Weather & Earth Science News

In the US, death toll from severe storms at 35 since Sunday as more severe weather threatens eastern US states 1 dead in Florida Panhandle in severe flooding Climate change 'making extreme rainfall in England more likely'

There were more than a dozen injured and 200 homes destroyed as tornadoes cause devastation across the South of the USA on Saturday, with worse to come as latest reports suggest at least 17 dead as tornadoes rip through Central, Southern US on Sunday. In Manitoba, communities begin evacuating as province issues water surge warning Dozens die as floods engulf northern Afghan villages Storms lash western Siberia as a statue is rolled over in Omsk Wild weather brings tornado risk to NZ New research shows there may have been liquid water on Mars as recently as 200,000 years ago And IPCC climate change report was watered down says senior economist

In Bangladesh, Dhaka hottest in five decades with 40.2c recorded yesterday, the highest in the capital since 1960 ( other reports have the figure higher at 40.7c) Meanwhile, the Indian Met Office sees below-average monsoon in 2014 - whilst in the northwest of the country there's a brief respite from drought: the dunes change colour as rain falls on Thar Snapshots from avalanche team's latest season as the SAIS report a record number of avalanches in the Scottish hills but no fatalities Met Office launches new mountain weather forecasts for mobiles After a very quiet start to the season in the US, massive tornado outbreak predicted for this weekend across the South Whilst in north Michigan there's been 347 inches of snow and counting; more snow on the way to the U.P. Odds of NYC flooding during a storm up 20-fold And study links California drought to global climate change Wind, dry conditions fuel New Jersey fires Normandy village...

Floods kill four in southern Romania , with a state of emergency declared in neighbouring Serbia NZ's West Coast cleans up after damaging storm last week Snow brings chill to Urumqi in NW China, after their warmest day of the year, so far, on Monday Globally, March is 4th warmest on record, NOAA confirms Mystery of 'ocean quack' sound solved And asteroid impact raosk 'underappreciated' - they're more common than we might think

This year may be slowest start to the US tornado season, ever Flash flood hits Levin in NZ - any excuse to show a pic of girls in their bikini tops! Environment Agency counts the cost of 'unprecedended' UK storms Today's Antarctic region once as hot as California, Florida

In Canada, N.B. officials warn of more flooding due to 35km long ice mass Meanwhile, near-record Great Lakes ice caused by cold winter could mean cool spring for surrounding areas In NZ, storm wreaks havoc through south Air temperature influenced African glacial movements at height of last ice age - rather than precipitation as is usually the prime factor, suggesting that air temp may also be a bigger factor than thought in current glacial retreat. Mexico shaken by powerful earthquake Reports: one fifth of China's soil contaminated by industrial pollution 'Dressed' laser aimed at clouds may be key to inducing rain, lightning Ancient plants 'frozen in time' by space impacts in Argentina Mt Everest avalanche: is climate change to blame?    And the silly season starts early as it's revealed a Swedish MP ordered chemtrail probe - next week he requests the tooth fairy's tax returns ....

NZ sees a daring river rescue in wild Easter storm as the remnants of Cyclone Ita hit the country and wild winds leave Auckland a mess California suffers astonishingly fast snowpack melt as drought intensifies And study shows lasting effects of drought in rainy eastern US as well More, bigger wildfires burning western US over last 30 years Dust storm kills 18 in Uttar Pradesh (some reports have the figure as high as 27)  - weather related death in India are not at all uncommon. Japan's 50ft high 'snow walls' open to public Rutland hit by second earthquake in two days And sadly, Everest avalanche kills at least 12 Sherpa guides Scientists discover three million year old landscape beneath Greenland ice sheet 'Most Earth-like planet yet' spotted by Kepler

It's been a season of records for snow in metro Detroit - and over a year since a single snowfalke was last seen in Evesham..... And winter returns to Central Canada in April, the cruelest month whilst heavy rains cause mudslide near Morin Heights as Quebec's flood watch shifts Storm topples RVs near Mississippi's Gulf coast In NZ, a new storm to be as bad as Cyclone Lusi After a record dry start to the year in Malaysia, only high intensity rainfall can stop water rationing Nicaragua on maximum alert after series of quakes European climate at the 2 degress Celsius global warming threashold Early air points to cold, dry Mars New study outlines 'water world' theory of life's origins on Earth four billion years ago And something that's been doing the rounds on the internet - especially UFO/conspiracy sites - over the past few days: what was the mysterious black ring in Leamington Spa?   Easy - it was a smoke ring from a pyrot...

Casanare drought raises Colombia climate fears Fire and drought may push Amazonian forests beyind tipping point Solomons flood victims 'terrified' after earthquakes Extreme Antarctic ozone holes have not been replicated in the Arctic , in part at least because the of success of the CFC ban. And more proof that human activities affect the climate in a detrimental way as a new study showshow air pollution over Asia influences global weather and makes Pacific storms more intense Intriguing NASA Cassini images may show birth of a Saturn moon Faraway moon or fant star?  Possible exomoon found - it's of course very likely that many of the hundreds of exoplanets we've found will have satellites, but they're much harder to spot.

Chile fire in Valparasiso kills 12 and forces thousands to evacuate - exasperated by dry conditions and strong on-shore winds.  As usual the Daily Mail has lots more pictures Belleville, Ont., calls for more volunteers as flood waters rise as flood risk across southern Quebec continues In north Queensland, Ingham, Halifax and parts of Bowen cut off by floodwaters following Cyclone Ita In Finland, signs of spring: record early opening for Näsijärvi shipping lane And the World must end 'dirty fuel' use - UN

Tropical Cyclone Ita leaves trail of destruction along far north Queensland coast - but it wasn't as bad as feared and there have been no serious casualties reported Oklahoma in the midst of a tornado 'drought' Appearance of night-shining clouds increasing - although I've not seen any 'nocties' for a few years now.  The 'season' kicks off again in May. Fresh quake of magnitude 6.6 jolts Nandaime, Nicaragua whilst powerful earthquake hits near Papua New Guinea but with no reports of damage And Oklahoma has nearly 150 earthquakes in one month as Ohio geologists link small earthquakes to fracking Greenland ice cores show industrial record of acid rain, sucess of US Clean Air Act Airbus to build critical European weather satellites Climate paradox decipheredfrom the Miocene era - why parts of the world warmed even as the Antarctic ice sheet was growing IPCC report: world must urgently switch to clean sources of energy .  B...

Currently a Cat 4 storm as it approached the Queensland coast - due to make landfall today - Cyclone Ita 'has the potential to take lives' with disaster declared in Cooktown as severe Tropical Storm Ita threatens to 'wipe out' town .  And more live coverage from ABC News here - more on this no doubt tomorrow. Perth's endless summer continues with another 35c sizzler In Missouri last week storm tears apart man's home so violent he woke up in the street - sadly he died of his injuries on Tuesday.   Interesting that wind speeds are quoted as only being ~60mph.   Meanwhile, in Mississippi, mobile home destroyed after being thrown 20 feet in the air while the family were still inside - in this case, it was a tornado and the family fortunately survived. US sees growing odds of El Nino development this year 'Cherry tree from space' blooms early, Japanese scientists baffled - grown from a seed that spent time on the ISS, it's prod...

Cyclone Ita spins up into a major cyclone forecast to carry winds up to 280km/h as Qld's north prepares for severe cyclone Death toll rises in flood-hot Solomon Islands to 24 World's heaviest 48-hour rainfall confirmed as more than 98 inches - it fell in Cherrapunji, India in 1995 2 killed as storms dump rain on US southeast US mudslide dead rises to 33 amid search for missing In Argentina's Neuquen floods: SMN forecasts storm will be over by tomorrow Permafrost thawing could accelerate global warming World 'needs Plan B' on climate - IPCC report .  And I agree.  Because regardless of political will, curbing GHG emissions is simply not practical, and in any case, they are not the be all and end all climate change ..... And the recent slowdown of global warming fleeting according to Michael Mann.  And I agree on that too. UN warns of Syria food shortage due to looming drought (the civil war probably doesn't help matters, mind)...

Forest fires arrive early as Siberia sees record high temperatures Solomon Islands floods: search continues for missing Worst storm in living memory fells trees, creates waterspouts and cuts power to thousands on Bribie Island in SE Queensland Southeast Iceland town rising due to glacier melt Arctic sea ice falls to fifth lowest level on record SW China quake injures 32, rescue continues And newly discovered atmospheric layer may impact Earth's climate

At least 16 killed as deadly flash floods hit Solomon Islands' capital Honiara - and if that's not bad enough, there's just been a mag 6.0 earthquake strikes flood-hit Solomon Islands Thunderstorms, tornadoes and baseball-sized hail pummel Midwest, southern states Police receive 1,391 rain calls in Abu Dhabi Chile leader evacuates as second big quake strikes One of Latin America's most active volcanoes erupts, spews ash and molten rock And interesting if true (and, less likely, they keep their word) Conservatives to promise ban on new onshore windfarms

UK air pollution: high levels remain but forecast to fall - but not before David Cameron accused of misunderstanding air pollution crisis .  Personally all I've noticed is that it's been misty and there's been some sand deposits on my wheely bin .....  Compared with many parts of the world (pollution haze like this is endemic in much of SE Asia as well as cities like Mexico City and even in California) it's really not been a big deal and I think where it not for media reports most folk would have been unaware of it.   Though I accept it may have been a lot worse in big towns and cities where there is normally a lot more air pollution to start with. Strong storms, tornadoes barrel through central US In Australia, severe storm hammers NSW ripping roof of pub and forcing rescue of three people A round-up of March records: Austria's, warm March continues trend of unusual weather whilst in the Czech Republic this March warmest in at least 50 years ...

Melbourne weather: hot April night breaks record whilst Hobart's mild 18.7c overnight temperature follows April record high of 31c And record-breaking heat recorded in western Siberia as well Air pollution: high levels spread across England - with more Saharan dust mixed in Ice storm ravages power line in Cape Breton , Canada Chicago sets four-month cold temperature record Kolkata in grip of heat wave Chile declares disaster in quake-hit regions after a mag 8.2 earthquake struck off the coast Warm North Atlantic Ocean promotes extreme winters in US and Europe - so it's not climate change after all ....  Or is it?   As usual, it's inlikely to be just one thing or another, but rather a combination of factors which may or may not included AGW. And Met Office forecasters find new formula for long-range weather

Snowstorm paralyses Moscow on April Fool's Day Hailstorms and heavy rain leave 16 people dead and cause widespread property damage in southern China Saharan red dust deposited on cars across UK - not all that rare an occurrence though Weather records tumble in March - it was the sunniest ever in Holland Adelaide close to temperature record today - just 0.1c below the highest ever recorded in April Climate inaction catastrophic - US Secretary of State John Kerry says.  But is climate report: creating a sense of urgency or alarm? And a  new study (so not included in the last IPCC report) suggests that warming climate may spread drying to a third of Earth Meanwhile, new research on the AMO shows the Atlantic Ocean dances with the Sun and volcanoes , affecting the climate across much of the northern hemisphere in the process.  The article doesn't say so, but I can see this raising questions on just how much recent climate changes have been down ...