Weather & Earth Science News

A ferocious storm dumps five feet of hail with stones the size of tennis balls battering cars and homes, sparking evacuations and ruining crops in Argentina In the US, 1 million endure power outages as damaging Northeast storm unleashes hurricane-force winds Global atmospheric CO2 levels hit record high Plastic bottles, toothbrushes, chip bags make up huge floating garbage site in Caribbean And new analysis of Kepler data finds 20 habitable worlds 'hiding in plain sight' including a 'frozen Earth' astronomers say could hold life - I think we should name it Hoth !

Europe storms: at least six dead as winds and flooding create chaos across Germany, Poland and Czechia  Thousands without power as winds and heavy rains wallop East Coast of the USA whilst further south Tropical Storm Philippe crosses southern Florida bringing downpours and strong winds Storms create more than 130,000 lightning strikes in south-east Queensland Tokyo hit by second tropical cyclone in a week and a strange octopus invasion on Welsh beach blamed on effects of recent storms

Torrential downpours cause major flooding in Tanzania with many places seeing 24 hour and monthly records broken Queensland weather: Storms, golf ball-sized hail whip through state's south east In the eastern Pacific, NASA finds new Tropical Storm Selma has heavy rain-making potential with El Salvador and Guatemala under threat  The average length of the US winter has shrunk by more than one month in 100 years (it's shrunk to nothing at all here!) Typhoon Saola brings heavy rain in southern Japan  ‘Pollution season on’: Smog shrouds Beijing & suburbs, causes roads closures Brazil's Chapada dos Veadeiros park ravaged by fire - up to a quarter of the park destroyed ....  Suspicions are it was started deliberately.    Yellowstone spawned twin super-eruptions that altered global climate around 630kya Is current climate change unparalleled over the last 100 million years?   Estimates of past ocean temper...

Three dead in floods in Bulgaria’s Bourgas district Alpine passes close as snow hits Switzerland Heatwave history is being made as L.A. bakes under an October sun Meanwhile, on Bali, t housands defying evacuation as Mt Agung fails to blow And with that in mind, a warning that i ce sheets may melt rapidly in response to distant volcanoes Arctic sea ice may be thinning faster than scientists initially predicted Oh, and there's a risk of some snow on Scottish hills next week.  This is unusal.  Because it'll be the latest we've seen settling snow in years .....

Powerful typhoon brings heavy rain across Japan, leaving 5 dead For most of us it was, as expected, just a normal breezy October day, but in Aberwystwth Storm Brian blast dumps tons of sand, rock and debris dumped onto seafront and some West Yorkshire towns hit by flooding after heavy rainfall  In Croatia, heavy rain hits Rijeka, city centre flooded Autumn's first snow falls on Moscow An eight-year long study concludes that more acidic oceans 'will affect all sea life' And shocking images show how bottles, bags and rubbish are choking our oceans

Typhoon Lan rapidly intensifies in Pacific on its path toward Japan Storm Brian: UK braced for gale-force winds and disruption - but it's really only coastal flooding that's a concern and this storm doesn't warrnat being named (Met Eireann issued an amber warning, triggering the name, in part, I think because of continuing problems there after ex-Ophelia last weekend) Pollution linked to one in six deaths worldwide - with air pollution the biggest danger A brief history of the Earth's CO2 A little off topic, but one for those who argue Britain isn't (or shouldn't be) a single nation: Stonehenge builders 'ate food from Scotland' And as little later than usual, but the lies remain the same as Nathan Rao makes his annual prediction that UK faces MONTHS of SNOW: Sinking polar vortex to trigger COLDEST winter since GREAT FREEZE   So we may get a couple of frosts then ..... (actually, there's a chance it could be a colder, snow...

Typhoon Lan may threaten Okinawa, Japan beginning this weekend Addressing the Etsako flood disaster in Nigeria Flood, landslide fatalities in Vietnam surge to 77  Brazil minister: Amazon deforestation 'drops by 16%' - we're a long way off reaforestation ....  And maybe we should ban Cadbury's?  Chocolate production linked to increased deforestation in poor nations Rivers carry plastic debris into the sea And there's alarm over decline in flying insects - but I don't think the midge and mozzie population are under threat ..... Scientists determine source of world's largest mud eruption - which has been going on for 11 years on Java World's first floating wind farm starts generating electricity off the coast near Peterhead Potential human habitat located on the moon  A study shows how water could have flowed on 'cold and icy' ancient Mars And with NOAA's September data now in, 2017 on pace t...

In Eire, Ophelia's trail of destruction: Up to 360,000 people could lose water supply today as 245,000 remain without power with three people killed. Wales saw roads and homes hit by storm , in Northern Ireland schools closed as clean-up begins whilst in Scotland there's also a clear-up under way after Ophelia wind Meanwhile, survivors of Portugal and Spain's wildfires that have claimed dozens of lives describe how cities were turned into 'balls of fire' as death toll rises - at least 36 people have died (some reports suggest 39) in the fires fanned by Ophelia's winds.  Sadly, many of the fires appear to have been started deliberately .....  The fires have had impacts in the UK too with a red sun phenomenon 'caused by Hurricane Ophelia' whilst 'smoke smell' forces flights to land at UK airports . Manston in Kent also recorded 23.5c - a UK date record. It was just a bit breezy in Evesham, and the dust/smoke plume gave a very eerie yello...

Hurricane Ophelia: Warnings as storm heads to UK In Brisbane, a month's worth of rain falls over the weekend, more expected today There are widespread floods in Bangkok after heavy rain  And Essan in the news as Hogwarts Express rescues family stranded in Highlands

Vietnam floods: Death toll rises to 54 as swathes of land washed away California wildfires: Death toll climbs to 31 Kenyan residents thrown into panic as major dust storm engulfs Emali Finnish Defence Forces called in to help flood-proof Turku motorway Geologic evidence is the forerunner of ominous prospects for a warming Earth Carbon dioxide levels lower than thought during super greenhouse period - maybe not much more than twice current levels during the PETM  There's a new threat to the ozone layer from chemicals not covered by the Montreal Protocol A strong solar storm sparked planet-wide aurora on Mars The moon once had an atmosphere And intense storms batter Saturn’s largest moon, scientists report

California wildfires: Winds fan 'catastrophic' blazes as the death toll rises to 23 Vietnam flash floods and landslides kill dozens Deadly 'supercell' storm scatters ships in South Africa In Thailand, an urgent flood warning as reservoirs overwhelmed Flooding closes Cumbria roads and schools Ophelia becomes record-tying 10th straight Atlantic hurricane; may affect Ireland next week as an intense post-tropical storm And as the 30th aniversary of the infamous "hurricane" appoaches, an assessment of weather forecasting's post-1987 revolution

California fires: Scores missing as death toll rises to 15 KZN begins counting the cost of massive storm with at least 9 confirmed fatalities after Durban storm leaves trail of destruction Sunday was Washington’s sultriest October day ever recorded Satellites spy Antarctic 'upside-down ice canyon' A Japanese volcano in Kyushu erupts for 1st time in 6 years Unravelling the mystery of fire whirls, the common phenomena that are hard to spot And how the formation of coal almost turned our planet into a snowball

At least 10 dead ss wildfires torch California's wine country and on the subject of droughts and wildfires: How global warming is drying up the North American monsoon   In South Africa a Joburg #storm kills one, wrecks properties and shuts mall on Monday whilst a tornado causes disaster in some parts of Gauteng .  And today, a  massive Durban storm wreaks havoc, causes damage at hospitals and there is c haos as heavy storm strikes KwaZulu-Natal .  And we have just had the warmest September in satellite temperature record - as maintained by AGW sceptics Roy Spencer and John Christy

After making landfall in Louisiana at the weekend as a Cat 1 hurricane, Storm Nate weakens but brings heavy rain .  Meanwhile, Nicaragua death toll rises and Costa Rica in crisis after Tropical Storm Nate In China the Three Gorges reservoir braces for flood while lasy Wednesday a fireball brings Mid-Autumn surprise to Chinese skywatchers seeking the full moon Rare 'fire devil' blazing tornado caught on camera in Portugal And fallstreak holes decorate sizzling central Queensland skies with hearts and angel wings

Deadly storm Xavier sweeps across northern Germany with 7 confirmed fatalities whilst there were two reported dead as strong winds batter Poland Tropical Storm Nate: At least 22 dead in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras   Mesmerising video shows the world's largest tidal bore surging up a river before crashing into the shore of eastern China   70-Mile-Wide Butterfly Migration Detected on Radar in Colorado As was well demonstrated last month, interpreting hurricane forecast displays can be difficult for general public - with social media not helping matters And 12,000 years ago, Florida hurricanes heated up despite chilly seas

As BOM drops a special climate statement explaining why it was so hot in September , a warning that Sydney and Melbourne could face 50C days 'within decades' In the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Nate expected to form and may strike U.S. Gulf Coast as a hurricane Sunday An eerie tube-shaped funnel cloud is spotted snaking down from the clouds over Japan Large volcanic eruptions in Tropics can trigger El Niño events And pupils launch new RBS polymer bank note into space - proving in the process that the world is round!

Bundaberg deluge: Residents clean up after rain soaks town and southern Queensland A heavy early-season snowstorm sweeps into Rockies Sudden storm wreaks havoc in Hyderabad, at least 7 killed Autumn brings a record drop in weather temperatures in Azerbaijan Down in Antarctica: Return of the Weddell polynya supports Kiel climate model Grass-fed cows won’t save the climate, report finds - but I will continue eating and enjoying meat regardless.  If everyone else stops driving cars and flying and leaving the lights on, then, maybe, you can start having a go at me! Did life on Earth start due to meteorites splashing into warm little ponds? as long as 4.5 billion years ago ....   If so, life (of some kind) on other "water worlds" ought be quite common.   And that goes for Mars too as meteorite tells us that Mars had a dense atmosphere 4 billion years ago Siberian volcanic eruptions caused extinction 250 million years ago, ...

UK's longest-lasting patch of snow melts away Meanwhile, Atlantic depressions bring above-average rain for some including me - it's been the wettest month of the year here, my second wettest September (since 2007) and the first time September has been wetter than all the preceding months.    A large solar storm sparks global aurora and doubles radiation levels on the martian surface And DIY space exploration: Family launches GoPro into stratosphere, captures amazing footage