Welcome to Sott.net
Sat, 27 May 2023
The World for People who Think

Earth Changes
Map

Ambulance

Animal Extinction - the greatest threat to mankind

Today we're living through the sixth great extinction, sometimes known as the Holocene extinction event. We carried its seeds with us 50,000 years ago as we migrated beyond Africa with Stone Age blades, darts, and harpoons, entering pristine Ice Age ecosystems and changing them forever by wiping out at least some of the unique megafauna of the times, including, perhaps, the sabre-toothed cats and woolly mammoths. When the ice retreated, we terminated the long and biologically rich epoch sometimes called the Edenic period with assaults from our newest weapons: hoes, scythes, cattle, goats, and pigs.

Evil Rays

Hurricane Forecaster: Oceans Cause Global Warming, Not CO2

Denver: The United States' leading hurricane forecaster said Friday that global ocean currents, not human-produced carbon dioxide, are responsible for global warming, and the Earth may begin to cool on its own in five to 10 years.

William Gray, a Colorado State University researcher best known for his annual forecasts of hurricanes along the U.S. Atlantic coast, also said increasing levels of carbon dioxide will not produce more or stronger hurricanes.

He said that over the past 40 years the number of major hurricanes making landfall on the U.S. Atlantic coast has declined compared with the previous 40 years, even though carbon dioxide levels have risen.

Attention

Poisonous caterpillars crawl to warmer north

Poisonous caterpillars are spreading across England, prompting warnings from environmental health officers.

A series of mild winters has seen swarms of brown tail moth caterpillars move from their usual habitats along the south-east coast to as far north as Yorkshire.

The brown and red grub is covered in millions of tiny hairs that contain a toxin that can cause painful rashes, eye infections and, if inhaled, serious breathing difficulties.

As the caterpillars have moved inland, environmental health officials have been putting up warning signs in popular beauty spots.

Stop

Lightning starts fire at Oklahoma refinery

Flames and smoke poured into the sky Saturday over an oil refinery where lightning set off a fire and an explosion that was felt miles away, authorities said.

No injuries were reported and there were no immediate evacuation orders in the south-central Oklahoma town, said Mike Hancock, a spokesman for Wynnewood Refinery Co.

Flames and smoke boiled hundreds of feet into the air from two 80,000-gallon tanks in the Wynnewood Refinery complex, officials said.

Firefighters doused the area surrounding the tanks Saturday, Hancock said.

"Tank fires are pretty pesky fires. They're easy to keep contained, but they're hard to fight," Hancock said. "It's hard to estimate how long it will be. It can take a day or so to burn the product."

Bizarro Earth

History Of UK Earthquakes

Earthquakes are a relatively rare phenomenon in the UK but the country has suffered a number in recent years.

Magnify

Bones Throw Light on 1755 Lisbon Quake

LISBON, Portugal - It was a chilling discovery: a mass grave of human bones _ skulls smashed and scorched by fire, dog bites on a child's thigh bone, a forehead with an apparent bullet hole.

Bizarro Earth

Official: Georgia fire could burn for a month

WAYCROSS, Ga. - A few spot fires ignited Saturday afternoon across a highway from a massive wildfire and firefighters struggled to put them out before they could spread in the miles of tinder-dry forest beyond.

Ambulance

Algae kill Calif. sea animals

LOS ANGELES - A bloom of ocean algae that produces a toxic acid has sickened and killed hundreds of birds, sea lions and dolphins in California, environmentalists said.

Coffee

Quake brings WWII PT boat up from ocean floor

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Wreckage from a World War II torpedo boat was tossed up from the sea in the Solomon Islands after a powerful 8.1 earthquake hit the area in early April, an official said Friday.

Ambulance

5 squirrels with plague near Denver park

Five plague-infected squirrels and a wild rabbit found in a Denver park are a reminder that Coloradans should take precautions to protect themselves from the potentially deadly disease, health officials say.