Earth Changes

Serious dog attacks jump 85% in a year for Wollongong, Australia

Kate McIlwain
Illawarra Mercury
Thu, 12 Jan 2017 13:50 UTC

The number of dog attacks in Wollongong has continued to drop in recent years, but according to the latest figures, serious attacks on people - where injuries needed medical treatment or hospitalisation - have gone up 85 per cent in one year.

Despite a small drop in the total number of attacks - from 229 to 225 attacks - only two council areas in NSW had more dog attacks than Wollongong.

Additionally, the latest statistics from the NSW Office of Local Government show more than 150 residents in the area were injured by dogs in the year to March 2016.

Fifty-two of these injuries were classed as serious, compared to only 28 classed as serious in the previous year.

Only Newcastle and Gosford council recorded more attacks overall, meaning Wollongong jumped to third worst in the state after being ranked fourth in previous years.

Spectacular rare 'morning glory' roll cloud photographed over Australia

Benedict Brook
NEWS.com.au
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 18:20 UTC

One of the world's most spectacular cloud formations has amazed hundreds of passengers on an Australian jet.Virgin Australia tweeted an image of almost perfectly straight, serried rows of white clouds laid out below a plane flying across the Great Australian Bight.

"Flying above the clouds has never looked this good!" read the tweet. "These incredible cloud formations were seen on board VA714 from Perth to Adelaide.The mysterious white fluffy rows are examples of wave clouds, the most famous of which — the Morning Glory — is found only in Northern Australia.

While these invisible waves in the sky occur elsewhere, it's the cloud accompanying it which is so rare.Their distinctive fat sausage shape is due to water vapour rising to form the cloud then evaporating back again to the ground.

"Wave clouds can form anywhere on the continent but they are only called the Morning Glory when they form across the Gulf of Carpentaria, Neil Bennett, a Western Australian spokesman for the Bureau of Meteorology told news.com.au.

Comment: Another rare morning glory roll cloud was sighted in Queensland, Australia last July.

Record floods hit US West Coast, Californians evacuate by the thousands

RT
Thu, 12 Jan 2017 01:46 UTC

© Stephen Lam / Reuters
Cesar Belvasco walks through a flooded road while carrying his belongings after his home was flooded by the overflowing Petaluma River during a winter storm in Petaluma, California, January 8, 2017

California has been hit by seven days of major rain storms, causing flooding all over the state and prompting evacuations. More heavy rain is forecasted for the Golden State in the coming days. After six years of drought, parts of California have received record amounts of rain, causing rivers to flood, roads to close, trees to fall, power to go out and businesses to shut down.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued several warnings across the state, and authorities have advised thousands of Californians to evacuate their homes after rivers overflowed.Just outside of the state capital, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department advised 2,000 residents of Wilton to leave their homes.

In Sonoma County, 3,000 residents were placed under an evacuation advisory as the Russian River flooded by more than 35 feet on Monday.

Largest coral reef in Northern Hemisphere almost dead, global warming blamed

Sputnik
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 23:28 UTC

The Sekiseishoko coral reef, the largest reef both in Japan and in the Northern Hemisphere, is 70 percent percent dead, and soon could face total extinction due to global warming, according to Environment Ministry of Japan.

Up to 70.1 percent of Japan's largest coral reef is dead due to bleaching caused by global warming, according to a Japanese Environment Ministry report based on an extensive study that examined conditions at 35 locations in a 20-by-15 kilometer area.

Bleaching is a process when coral's symbiont algae, crucial for the survival of the animals, dies. According to the ministry's Ishigaki Ranger Office in Okinawa, an inflow of red soil into the ocean as well as seawater contamination can cause bleaching but, according to research, the primary reason is global warming. Ocean temperatures in 2016 were about two degrees higher than normal, and this was enough for the algae to start dying. Scientist also point out that any sudden change of temperature, light and nutrients can contribute to bleaching.

Dangerous long-duration ice storm looming for 1000-mile swath of central U.S.

Alex Sosnowski
Accuweather
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 15:48 UTC

People from Texas to Ohio are bracing for a long-duration ice storm that could turn destructive and cut power to hundreds of thousands from Friday to Sunday.

A shallow layer of cold air in the atmosphere will accompany a storm over the central United States. The storm will produce a swath of freezing rain along a 1,000-mile swath. As the chilled rain falls on cold surfaces, it will freeze into a glaze of ice.

Untreated sidewalks, streets and highways can turn into a skating rink as a layer of clear, smooth ice forms. The heaviest rain can wash away ice-melting compounds as the storm progresses.

Preceding the main ice storm will be a period of freezing rain and sleet that affect travel in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin during Wednesday night. "Travel is likely to be hazardous for hundreds of miles along Interstate 35, I-40 and I-70 in the Central states from Friday to Sunday," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio.

People traveling across the country may want to consider a more southern route. Where temperatures remain below freezing and rain falls at a heavy rate, the ice will continue to accrue for a few days. Ice of 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch thick can occur over a broad area. The thickness of the ice will become substantial enough to weigh down trees and power lines.

Earthquake triggers strong eruption at Sinabung volcano on Sumatra, Indonesia

Strange Sounds
Tue, 10 Jan 2017 19:14 UTC

Sinabung volcano

A strong explosion was recorded at Sinabung volcano on January 9, 2016.

It was triggered by a volcanic earthquake that occurred about 8 minutes before.

The powerful explosion occurred at 21:48 pm and sent a column of ash and gas 3km in the air.

There was a volcanic earthquake for 490 seconds when the eruption occurred.

Ashfall was recorded in Berastagi City.

An exclusion zone has been implemented in a radius of 3 km around the volcanic peak.

Sinabung volcano

Bee-mageddon: Over 10 million pollinators killed from pesticides in Brazil

Sputnik
Tue, 10 Jan 2017 22:09 UTC

An estimated 10 million honey bees were killed over several days in the countryside of São Paulo state, Brazil. The suspected cause of death is reported to be airborne pesticides.

In a matter of days, 136 beehives in the municipality of Porto Ferreira were destroyed. "Not even the queen bees managed to survive," Wanderley Fardin, owner of the affected apiaries, told Xapuri. "The ground is littered with dead bees. Those that are left are flying about with nowhere to go." Fardin said that the pesticides destroyed forty years of work and generated a loss of around one ton of honey and R$250,000 (about $78,000) in financial losses. He will not be able to produce honey at the same levels for at least four years.

The offending pesticides were sprayed on a nearby sugarcane field. The owner of the field, Ferrari Mill, claims that they did not spray their pesticides over the apiary and are not sure what caused the pesticides to migrate. São Paulo's Public Prosecutor's office has announced an investigation and potential litigation against Ferrari Mill. Ferrari Mill has sent bee corpses to a biologist to investigate whether their pesticides are what killed the bees.

Researchers from State University of São Paulo (UNESP) and the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) performed analyses on damaged apiaries around the state and concluded that some 70 percent of mass bee deaths in São Paulo is the result of pesticide misuse. Millions of other mass bee deaths were recorded throughout São Paulo in 2015 and 2016.

Comment: Up to 57 different pesticides and digested pesticide compounds poison honey bees. Bee research has now developed methods to identify 200 different pesticides as well as metabolites (compounds produced as a result of bees digesting the chemicals).

Comment: Produce needs bees. Bees die from pesticides and people become sick. Produce suffers. Farmers become poorer. Who profits? Pesticide companies, until death cycles put them out of business. Natural balances don't need 'fixing'.

2 killed by flash flood in South Africa

ENCA
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 16:09 UTC

A woman and a rescue worker drowned after a minibus taxi was trapped in floodwater in Frischgewaagd village in Mpumalanga on Saturday.

© Dolly Mthweni
A woman and a rescue worker drowned after a minibus taxi was trapped in floodwater in Frischgewaagd village in Mpumalanga on Saturday.

Two people have drowned in the flash floods in Mpumalanga.

NSRI officials at the scene have confirmed that both bodies have been recovered.

The deceased were a woman and a rescue worker, both of whom were swept away by floodwater in Frischgewaagd village near Kwaggafontein in Mpumalanga, police said.

The incident happened amid occasional heavy rain that started in the early hours of Saturday morning, Mpumalanga police spokesman Brigadier Leonard Hlathi told the African News Agency (ANA).

He said that the woman drowned when the minibus taxi she was travelling in was caught in floodwater on the road.

Third shallow earthquake rattles Central New Zealand within a fortnight, magnitude 5.1

Skymet Weather
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 15:03 UTC

The year 2017 has not been lucky enough for Central New Zealand as the country has been hammered by two earthquakes within a week and today as well, another quake shivered Central New Zealand.

A 5.1 magnitude quake struck Central New Zealand near Seddon this afternoon. As per Geo Net, the epicenter of the quake was 15 km southeast of Seddon and was 11 km under the earth's crust.

The quake shivered the country struck at around 1.19 pm (local timings) this afternoon. The shake was felt as distant as Auckland, however, it was the strongest in Blenheim and Wellington. Other remote areas where the tremors were felt include Hamilton, Taranaki, Westport and Richmond.

Comment: See also these reports of the prior earthquakes: Shallow 5.3 earthquake shakes Central New Zealand

'Severe', shallow magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes central New Zealand

European rivers and bays freeze, Istanbul paralyzed and record snow hits Greece again

Adapt 2030
You Tube
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 12:15 UTC

With record cold still covering Eastern Europe, parts of the Mediterranean and Turkey, rivers and waterways across the region have begun to freeze.

More record snow for Greece, this time 6+ inches on the beaches, Istanbul paralyzed from all time snowfall record 3+ feet in one day.