A blast of polar air from a cold-front in southern Australia last week managed to push all the way up to the tropics. Darwin shivered through it's coldest August night on record Monday after the temperature dropped to just 13.1C Monday, more than seven degrees below the August average minimum of 20.4C.
Earth Changes
© AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, flames surround a house on a hillside above Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.
In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, flames surround a house on a hillside above Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.
Firefighters stopped a fire about 75 miles east of Seattle from destroying more buildings in the past two days, fire spokesman Mark Grassel said Thursday. The blaze near the town of Cle Elum burned at least 70 homes, more than 200 outbuildings and about 35 square miles of wildland since it started Monday.
Crews focused on strengthening lines on the fire's stubborn north flank, where flames whipped through thick pine and fir forests in a steep, rugged area.
"They're really trying to button up that line so they feel more secure about it holding," Grassel said.
Firefighters' work allowed officials to lift some evacuation orders, although homeowners said they didn't feel out of danger yet. Unusually hot, dry, unstable weather was expected Friday and Saturday, with thunderstorms possible, Grassel said.
Going by the current stats available, the mountain has already spewed enough ash from January to July, amounting to twice the amount emitted in all of last year. Masato Iguchi, a professor at the Sakurajima Volcano Research Center said that last year saw a record number of eruptions as well. The ground around Sakurajima indicates the buildup of magma and appears swollen.
And if Sakurajima keeps being as active it is right now, we can expect the amount of ash expelled to be a new record. In the past two decades this year's activity of explosions and ash fall have both risen dramatically.
Multiple waterspouts were filmed just offshore from the city of Foros on the Black Sea coast in early August 2012.
Multiple waterspouts were filmed just offshore from the city of Darłowo on the Polish Baltic Sea coast in early August 2012.
© Frank Bellino / Riverside Press-Enterprise
A DC-10 drops retardant on the Buck wildfire over rugged terrain south of Hemet on Tuesday.
A DC-10 drops retardant on the Buck wildfire over rugged terrain south of Hemet on Tuesday.
Some smoldering continues in interior back-country areas, the Riverside County Fire Department announced Thursday. One firefighter needed to be taken to a hospital with minor injuries, the department said.
Two other firefighters and one civilian had been injured Wednesday, and four structures were destroyed.
The Buck fire was one of more than a dozen that burned across the state this week, including a blaze a northern San Diego County called the Vallecito Lightning Complex fire. The Vallecito blaze, which started Sunday, has been 70% contained. Marine and Navy helicopters were used to assist the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in fighting the blaze, which stretched over almost 20,000 acres.
Other fires were reported this week in San Bernardino County, Kern County and the Stanislaus National Forest. Ken Pimlott, chief of Cal Fire, said Wednesday that over 8,000 state, local and federal firefighters were battling the flames across the state.
© Carmarthen Journal
The road between Whitland and Lampeter Velfrey which collapsed during last week’s floods
The road between Whitland and Lampeter Velfrey which collapsed during last week’s floods
The B4328, between Whitland and Lampeter Velfrey, is a popular lane for motorists around the area who have now been forced to find other routes.
The hole appeared last week, after torrential rain caused flooding across the area, with fire crews inundated with calls.
Councillor David Simpson, ward member for Lampeter Velfrey, said he was first told about the hole on Monday, August 6.
"The rain took away a piece of road about 40 yards across - maybe 30 - and across the width of the road.
"I think it was about 20 foot deep."
Closed circuit cameras in Taiwan captured a man being swallowed by a sinkhole. He was walking when the ground disappeared. Rescuers were not able to save the man. Officials believe the heavy rains washed away the soil under the walkway. At least 23 people, including this man, have died from the typhoon's rains. Typhoon Saola was hovering near the Philippines last week and is expected to move on to China.
Two people have been killed after a section of road caved-in on a busy city street. Three others, including a baby girl, were injured when the crater appeared in Harbin in China's Heilongjiang province on Monday. They were saved when rescue workers gained access to the 20ft-wide hole via a drainage tunnel.
Two passers-by died from injuries sustained in the fall. Incredibly, the baby girl only sustained minor grazes to her head.
Two passers-by died from injuries sustained in the fall. Incredibly, the baby girl only sustained minor grazes to her head.
© Reuters
Crater: Two passers-by were killed when a section of road collapsed in Harbin in China's Heilongjiang province on Monday afternoon
Crater: Two passers-by were killed when a section of road collapsed in Harbin in China's Heilongjiang province on Monday afternoon
Neighboring herds have been vaccinated. No cows left the affected ranches so none entered the food supply and no human infection has been reported, Roehr said. Anthrax kills livestock within hours of infection and can decimate herds if animals are not quickly treated, he said. Anthrax is caused by a bacterium that forms in spores and can lie dormant in soil for decades until ingested. Humans get anthrax most commonly through direct contact with infected animals usually when spores get into a cut or abrasion on the skin.
Comment: Meanwhile, further north...
Multiple waterspouts touch down off Polish coast