Extreme Temperatures
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Biohazard

Extreme weather & disease: The fight to save Europe's olive trees

Fintan Burke
Horizon Magazine
Tue, 17 Mar 2020 12:00 UTC
Xyella
© Sjor/Wikimedia commons, licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0The discovery of Xyella fastidiosa in European olive trees in 2013 caught European researchers off-guard.
A plant disease spread by sap-sucking insects has been devastating olive and fruit orchards across southern Europe, but scientists are inching closer to halting its spread with the help of insect repelling clays, vegetative barriers and genetic analysis.

In the late summer harvest of 2013, olive farmers in the Puglia region of southern Italy noticed that the leaves on several of their trees were turning brown and their shoots withering. The problem spread from one orchard to another, as more olive farmers found their trees were drying out and beginning to die.

Genetic testing confirmed them to be infected with Xyella fastidiosa, a bacteria originally found in America. Soon outbreaks appeared throughout the Mediterranean, even briefly as far north as Germany in 2016.

Comment: Erratic seasons and extreme weather are devastating crops all over the planet, and at the same time we're seeing outbreaks of all kinds.

See also:

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Snowflake

Spring storm dumps 3 FEET of snow on the Sierra


sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 19:58 UTC
SNOW STORM
A pair of Spring storm fronts swept through the Sierra over the weekend and on Monday morning, forcing travelers to use chains on mountain passes on I-80 and Highway 50 and blanketing the region with as much as 3 feet of new snow at the higher elevations.

What would have been a late season boost to the Tahoe area ski industry has been transformed into a "what if" moment as resorts from Squaw Valley to Heavenly Valley have been shuttered for the season since late March because of the current coronavirus outbreak and social distancing requirements.

A winter weather advisory expires at noon Monday for Tahoe where 13 inches of snow fell at Incline Village. Mammoth Mountain ski resort reported 35 inches.


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Snowflake

Blanket of snow continues to cover large parts of mainland Greece - foot of snowfall in just a few hours

Nick Kampouris
Greek Reporter
Sun, 05 Apr 2020 09:50 UTC
Snow in Agios Pavlos (Saint Paul) village in Naoussa, Central Macedonia.
Snow in Agios Pavlos (Saint Paul) village in Naoussa, Central Macedonia.
Many parts of northern and central Greece remain covered by a thick white blanket of snow, a highly unusual occurrence in April.

This rare spring snow that arrived in Greece several days ago, continues to surprise those living in the northern parts of the mainland of the country.

Instead of flowers and bees, millions of Greeks continue to see snow-covered mountains reminiscent of Christmas.

On Saturday, the more mountainous parts of Evrytania and Phthiotis in Western Greece, as well as areas in Thessaly, received heavy snowfall.

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Snowflake

Early snowfall for 3 states in Australia

MEGAdisasters
YouTube
Mon, 06 Apr 2020 19:14 UTC
snow
Australia in huge Snow April 2020!

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Snowflake Cold

Apricots have been destroyed, cold already affects peaches and cherries in Bulgaria


Fresh Plaza
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 13:21 UTC
snow
Apricots are for more than 95 percent, if not all completely dead, in the Danube Plain region. Some places have survived here and there, but if it freezes after the snow, they will also die," Nikolay Kolev of the Union of Danube Fruit Growers from Agrozona. Some varieties of peaches and nectarines in the north-east of the country are currently blooming or have already finished flowering, he also reports. Freezing temperatures are also critical to them. Cherries and plums are next in line. They are in the bud phase, they should not be damaged, but it depends on how much the temperatures will drop. The snow itself is not dangerous, but it is the negative temperatures that come after that is," says the fruit grower.

Apricots cover about 8-9 thousand decares of a total of more than 28 thousand decares plantings within the Union of Danube Fruit Growers. Then comes about 3-4 thousand decares peaches, of which if the forecasts come true and temperatures drop, much of this fruit will die as well. "Unfortunately it will be a zero yield year for some fruits," says Nikolay Kolev.

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Bizarro Earth

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Protein from volcanoes as food becomes unaffordable


Adapt 2030
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 23:10 UTC
Volcano protein for vegans
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)
New protein from microbes found in volcanoes will be offered as a meat substitute. Stratospheric eruption and ash ejection at the same latitude with massive ice growth on Greenland with out air traffic albedo. All time record high pressure recorded over UK, which only ever happened during winter storms. Canadians slammed by food costs.


Comment: For more on the meat substitute madness see also:

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Snowflake Cold

Power outages as spring storm brings heavy snow, freezing rain to Manitoba, Canada


The Weather Network
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 18:48 UTC
snow
Gusty winds and freezing rain led to numerous power outages in southern Manitoba Thursday

A potent low triggered a series of snowfall warnings, special weather statements, and freezing rain warnings across the eastern Prairies and northwestern Ontario Thursday, many of which still remain Friday morning.

There were reports of several early-morning highway closures, along with roughly 3,000 power outages by Thursday morning. By the evening, Manitoba Hydro tweeted that they were "finishing up" restoring power to the last of their affected customers.

As the storm tracks east, heavy snow will still continue behind it for parts of northern Manitoba, meanwhile, freezing rain and the risk of ice pellets remain for northern Ontario.

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Snowflake

Record snow and ice falls in Upper Midwest, new storm to hit California this weekend

Max Golembo
abcnews.go.com
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 14:04 UTC
Seven states from Minnesota to Kansas are under ice and snow alerts Friday morning.
© ABC NewsSeven states from Minnesota to Kansas are under ice and snow alerts Friday morning.
Seven states from Minnesota to Kansas are under ice and snow alerts Friday.

There was record snowfall in the Upper Midwest Thursday. In Grand Forks, North Dakota, almost 10 inches fell and Fargo, North Dakota, received almost 5 inches of snow.

Wyoming saw the largest amount of snowfall, with 21 inches.

Seven states from Minnesota to Kansas are under ice and snow alerts Friday morning.


Comment: More details: Winterlike storm dumps up to 23 inches of fresh snow in Montana and Wyoming

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Snowflake

Mountain passes hit by nearly 10 inches of spring snow in Kyrgyzstan


AKIPress
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 13:54 UTC
snow
After snowfalls on April 2 and 3, the snow cover on the mountian passes reached 20-25 cm in height, the Ministry of Transport and Roads reported.

The Too-Ashuu, Chyirchyk, Taldyk, Tonmurun mountain passes were cleared from snow.

Inert materials were applied to improve traction.

All roads are open.

The Ministry of Transport asked drivers to have winter tyres, tyre chains and a shovel if they plan to drive through mountain passes.
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Snowflake

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: No physical gold and rare Tokyo snow


Adapt 2030
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 05:37 UTC
Rare Tokyo snow
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)
Rare snows blanket downtown Tokyo and Nagoya during the blossom festival as pink flowers blend with white. Physical gold and silver almost gone across the planet. Toilet Paper Coin record gains.


Comment: Out-of-season snow falls in Tokyo, Japan

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