End Time Headlines – April 15, 2020

(ETH) – Forecasters at Colorado State University have just released their Hurricane predictions for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season and are calling for an “above-average” season.

According to WPTV, The researchers are predicting that there will be 16 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes of Category 3 strength or greater.

“Reasons for above-average forecast include anticipated lack of #ElNino and warmer than normal tropical Atlantic,” the author of the forecast, Philip Klotzbach, tweeted on Thursday.

Last year the Atlantic hurricane season delivered 18 named storms and six hurricanes, including Hurricane Dorian which skirted close to the coast of Florida last September.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Kassidy Vavra, Henry Pettit – April 9, 2020

GIANT Asian hornets that have begun to invade the coronavirus-stricken U.S. may cost the economy millions of dollars a year.

The insects, which can kill with a single sting, may have a devastating impact on the already dwindling honeybee population in the U.S.

Experts estimate the pests may cause America a staggering $29.3 million as they invade.

The invasion is projected as a coronavirus-stricken U.S. is already facing economic setbacks.

Millions are out of work – with nearly 17 million applying for unemployment in the last three weeks alone – as more than 432,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed in the U.S. alone.

Many experts have warned of a looming recession, as businesses have been forced to shutter their doors due to stay-at-home orders.

Asian hornets are similar to European hornets that live in the U.S., but they are not native to America.

They are large insects measuring almost 2in long, originally from Southeast Asia, that prey on small creatures – especially bees.

Just one sting is enough to kill someone allergic to their venom.

https://www.the-sun.com

Michael Snyder – March 30, 2020

Why has the western United States suddenly been shaking so violently over the past several weeks?  On Tuesday, the constant barrage of headlines about the coronavirus pandemic was interrupted by an enormous earthquake that hit central Idaho.  Of course Idaho is not exactly known for earthquakes, and so this was quite a surprise.  In fact, the largest quake in Idaho history was the magnitude 6.9 Borah Peak earthquake in 1983.  So when a magnitude 6.5 earthquake stuck not too far from Boise on Tuesday, it really stunned a whole lot of people.  And according to the Spokesman-Review, this quake could be felt as far away as Calgary…

An earthquake hit southern Idaho on Tuesday afternoon, with shakes felt as far as Calgary, Canada, Boise and Spokane.

The United States Geological Survey measured a 6.5-magnitude earthquake at a depth of 10 miles just before 5 p.m. The center of the quake took place about 45 miles west of Challis, Idaho.

This is an event that those living up in the Northwest will remember for a long time to come.  There was a tremendous amount of shaking all over the region, and according to at least one report some people actually “ran outside yelling”…

An entry in Volcano Discovery said: “Sustained moderate shaking for several minutes, Rumbling sound heard, people ran outside yelling. Knickknacks fell off shelf.

“Items suspended from ceiling/beams still slightly swaying 10 minutes later.”

All the way over in Helena, Montana someone described the shaking like being “on a small ship at sea during a storm”, and a restaurant owner in Stanley, Idaho reported that “the water next to me is still vibrating”…

The epicenter of this earthquake was approximately 78 miles from Boise and approximately 330 miles from Yellowstone.

Needless to say, any major seismic event anywhere near Yellowstone is a cause for concern.

http://endoftheamericandream.com

Strange Sounds – March 24, 2020

Mount Hood is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon.

Researchers have newly discovered active fault lines on Mount Hood that could potentially trigger a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, devastating communities and infrastructure as far west as Portland.

As shown in the maps and video below, the newly discovered fault networks are located to the north, south and southwest of Mt. Hood and extend to the Columbia River.

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake is larger than the 1989 earthquake near the San Francisco Bay Area.

Moreover, the faults on Mount Hood are closer to Portland that the epicenter of the 1989 earthquake was to San Francisco.

This would be a crustal earthquake as opposed to the Cascadia subduction zone earthquake Portland has been bracing for.

Subduction zone quakes are deeper below the surface, they last longer — as long as seven minutes — but they are lower in amplitude.

The kind of quake we would get from Mt. Hood would be shorter — 20 seconds to less than a minute — and would be strong enough to knock you off your feet.

https://strangesounds.org

Gaurdian – March 20, 2020

The locust crisis that has now reached 10 countries could carry on to endanger millions more people, forecasters have said.

Climate change created unprecedented conditions for the locusts to breed in the usually barren desert of the Arabian gulf, according to experts, and the insects were then able to spread through Yemen, where civil war has devastated the ability to control locust populations.

It was Cyclone Mekunu, which struck in 2018, that allowed several generations of desert locusts the moist sand and vegetation to thrive in the desert between Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman known as the Empty Quarter, breeding and forming into crop-devouring swarms, said Keith Cressman, locust forecasting expert for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“That’s fine, that’s quite good in itself, but just about when those conditions are drying out and the breeding is coming to an end, a second cyclone came to the area,” he said.

“That allowed the conditions to continue to be favourable and another generation of breeding, so instead of increasing 400-fold, they increased 8,000-fold.

“Usually a cyclone brings favourable conditions for about six months and then the habitat dries out, and so it’s not favourable for reproduction and they die and migrate.”

The amount of cyclones in the area seem to be increasing, said Cressman, making it likely that locust swarms will also become more common.

The FAO has warned that the food security of 25 million people could be endangered by the locusts, which according to the agency’s locust monitoring service have been spotted in at least 10 countries over recent months. One swarm recently reported in Kenya covered an area the size of Luxembourg.

https://www.theguardian.com

DW – March 11, 2020

The nuclear disaster at Fukushima sent an unprecedented amount of radiation into the Pacific. But, before then, atomic bomb tests and radioactive waste were contaminating the sea — the effects are still being felt today.

Almost 1.2 million liters (320,000 gallons) of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant is to be released into the ocean. That’s on the recommendation of the government’s advisory panel some nine years after the nuclear disaster on Japan’s east coast. The contaminated water has since been used to cool the destroyed reactor blocks to prevent further nuclear meltdowns. It is currently being stored in large tanks, but those are expected to be full by 2022.

Exactly how the water should be dealt with has become highly controversial in Japan, not least because the nuclear disaster caused extreme contamination off the coast of Fukushima. At the time, radioactive water flowed “directly into the sea, in quantities we have never seen before in the marine world,” Sabine Charmasson from the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) tells DW.

Radiation levels in the sea off Fukushima were millions of times higher than the government’s limit of 100 becquerels. And still today, radioactive substances can be detected off the coast of Japan and in other parts of the Pacific. They’ve even been measured in very small quantities off the US west coast in concentrations “well below the harmful levels set by the World Health Organization,” according to Vincent Rossi, an oceanographer at France’s Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO).

But that doesn’t mean there’s no risk, says Horst Hamm of the Nuclear Free Future Foundation. “A single becquerel that gets into our body is enough to damage a cell that will eventually become a cancer cell,” he says.

A study from the European Parliament reached a similar conclusion. The research found that “even the smallest possible dose, a photon passing through a cell nucleus, carries a cancer risk. Although this risk is extremely small, it is still a risk.”

And that risk is growing. Radioactive pollution in the ocean has been increasing globally — and not just since the disaster at Fukushima.

https://www.dw.com

The Gaurdian – February 28, 2020

Black seabirds circle high above the giant concrete dome that rises from a tangle of green vines just a few paces from the lapping waves of the Pacific. Half buried in the sand, the vast structure looks like a downed UFO.

At the summit, figures carved into the weathered concrete state only the year of construction: 1979. Officially, this vast structure is known as the Runit Dome. Locals call it The Tomb.

Below the 18-inch concrete cap rests the United States’ cold war legacy to this remote corner of the Pacific Ocean: 111,000 cubic yards of radioactive debris left behind after 12 years of nuclear tests.

Brackish water pools around the edge of the dome, where sections of concrete have started to crack away. Underground, radioactive waste has already started to leach out of the crater: according to a 2013 report by the US Department of Energy, soil around the dome is already more contaminated than its contents.

Now locals, scientists and environmental activists fear that a storm surge, typhoon or other cataclysmic event brought on by climate change could tear the concrete mantel wide open, releasing its contents into the Pacific Ocean.

“Runit Dome represents a tragic confluence of nuclear testing and climate change,” said Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, who visited the dome in 2010.

“It resulted from US nuclear testing and the leaving behind of large quantities of plutonium,” he said. “Now it has been gradually submerged as result of sea level rise from greenhouse gas emissions by industrial countries led by the United States.”

Enewetak Atoll, and the much better-known Bikini Atoll, were the main sites of the United States Pacific Proving Grounds, the setting for dozens of atomic explosions during the early years of the cold war.

https://www.theguardian.com

Michael Snyder – February 17, 2020

All of a sudden, really crazy things are starting to happen all over the world.  Giant swarms of locusts are absolutely devastating entire regions, extremely unusual storms are confounding meteorologists, earthquake and volcanic activity are both on the rise, and five very dangerous diseases are sweeping across the globe.  So far in 2020, it has just been one thing after another, and many are speculating about what could be ahead if events continue to escalate.  The other day my wife mentioned that one of her friends suggested that I should put together a list of all the weird stuff that has been taking place, and so that is what I have decided to do.  The following is a list of 10 plagues that are hitting our planet simultaneously…

#1 Armies Of Locusts – As I detailed the other day, swarms of locusts the size of major cities have been devouring entire farms in Africa in as little as 30 seconds.  These swarms have also been spreading throughout the Middle East, and now we have learned that they have even reached China…

#2 Extremely Bizarre Weather Patterns – It is almost as if virtually all of the old rules have suddenly been thrown out the window.  An all-time record 209 mph wind gust just hit Calfiornia, and absolutely crazy storms are happening all over the planet.  For example, just check out what just took place in Australia…

#3 Unprecedented Flooding – We are seeing unusual flooding all over the world right now, and the flooding that is devastating the southern U.S. at this moment is being called “unprecedented”…

#4 Major Earthquakes – Really big earthquakes are happening with such frequency now that it is very difficult for me to write about them all.  For example, a magnitude 7.7 quake recently struck off of the coast of Jamaica, but I have been so busy writing about other disasters that I have not even mentioned it until now…

#5 Unusual Volcanic Eruptions – Seismic activity has been rising all over the globe, and over the past couple of months we have seen volcanoes all over the world pop off like firecrackers.  One of the most notable eruptions that we have seen in recent days was the most powerful eruption of Mount Merapi in 90 years…

http://endoftheamericandream.com

Strange Sounds – February 13, 2020

After Storm Ciara, less than a week ago, Bomb Cyclone Storm Dennis will lead to another dose of power cuts and major travel disruptions in the UK and northern Europe.

Dennis is now the fourth named windstorm of the season in Europe.

Dennis is also a Bomb Cyclone after its central pressure dropped 1.38 inches of mercury (46 mb) in 24 hours – from 29.4 to 28.1 inches of mercury (996 mb to 950 mb).

This incredible drop in pressure is almost two times greater than what is needed to be considered a‘bombogenesis.’

And the explosive cyclogenesis seems to continue as the air pressure at the center of the storm is now around 935 mbar. That’s equivalent to a strong Category 3 Hurricane!

Further strengthening may put Dennis in the running for being one of the most intense North Atlantic storms on record. The top-five most intense storms all recorded a pressure of 27 inches of mercury (925.5 mb) or lower.

And again such air pressures could wreak havoc air traffic!

https://strangesounds.org

Teo Blašković – February 6, 2020

Tropical Cyclone “Damien” formed near Kimberley coast, Western Australia on Thursday, February 6, 2020. It is forecast to hit the Pilbara coast, WA as Category 3 cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone scale on February 8. Very destructive wind gusts and very dangerous storm tide are expected, followed by likely very dangerous flooding. This is the third named storm of the 2019/20 Australian region cyclone season.

The tropical cyclone should continue to intensify as it tracks to the west southwest overnight Thursday, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). Damien is expected to turn south towards the Pilbara coast on Friday. A severe tropical cyclone impact is forecast for the Pilbara coast during Saturday.

At 09:00 UTC (17:00 AWST) on Thursday, February 6, the center of Tropical Cyclone “Damien” was located about 355 km (220 miles) NNE of Port Hedland and 475 km (295 miles) NE of Karratha. The cyclone had sustained winds near the center of 75 km/h (46 mph) and gusts to 100 km/h (62 mph). It was moving WSW at 16 km/h (10 mph).

Gales are forecast to develop along the Pilbara coast between Wallal Downs and Dampier including Port Hedland and Karratha from later Friday afternoon.

Destructive winds with wind gusts to 150 km/h (93 mph) may develop overnight Friday night as the cyclone approaches the coast, increasing further on Saturday with very destructive winds with wind gusts to 230 km/h (145 mph) near the center of the cyclone.

https://watchers.news