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Thu, 21 Oct 2021
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Butterfly

Habitat loss results in a 90% population reduction of monarch butterflies in 25 years

Monarch butterflies

Monarch butterflies
Many species of pollinators are in sharp decline in Wisconsin.

Recently, a DNR program was granted more almost $70,000 to aid in helping Monarch butterflies. The grant was to help the insects during their annual trek to Mexico over the winter. The grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to restore and enhance critical monarch butterfly habitat along the Mississippi River.

But the DNR's Owen Boyle says the populations of the once-common Monarchs have fallen by 90 percent in the last 25 years.

Snowflake

Mount Agung erupts, record snow, Cosmic Ray uptick

Linda Maz shovels out her driveway on Sparks Ave. after the 57cm snowfall on the weekend.

Linda Maz shovels out her driveway on Sparks Ave. Terrace after the 57cm snowfall on the weekend.
As Terrace recovers from Saturday's 105-year record daily snowfall, Environment Canada has upgraded their snowfall warning with up to 40cm of snow Wednesday evening. The storm falls short of Saturday's 57cm snowfall, but Environment Canada meteorologist Matt MacDonald warns it will present its own challenges.


Sources

Stock Up

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Wheat prices rising as crop failures mount

rice field
© SIPA Asia / Global Look Press
USDA Nov Wheat ending stocks are in and totals are down 25 Million Bushels, Wheat prices up, CME wheat futures jump $90 for delivery Dec 2018. GMO Fish in Canada, GMO potatoes for USA, new strains of rice that can grow in salt water and ready for commercialization in China. Crop losses in Australia due to hail and frost plus soggy conditions in USA delayed harvests.


Sources

Cloud Precipitation

California sees its wettest water year on record in 2016-17

Water flows through break in the wall of the Oroville Dam spillway during heavy rains on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017.
© Rich Pedroncelli /AP
Water flows through break in the wall of the Oroville Dam spillway during heavy rains on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017.
Massive floods hit Houston and devastating hurricanes struck Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Yet one of the more remarkable stories in the past year is the catastrophe that did not happen: massive flooding in California.

California experienced its wettest water year on record in 2016-17. In previous decades, that huge volume of water would have caused lethal floods, particularly in the Central Valley.

In part, we were lucky. Reservoirs were empty from drought so they had abundant capacity, and there was sufficient time between big storms so the rainfall didn't stack up. Dams and major levees held, though the near-failing of Oroville Dam's spillway and the flooding of the small town of Maxwell in February showed it could have been much worse.

Snowflake Cold

Arctic sea ice advances further each year, and this years growth is faster than expected

arctic sea ice
© NASA/C. Starr

Ice grew at 5,100 square kilometers (2,000 square miles) per day faster than the average rate of ice growth for the month during October

Rapid expansion of the Arctic sea ice cover is the norm for October as solar input dwindles and the remaining heat in the upper ocean is released upwards, warming the lower atmosphere and escaping to space. Because of late season growth, the seasonal Antarctic maximum we previously reported as occurring on September 15 was exceeded, with a new maximum set on October 11 and 12. This is the second-lowest and second-latest seasonal maximum extent in the satellite record.

Attention

Five dolphins strand themselves in Mayo, Ireland; one dies

Locals and volunteers working hard to get one of the dolphins back safely in the water.
© Tommy English
Locals and volunteers working hard to get one of the dolphins back safely in the water.
Four stranded dolphins were successfully rescued and returned to the sea off Achill Island today (Tuesday). The mammals, which were described as distressed and exhausted, were found by members of the public this morning.

The four common dolphins were discovered alive but in difficulty around 11am on the sand on Keem beach. A fifth mammal was also discovered, but was unfortunately found lying dead on the rocks.

A number of local volunteers initially went to the beach to try to rescue the surviving dolphins, but the low tide and lack of appropriate clothing made it difficult to successfully return the much-loved mammals to the sea.

Sorsha Kennedy, a local volunteer with Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland was called to help, and with the assistance of David McNamara of the Achill Coast Guard Unit, and they eventually returned all the live dolphins to the water around 1pm.

Snowflake

Week of snowfall sets two daily records in Fort St. John, British Columbia

snow
Nothing throws the notion of fall fully out the window and buried out of sight than two new snowfall records.

So, if shovelling the 47.1 centimetres of snow that fell between Nov. 13 and 20 wasn't enough to send you to the chiropractor, how about this for some heavy lifting—nearly half of it came on Nov. 14 and 19.

The first record was broken Nov. 14 when 11.8 centimetres fell, beating the previous daily record of 10.4 set in 1966.

The second was broken Nov. 19 when another 13.4 centimetres fell, beating the previous record of 10 in 2012.


"Last week, the airport was reporting snow every day," Environment Canada meteorologist Lisa West said.

Seismograph

Two earthquakes measuring 3.9 hit Bárðarbunga volcano in Iceland

Bárðarbunga is located in the Vatnajökull ice cap
© mbl.is/Árni Sæberg
Bárðarbunga is located in the Vatnajökull ice cap
Two earthquakes of the magnitude of 3.9 occurred in Bárðarbunga in Vatnajökull glacier this afternoon.

Further smaller quakes have been detected following these ones.

There are no signs of volcanic unrest reports the Iceland Met Office.

Comment: This latest seismic activity continues the increasing trend set in September and through October, see the following report for further details: Four large earthquakes recorded in Iceland's most powerful volcano.


Ice Cube

Severe storm produces large hail accumulations in Mersin, Turkey

Hail in Mersin, Turkey
© hurriyet
large hail accumulation in Mersin, Turkey.
A severe storm brought heavy rain and walnut sized hailstones to Turkey's Mediterranean coastal city of Mersin on Sunday, November 19, 2017. According to local media it produced large hail accumulations and caused havoc for motorists.


Cloud Precipitation

Three killed as heavy rain wreaks havoc across Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Flash floods in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
© Khaled Sahlie
Flash floods in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 21, 2017.
Three people died in flash floods triggered by heavy rains swept through Jeddah on Tuesday, leaving motorists stranded and forcing authorities to shut schools and universities in Saudi Arabia's second biggest city.

One person died of electrocution in Jeddah and three others in other places in Makkah region, according to a Saudi Gazette report. Out if the 29 emergency reports received by Jeddah Health Affairs, eight were related to electrocution and the rest traffic accidents.

The Civil Defense received 250 reports of short circuits, spokesman of the Civil Defense in Makkah Province Col. Saeed Al Sarhan told the newspaper.

Dozens of people were plucked from vehicles engulfed by floodwaters, Saudi civil defence authorities said, with heavy rainfall expected to last at least until Wednesday.

The Saudi Red Crescent Authority in Madinah reported 17 cases of people slipping and falling near the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah and in the Central Area.