Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Wind, snow, surf lash Tasmania

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© ONE NewsWaves spill onto roads in Tasmania
Tasmanians are going through one of their coldest days in years as snow, wind and surf lashes the state.

Thousands of homes have been left without electricity as a low pressure system moves across the area. Crews are working to restore power to about 4,000 homes but it is not known how long it will take, according to ABC weather zone.

Winds have exceeded prediction of 120 kilometres an hour in higher regions, said the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

The temperature at Mount Wellington was minus 4.2 degrees Celsius this morning, with snow forcing the area's main road to close.

Some visitors to Cradle Mountain, in the state's north, are also trapped by snow.

The extreme weather conditions has also generated giant waves off the state's west coast.

Bizarro Earth

US, West Virginia: Brutal storms leave 1 dead

Belleville - One person was killed Thursday night when severe thunderstorms and winds swept through southern Wood County, ripping down power lines, overturning vehicles and leveling homes along W.Va. 68, a quarter mile south of the Belleville Homecoming grounds.

Wood County 911 center set up its mobile command unit near the former Humphrey School, which was being used as a triage center.

"We have one confirmed fatality right now, and the coroner has been called out," said Wood County Sheriff Jeff Sandy. "There is about a half-mile sweep of devastation we are just beginning to go through. Homes have been leveled to the ground. You would not believe the wreckage."

The name of the deceased male was not released Thursday night, officials said.

A spokesman at the National Weather Service in Charleston said it won't be known if a tornado struck Belleville until agency officials visit southern Wood County today.

Bizarro Earth

US: Athens Ohio Tornado Damage Report

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© Unknown
The tornado that blasted through Athens, Ohio with devastating winds and massive hail left destruction at an Athens high school, flipped over mobile homes and injured several people. Residents from Athens reported violent wind, rain and hail around 5 p.m. when the storm struck. Tornado warnings were issued for many of the neighboring counties. Six tornadoes were reported yesterday. Four of them hit Athens County.

About 500 people were directy affected by the tornadoes. Eight people were sent to O'Bleness Memorial Hospital. Two more were sent to Doctor's Hospital of Nelsonville. This morning the sheriff's office confirmed that thirteen people were admitted to the area hospitals due to the storms.

The violent winds caused several road closures. The Pine-Air Villate Trailer Park in the Plains area suffered significant damage. Multiple trailers were overturned and several trees were knocked down. The trailer park is currently without gas due to a leak in the gas line.

Athens High School was also hit by the storm. The students present were safely sheltered during the storm.

There was a girl's soccer game at Basil Rutter Field when the storm hit. The players ran for cover and there are no reports of injury. The bleachers were knocked over and the press box was destroyed.

Igloo

Early Winter Approaches As UK Temperatures Plunge Towards Zero

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It's time to dig out the winter duvet, hunt for your thermals and think about putting the central heating back on.

For after a pleasant week, forecasters say the weather will take a chilly turn for the worse this weekend.

Millions are expected to wake up to a frost this morning, while the Scottish highlands could see a dusting of September snow.

Although the cold snap won't last, the first frost of the autumn for many is an unwelcome sign that winter is just around the corner.

The mercury fell to 3c (37f) last night for much of the UK, with forecasters saying there was a 'slight chance' temperatures could sink to minus 2c (28f) in Aberdeen. 'It's pretty cold at the moment, particularly at night,' said the Met Office's spokesman Barry Grommet.

'Generally we are looking at temperatures of 3c and 4c at the lowest and people who are out and about early in sheltered rural areas may see some ground frost.'

Bizarro Earth

New Zealand: Severe Weather Batters The Country

Severe NZ Weather
© Martin SahlinStorm damage on the Auckland waterfront yesterday.
Severe weather battered many parts of New Zealand on Friday, closing roads and causing power outages for thousands of customers.

People are being warned to stay away from downed power lines, while roads in both islands have been shut due to heavy snow and debris falling on roads.

At least 14,000 customers are without electricity in the greater Auckland region on Friday night which has been battered by heavy rain and winds gusting over 100km/h in some places.

Electricity lines company Vector says crews are trying to restore power to pockets of affected residents in the Auckland region and parts of Waiheke Island.

A spokesperson says branches coming down from trees onto powerlines, as well as a large lightening strike, has caused the outages.

Emergency services have been inundated with weather related callouts, dealing with downed trees, powerlines and roofs blowing off houses.

The Coastguard says hurricane-force winds of more than 140km/h have been recorded at the Manukau Heads as the storm lashes the region.

Bizarro Earth

Hindu Kush Region - Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - Afghanistan

Afghan Quake_170910
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Friday, September 17, 2010 at 19:21:13 UTC

Friday, September 17, 2010 at 11:51:13 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
36.488°N, 70.826°E

Depth:
199.7 km (124.1 miles)

Region:
HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN

Distances:
75 km (45 miles) SSE of Faizabad, Afghanistan

115 km (70 miles) NW of Chitral, Pakistan

130 km (80 miles) SSW of Khorugh, Tajikistan

265 km (165 miles) NE of KABUL, Afghanistan

Fish

Missing Sailor's Remains Found Inside Giant Shark Caught and Killed Off "Jaws Beach"

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© The Daily MailThe 12ft tiger shark which was found to contain the body of Judson Newton, 43, who had tried to swim to Jaws Beach in The Bahamas after his boat's engine failed
A boater who disappeared off Jaws Beach - on an island where one of the Jaws movies was filmed - is likely the person whose remains were found in the belly of a shark, police say.

Authorities used fingerprints to identify Judson Newton, although they are still waiting for DNA test results, Assistant Police Commissioner Hulan Hanna said late Tuesday.

It is unclear if the 43-year-old Newton was alive when he was eaten.

Newton went on a boating trip with friends off Jaws Beach on New Providence Island on Aug. 29 and encountered engine trouble. Rescuers who responded to a call for help found three men aboard who said that Newton and a friend jumped into the water to try to swim back to shore. Officials launched a search for them, but neither was found.

On Sept. 4, a local investment banker caught the 12-foot (3.6-meter) tiger shark while on a deep-sea fishing trip and he said a left leg popped out of its mouth as they hauled it in.

When officers with the island's defense force cut the shark open, they found the right leg, two severed arms and a severed torso.

Bizarro Earth

California's Dolphins Suffer Mystery Skin Lesions

Dolphin Skin Disease
© Mark P. CoterSore skin.
Dolphins in California aren't happy. Some 90 per cent of bottlenose dolphins in Monterey Bay are suffering from an outbreak of skin lesions - and nobody knows why.

Between 2006 and 2008, a team led by Daniela Maldini of Californian research organisation Okeanis found that of 147 identifiable adult dolphins and 42 calves living in the area, 133 adults and 30 calves had skin lesions (AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, DOI: 10.1007/s13280-010-0066-8).

Five different conditions were identified, with the most common being lesions similar to those caused by poxvirus, which affected 142 dolphins. But the cause is not clear. "Our first suspicion immediately falls on contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, organochlorines and fire retardants," says Maldini. These pollutants can weaken animals' immune systems and make them more vulnerable to viruses. Maldini was aided by volunteers from international environmental charity Earthwatch.

Bizarro Earth

US: Super Cell Storm, hail, heavy rain, tornadoes hit Kansas, Oklahoma

Tulsa, Oklahoma - Severe weather moved across parts of northern Oklahoma Wednesday night, prompting severe thunderstorm warnings and even one tornado warning.

The tornado warning was issued Wednesday night for northern Osage County, but expired a short time later. As of late Wednesday night, there had been no confirmed reports of a tornado.

The storm moved through Bartlesville, bringing wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour and reports of golf ball-sized hail.

A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect until 11:15 p.m. for the following counties: Nowata, Osage and Washington.

"These storms are going to be quite intense," said News On 6 Chief Meteorologist Travis Meyer. "Once we get through this, then we'll clear out, things will start to improve tomorrow."

Bizarro Earth

New York City Hit by a TORNADO: One Person Killed and a Trail of Destruction Left as 100mph Winds Rip Through City

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© AP PhotoSmashed: Residents in the Park Slope neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York circle around a car crushed by a fallen tree
At least one person has been killed after a tornado-like storm ripped through New York.

The sky turned black and tornado-like squalls torn through the city stranding ten of thousands of commuters.

Officials suspended access to overcrowded Pennsylvania Station in midtown Manhattan, where people were locked shoulder to shoulder after fallen trees forced a halt to commuter rail traffic.

Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens were hit hardest by the storm. Locals used axes to hack at trees that in some cases had crashed across stairways and front porches, trapping people inside homes.

Winds reached up to 100mph shut down roads and power lines leaving 70,000 customers without power.