may not be man-made, but 'climate change' is very real. Something is causing significant changes on all the planets in our solar system.