Welcome to Sott.net
Wed, 27 Oct 2021
The World for People who Think

Earth Changes
Map

Attention

21 people killed by elephants in 12 months across Goalpara district in Assam, India

Sofikul Ahmed
The Telegraph (India)
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 21:12 UTC
Charging elephant
© Getty
Charging elephant
21 people died in 12 months in Goalpara including two in the last week of December according to AID-R

Assam's Goalpara district recorded the highest number of man-elephant conflict in 2019, an NGO has said.

According to the AID-R, an NGO studying conflict cases, 21 people died in 12 months, including two in the last week of December. Five elephants also died during the same period.

The worst instance of the conflict was on October 29 when a male elephant trampled five persons to death in Matia under Rangjuli range forest. Later, it died in Orang National Park following a heart attack when it was tranquillised and translocated by the forest department from Goalpara.

The death sparked a controversy as the tranquillisation involved Padma Hazarika, a legislator with elephant handling experience but not from the forest department.
      Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Back-to-back wettest years on record for the Tennessee River basin

Robert W. Felix
Ice Age Now
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 20:55 UTC
damn
© TVA
Wettest year on record two years in a row.

It's official, 2019 was the second wettest year on record for the Tennessee River basin with 66.47 inches - 2018 was the wettest with 67.02 inches.

Previously, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said 2018 was the wettest on record for the 41,000 square-mile Tennessee River Valley.

When you realize that the entire state of Vermont has only 9,263 sq miles, you begin to realize how big an area we're talking about here.

The two wettest years on record, back-to-back!
      Read More...
Arrow Up

Norway records warmest ever January day at 19C


BBC News
Thu, 02 Jan 2020 16:40 UTC
Sunndalsora, Norway
© BBC
Western Norway is experiencing a rare heatwave for early January, at a time when temperatures should normally be below freezing.

The highest temperature of 19C (66F) - more than 25C above the monthly average - was measured in the village of Sunndalsora.

This makes it Norway's warmest January day since records began.

While many were enjoying the warm weather, there are concerns that it is another example of climate change.

"It's a new record for warm weather here... People [have been] out in the streets in their T-shirts today," Yvonne Wold, mayor of the municipality of Rauma, who had taken a dip in the sea earlier in the day, told the BBC.

"A lot of people are usually skiing at this time. Not exactly much of that today," she added.


Comment: The Foehn Effect may have also contributed to Northern Scotland registering a "remarkable" overnight temperature of 16.8C (62.2F) in the early hours last Sunday - a record high for this time of year.

However, the record-breaking temperatures, lows and highs, being recorded around the globe these days are likely influenced by a rapidly changing jet stream. See also:

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Jet streams break while 'once in a century' is our new norm

      Read More...
Snowflake

Indian state of Nagaland gets its first snowfall in 40 years


Condé Nast Traveller
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 13:41 UTC
Photo (left to right): Instagram/daisy__choudhury; ashuzhiio_chobotte; asakho_chase

Photo (left to right): Instagram/daisy__choudhury; ashuzhiio_chobotte; asakho_chase
Parts of Nagaland saw snow for the first time in decades—and more may be on the way

It may have taken a while—four decades as some reports claim—but it finally snowed in parts of Nagaland last week and it's turned the region into a winter wonderland. The rolling green mountains and meadows in the districts of Zunheboto, Kiphire, Phek and Tuensang were blanketed in fresh powder due to a biting cold wave in northeast India.

Nagaland weather in January 2020

Snow is an uncommon phenomenon in Nagaland. At this time of the year, the temperature usually drops to 10-11°C, but last week, the temperatures dropped to 2-3°C. Several other parts of the northeast are also experiencing extreme cold conditions. Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh on Monday was the most frigid city in the northeast on Monday at a temperature of 2.9°C. The conditions were similar in Imphal in Manipur, while Shillong reported a low of 5°C.

      Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

'Not ordinary rain': Indonesian capital Jakarta inundated, death toll hits 53, 170,000 people displaced - UPDATES


The Express Tribune
Wed, 01 Jan 2020 11:17 UTC
A woman paddles through flood waters on an inner tube in Bekasi, near Jakarta.
© AFP
A woman paddles through flood waters on an inner tube in Bekasi, near Jakarta.
Four people died as Indonesia's capital was hit by flooding, a disaster agency official said Wednesday, while local media reported landslides sparked by torrential rain on New Year's Eve had killed several more residents.

Electricity was switched off in hundreds of waterlogged neighbourhoods across Jakarta, home to about 30 million, with some train lines and one of the city's airports also shut.

A 16-year-old was electrocuted by a power line, while three more people died of hypothermia, said Jakarta disaster management agency head Subejo.



Comment: Update 2 Jan

The BBC reports:
At least 21 people have died in flooding in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, after the city had its most intense rainfall for at least 24 years.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) measured 377 millimetres of rainfall in a day at an airport in East Jakarta.

That's the most most rain in a single day since at least 1996, when records supplied by the agency began.

"The rain falling on New Year's Eve... is not ordinary rain," said the agency.

The agency said the intensity of the rain was due to several factors including the monsoon season as well as a high amount of water vapour in the air affecting cloud formations over Java island.

The heavy rainfall is expected to continue until the weekend.

Elsewhere in East Jakarta, 335mm was recorded, while in Bekasi, further east, 259mm fell.

Rainfall above 150mm per day is considered extreme by the agency.

Maximum rainfall intensity during major Jakarta floods
jakarta rain
© Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG)
The intense rain began on New Year's Eve and continued through the night leading to parts of the city being submerged and landslides on the outskirts.

The victims ranged in age from 8 to 82. Some died of hypothermia, while others drowned or were killed by landslides. Two of the dead are from Lebak, south-west of the capital.

One 16-year-old boy was electrocuted by a power line.
Update 3 Jan

Floodlist reports:
As many as 47 people have now died as a result of the massive flooding in Jakarta Metropolitan Area in Indonesia on 01 January, 2020. Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said that 409,000 people have been affected by the floods, with over 366,000 of them in Bekasi City.

Thousands have been displaced after massive flooding in Jakarta, Indonesia, 01 January 2020.
© BNPB
Thousands have been displaced after massive flooding in Jakarta, Indonesia, 01 January 2020.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported 11 deaths in Bogor City, 11 in Bogor Regency, 7 in East Jakarta, 7 in Lebak Regency, 3 in Depok City and 3 in Bekasi City. Other fatalities occurred in Tengarang, South Tangerang, Bekasi Regency and Central and West Jakarta. One person is still missing in Lebak Regency. BNPB said the deaths were a result of hypothermia, electric shock, landslides and drowning in flood waters.


Dozens of locations across Jakarta Metropolitan Area were flooded. As of 02 January, authorities reported that flooding had started to recede in some areas. The number of displaced has fallen from an estimated 62,000 people to around 22,000. Meanwhile search and rescue teams continue to rescue dozens of people trapped in flooded buildings in affected areas.

BNPB said that Indonesia's Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (Badan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi - BPPT) plans to use weather modification technology in an attempt to reduce the rainfall in the Greater Jakarta area to prevent additional flooding.
Update 4 Jan

The death toll has reached 53, with 170,000 displaced.

      Read More...
Seismograph

Shallow 4.5-magnitude earthquake hits Puerto Rico amid rare seismic activity


CBS News
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 01:05 UTC
Earthquake seismograph
A 4.5-magnitude earthquake hit Puerto Rico on Thursday in the latest of a rare string of quakes that has frightened many in the U.S. territory. The most recent quake occurred eight miles south of Guayanilla at a shallow depth of four miles and was felt in the capital of San Juan and elsewhere in Puerto Rico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. No immediate damage was reported.

"We haven't stopped shaking," said Ángel Vázquez, emergency management director for the southern coastal town of Ponce. "It's the first time something like this happens."

The flurry of quakes began the night of December 28, with a 4.7-magnitude quake followed by a 5.1-magnitude one that hit near Puerto Rico's south coast and sent dozens of panicked people into the streets. Goods fell off supermarket shelves, cracks in homes were reported in some coastal towns, and a large rock fell and blocked a road. No injuries were reported.

Since then, more than 1,100 earthquakes have occurred in that region. The majority have not been felt, except for the 4.2-magnitude one that hit December 31 and the one on Thursday.

"I've spent 29 years with Puerto Rico's Seismic Network, and it's the first time I observe this kind of activity," director Víctor Huérfano told The Associated Press. "There's no way to predict when it's going to end, or if it's going to lead to a major event."
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

'Tumblegeddon': Washington highway closed for hours after piles of tumbleweed trap cars, semi-truck

Travis Fedschun
Fox News
Thu, 02 Jan 2020 22:12 UTC
Washington tumbleweeds
© Trooper Chris Thorson/Washington State Patrol via AP
In this image taken Tuesday evening, Dec. 31, 2019, and provided by the Washington State Patrol, Washington State Department of Transportation using snow plows to remove a pile of tumbleweeds along State Route 240 near Richland, Washington
Several drivers in Washington state had to be rescued by snowplows after getting trapped in their vehicles on a highway New Year's Eve, according to officials.

But the rescues had nothing to do with wintry weather.

Tumbleweeds had piled up about 30 feet, blocking State Route 240 and leaving "several vehicles trapped," including a semi-truck, according to Washington State Patrol. The road was closed in both directions around 6:30 p.m. near West Richland, Wash.

Trooper Chris Thorson shared a photo of Department of Transportation workers making their way through the piles of tumbleweeds in the dark as some drivers can still be seen in their vehicles.
      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Australian wildfires are so massive, they're generating their own weather patterns

Jim Edwards
The Insider
Mon, 30 Dec 2019 20:06 UTC

Comment: Which causes more lightning, which causes more wildfires... It's a horrible set of circumstances to be caught up in. Stay safe, Aussie readers!


pyrocumulonibus cloud wildfire australia
© Dave Ellem/Michael Bath
Pyrocumulonimbus cloud, Australia 2001
The bushfires in Australia are now so big that they are generating their own weather, in the form of giant thunderstorms that start more fires, according to the Bureau of Meteorology in Victoria.

"Pyro-cumulonimbus clouds have developed to altitudes over 16km in East #Gippsland this afternoon. These fire-induced storms can spread fires through lightning, lofting of embers and generation of severe wind outflows," the bureau tweeted on Monday.
      Read More...
Fire

Australia wildfires: Tens of thousands stranded while attempting to flee

Ben Smee and Luke Henriques-Gomes
The Guardian
Thu, 02 Jan 2020 19:20 UTC
bushfires australia sky red
Visitors who were told to evacuate a vast area along the NSW south coast before even worse fire conditions return stuck for hours in gridlocked traffic

Tens of thousands of people remained stranded on Thursday evening while attempting to flee bushfire-ravaged areas of the south-east Australian coast - having earlier been urged to leave before the return of extreme and dangerous weather conditions.

The mass evacuation of communities in New South Wales and Victoria is among the largest ever emergency movements of people in Australia. The numbers fleeing the bushfire crisis remain unclear, but are expected to compare to the 60,000 people who were flown out of Darwin after Cyclone Tracy in 1974.

Visitors told to flee a vast evacuation area along the NSW south coast reported sitting in gridlock for up to 10 hours after responding to the order to evacuate, as further outbreaks of fire and sheer weight of traffic blocked escape routes north of Ulladulla and near Cooma in the Snowy Mountains.

Comment: RT adds more on Morrison's tone-deaf PR swing through one ravaged area:
The official started his visit to Cobargo walking up to a local woman, casually asking "How are you?" and then forcing her into a handshake - and that was when all the PR stunt flopped.

"I'm only shaking your hand if you give more funding to our RFS [Rural Fire Service]," the visibly reluctant woman told the PM.


Morrison was promptly swarmed by locals afterwards, who asked him a bunch of quite reasonable questions about very low number of fire engines that responded to the fires, lack of relief and so on - that he did not answer, however.


The PM aimlessly roamed the street with a bunch of other officials, including the natural disasters minister David Littleproud - and their silence only angered the locals further. One man urged the official to get out of town, telling him that his electoral prospects now look quite bleak in a profanity-laden rant.

"You're an idiot, mate. You really are. You won't be getting any votes down here buddy... No liberal votes. You're out son. You are out. Goodnight Vienna. Bye. Go on, p**s off."

Pelted with further questions about those who died in the fires and the many who've lost their homes, the officials ultimately retreated to their car - without so much as a goodbye.


      Read More...
Snowflake

Overnight storm dumps 14 inches of snow on Brundage Mountain, Idaho


IdahoNews.com
Wed, 01 Jan 2020 19:35 UTC
New Year's storm drops over a foot of snow on Brundage

New Year's storm drops over a foot of snow on Brundage
A New Year's storm dropped over a foot of snow Wednesday on Brundage Mountain.

A winter snowstorm delivered a skiers dream to Brundage Mountain after dropping 12-14 inches of fresh snow on the mountain Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning.

Temperatures stayed in the mid to low 20's during this storm surge, so the quality of the snow is on par with the quantity.

"Powderhounds were up early to enjoy the fresh snow and an unexpected sun break before snow showers moved back in," the mountain said.

      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts