Puzzled by the mass deaths of birds and fish in Alabama? It's also happening elsewhere, across the Eastern and Southern U.S. and around the world -- Gizmodo has a handy map of all the U.S. events.

The Activist Post offers some theories. Before you read them, however, bear in mind what Yahoo News has to say about the subject:

"... [M]ass die-offs happen all the time and usually are unrelated ... Federal records show they happen on average every other day somewhere in North America. Usually, we don't notice them and don't try to link them to each other ...

And there have been much larger die-offs than the 3,000 blackbirds in Arkansas. Twice in the summer of 1996, more than 100,000 ducks died of botulism in Canada."

Here are the theories listed by the Activist Post:

Mainstream Explanations: These have included lightning, hail, mid-air collision, power lines, and New Year fireworks for the birds, and a disease for the fish. But this seems like a heck of a coincidence, and where are the roasted birds from a lightning strike?

Meteor showers: During this period of intense seasonal meteor shower, some people reported hearing sonic booms in the area that might have been an indication of a local shock wave.

New Madrid Fault Line: Could it be related to the recent earthquake activity along a fault line that runs along the mid-eastern section of the U.S.? Could it have dispersed pollutants into the water and atmosphere?

Government testing: Only certain species have been affected, but within the entire region. And some reports have indicated that the organs of the birds were liquefied -- could this implicate species-specific bio-weapons?

GMOs: There are other die-offs are happening across other species, such as bees and bats. Some think they could be poisoned by genetically modified plants.

Say what, two suns may be visible from Earth in 2012? Everyday we seem to be getting bombarded with warning signs that our planet is changing rapidly. In fact, many of the changes are occurring for the first time in modern recorded history and all seem to indicate a need for civilization to adapt.

Record-breaking heat and cold are striking all corners of the globe; earthquake activity has spiked, even in places thought not to have active fault lines; birds, bees, fish, and other animals are dropping dead with no coherent cause, and there is a flurry of talk about galactic anomalies beginning to happen.

Since the man-made global warming theory has simmered down from a boil, many other concerns have surfaced that appear to minimize possible effects of CO2 concentrations as our greatest concern. Sure, many of these changes may be connected in some way, but the idea that there is a silver bullet to stop this train of collective events is unlikely.

One thing we can say is that we live in very interesting times. These unprecedented events are accelerating at a blistering pace, as we hurl through space on this ball we call Earth. It seems this turbulent cycle is going to continue to manifest despite our best human efforts to stop it. The only thing we can hope to do is digest the available information and plan for the worst, while hoping for the best. Assuredly, humans possess a far greater ability to adapt through technology than the animal kingdom, yet we certainly can't thrive without protecting the entire biosphere.

The number of birds flying south to important wintering grounds in the Philippines has fallen sharply this year, with experts saying the dramatic demise of wetlands and hunting are to blame.

Despite some harsh, cold weather across the Eurasian landmass, some waterbirds that usually migrate in huge flocks to the tropical islands have been completely absent, said Philippine-based Danish ornithologist Arne Jensen.

"The flyway populations of several waterbird species are in constant and dramatic decline," Jensen, who advises the Philippine government on species conservation, told AFP.

"Hence the urgent need to establish real and well-managed, hunting-free waterbird sanctuaries along the migratory flyways."

Candaba, a swamp two hours' drive north of Manila that has long been used as a pit stop by hundreds of species as they fly staggering distances between the Arctic Circle and Australia, appears emblematic of the downfall.

North Korea's state media said Saturday the harsh winter that has hit the peninsula has caused hardship for "the people's lives" and could severely affect spring farming activities.

This is the first time the North's media has reported on the toll this winter has taken.

Citing data from the North's meteorological research unit, the KCNA reported that between Dec. 24 and Jan. 19, the average daytime high temperature had been minus 4.9 degrees Celsius while the morning low averaged minus 15.6 degrees. Both figures, it said, were 3.2 degrees lower than usual.

"This is the first time since 1945 that the maximum daytime temperature has remained below zero for nearly a month," the KCNA quoted an official as saying.

On Jan. 16, the mercury dropped to 18.2 degrees below zero in Pyongyang and other parts of the country, a mark some 5 to 10 degrees colder than in normal winters, it said.

South Korean humanitarian aid groups project that the harsh conditions are severely compounding existing malnutrition and shelter problems.

Vismita Gupta-Smith, an official of the World Health Organization, which operates an office in Pyongyang, said no unusual pattern of disease or health conditions had been observed by WHO staff.

"The Claim 2010 is '2nd warmest year on record' - is delusional, irrelevant & disingenuous - the last gasp of the failed global warming cult"

The ideologically driven global warmist joke must be swept aside. The time has come for useful science-based forecasts to reduce misery and save lives.

• More end-January extreme warnings for USA, Australia + UK/Europe.
• The most exciting weather year for a century has begun.

The latest claims about world average temperatures by Government weather organizations around the world such as UK MetOffice*, apart from being contrary to the actual experience of the majority of the world population - notably USA, Europe, IndoChina and South America, raise four points.

Piers Corbyn of weatheraction.com, most famous for predicting our current weather anomalies by using a Solar Lunar predictive method, explains here how the Climate Warming scare was a contrived hoax.

Travel stalls, shelters fill, but warming on way

The coldest weather to strike Boston in six years wreaked havoc on commuters yesterday, freezing car batteries across the region and leaving thousands shivering in the bitter cold on exposed platforms as they waited for MBTA trains that either broke down or were stalled behind those that did.

An Arctic blast drove the officially recorded temperature down to minus 2 at Logan International Airport, minus 9 in Bedford, and minus 24 in the Franklin County town of Orange. Emergency responders said the region appeared to be spared death and serious injury. But hundreds called to seek heating assistance and other help coping with the extreme cold, and homeless shelters were over capacity.

Eleanor Vallier-Talbot, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, said the minus 2 at Logan was the first sub-zero temperature in Boston in six years and matched the low of Jan. 22, 2005.

The mercury crept back above zero by midmorning and hit 10 at Logan in time for lunch. More normal January temperatures, highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s, are expected today and tomorrow, just in time for a predicted mix of snow, rain, and sleet, courtesy of a storm headed this way from the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Weather Service warned that the storm could bring coastal flooding, as well as the usual winter roadway hazards.

The corridor from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee to the Ohio Valley has become the target of the latest cross-country snowstorm that will eventually head to the Northeast.


Places in the path of today's snow and plunging temperatures are sure to face disruptions to travel and daily routines.

Roads and sidewalks were a skating rink around Oklahoma City this morning. Freezing rain followed by a coating of snow and temperatures plunging into the teens led to numerous accidents and prompted officials to close schools.

A similar fate with precipitation and plunging temperatures is likely around Little Rock, Ark. this afternoon and Memphis this evening.

The Great Lakes and Midwest will not only have to endure brutal cold through this weekend, but also snow from the lake-effect snow machine and an Alberta clipper.


Lake-effect snow is already under way across the western Great Lakes, and will continue to develop downwind of lakes Erie and Ontario as today progresses and frigid air invades the Northeast.

The AccuWeather.com Winter Weather Center is expecting up to several inches of snow to accumulate to the lee of the Great Lakes today.

Snow-covered, slick roadways will create travel hazards for motorists. Bitterly cold winds will worsen the situation by blowing and drifting the snow.

Poor visibility is an added danger where the most intense bands unleash a heavy burst of snow.

One of these intense lake-effect bands will continue to develop in the vicinity of Syracuse, N.Y., today. The heaviest totals from this band will approach a foot into tonight north of the city.

As the lake-effect snow machine cranks up, an Alberta clipper will continue to deliver snow to the northern and central Plains today.

Surging floodwaters broke levees in disaster-hit Australia on Monday to inundate more properties in the southeast, as residents sandbagged homes against the spiralling crisis.

Swollen rivers in the southeastern state of Victoria have created a flood zone measuring an estimated 90 kilometres (56 miles) long and 40 kilometres wide, the State Emergency Service said.

"This area has seen unprecedented flooding," SES spokesman Kevin Monk told AFP. "This is just amazing."

As the floodwaters rushed towards the Murray River, evacuation alerts were issued late Sunday and early Monday for the small communities of Pental Island and Murrabit West, home to about 400 people each.

In an emergency alert the SES said that levees around Murrabit West were failing, warning that the area would be inundated in the next 12 hours.

"They are being flooded now," Monk told AFP. "It's across properties. If they haven't sandbagged them, there may be some impacts on people's housing."

The Victoria floods stem from La Nina-provoked torrential rains which hit the state mid-January and followed weeks of widespread floods to the north that killed at least 30 people and devastated mining and farming in Queensland.