Two More Mysterious Black Holes Open Up at the ‘End of the World’

Crater 1 (Yamal Peninsula)

 Two more mysterious holes have opened up in Siberia after the original crater appeared in the Yamal Peninsula earlier this month.

“Yamal” is a name that literally translates to “end of the land.”

Both new craters were discovered by reindeer herders, who thankfully didn’t fall the estimated 300 feet to the bottom.

In case the thought of bottomless black holes isn’t already conjuring up images of an apocalyptic doomsday, then here are some videos and pictures to ensure you don’t sleep at all tonight.

Scientists are still unsure as to what exactly is causing their appearance. Theories range from meteorites to stray missiles, a man-made prank or even aliens.

However, The Siberian Times reports that the most common belief is that they’re the result of “melting permafrost due to climate change, causing a release of methane gas, which then forces an eruption.”

So basically, these things might keep popping up if humans continue to treat the planet like their own personal trash can.

One of the craters is on the same peninsula as the first one, while the other is on the Taymyr Peninsula.

The first is 98 feet in diameter, the second is 49 feet, and the third is 13 feet.

Crater 2 (Yamal Peninsula)

The third crater is in the Taymyr Peninsula, another region in Siberia.

Marina Leibman, chief scientist of the Earth Cryosphere Institute, told URA.RU, “Undoubtedly, we need to study all such formations. It is necessary to be able to predict their occurrence. Each new funnel provides additional information for scientists.”

A researcher at the Russian Scientific Centre of Arctic Research, Dr. Andrey Plekhanov claims that more studies will need to take place in order to determine if climate change is to blame.

Whatever’s to blame, it’s a scary reminder that we need to take better care of our planet.

Hit by Hailstones in Russian’s Altai Region, July 28th

image from omskzdes

Seven people have been injured and thousands of homes and facilities damaged after a heavy hailstorm hit the Russian region of Altay. The hailstones were the size of quail’s eggs, and some even as big as tennis balls.

A woman has been taken to hospital with a head injury.

The hailstorm hit the Altay Region in southern Sibera, over 3,500 kilometers from Moscow.

Many cars were also damaged in the hail, which lasted for about 10 minutes, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

 Over 3,000 homes and facilities were damaged, and about 1,600 square meters of windows were broken in the area during the storm, said Svetlana Lyashko, a representative of the local Emergency Situations Ministry.

A massive electricity outage was registered in the region hit by the hail.

To assess the damage, 15 rescue groups with 102 staff and 27 units of special equipment were deployed to the area.

On Tuesday, meteorologists predict heavy thunderstorms, rain and hail.

The storm came not long after the region was hit by its annual flood season, which this year affected 40,000 people.

Two weeks ago, a similar hailstorm hit the city of Novosibirsk due to the sharp decrease in temperatures: from +41 to +21 Celsius. A video that went viral showed the hail and the people running from a beach, some of them horrified and some trying to joke about the harsh Siberian climate.

Deadliest Diseases in Human History

Authorities across West Africa have announced a series of measures aimed at halting the spread of the Ebola virus, as the pathogen reached a fourth country last week with a death in Lagos, the second-fastest growing city in Nigeria.

The hospital where a man died on Friday, the country's first recorded case of Ebola, was closed and quarantined.

Between 1976, when the disease was first identified, and 2014, fewer than 1,000 people a year have been infected. Yet this year, the largest outbreak to date is the ongoing in West Africa, affecting Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and now, Nigeria.

IBTimes UK looks at other diseases and outbreaks which have claimed thousands of lives in human history.


Smallpox

Also known as Variola vera, the contagious disease caused an estimated 300 to 500 million deaths in the 20th century. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organisation stated that around 15 million people contracted the disease and two million had died that year alone.

Smallpox is characterised by a blistered rash on the skin, as well as a fever.
After successful vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the WHO certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979. To this day, smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been completely eradicated.


Spanish Flu

In the period from 1918 and 1919, between 50 million and 100 million people died of Spanish influenza. Although most influenza outbreaks kill juvenile, elderly or weakened patients, the 1918 epidemic predominantly killed healthy, young adults.

To maintain morale, wartime censors minimised early reports of illness and mortality in Germany, Britain, France, and the United States. However, papers were free to report the epidemic's effects in neutral Spain - creating a false impression of Spain as especially hard hit, causing the nickname Spanish flu.

Symptoms of Spanish flu included chills and fluid in the lungs, which caused patients to drown or develop further infections such as bacterial pneumonia.


Bubonic Plague

Plague is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can be transferred from animals to humans. It circulates in fleas on small rodents, and without treatment, kills around two thirds of infected humans within four days.

The term bubonic plague is derived from the Greek word meaning "groin". Swollen lymph nodes (buboes) especially occur in the armpit and groin of patients. It is commonly believed to be the cause of the Black Death that swept through Europe in the 14th century – killing an estimated 25 million people.


Malaria

Malaria kills around two million people annually, which represents at least one death every 30 seconds. Children and pregnant women are the most vulnerable, but the majority of cases are undocumented as they occur in rural areas.

A tropical disease spread by the bite of a mosquito, symptoms include a high fever, sweats and chills, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and headaches.

The disease is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions in a broad band around the equator, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The World Health Organisation estimates that there were 219 million documented cases of malaria in 2010.


AIDS

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome has led to the deaths of more than 25 million people since it was first recognised in 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history.

A brief period of flu-like symptoms may occur during the initial infection of HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus infection), which is normally followed by a prolonged period without symptoms.

Spread mainly by unprotected sexual intercourse, contaminated blood transfusions, hypodermic needles and from mother to child, the illness gradually interferes with the immune system, making the person more likely to get infections and tumours which do not normally affect those with working immune systems.

Yahoo UK
29 Jul 2014

River in China mysteriously turns blood-red

The residents of Wenzhou, China, woke up last Thursday to discover that the inner city river had turned blood-red.

Everyone is puzzled, as this has never happened before and nobody knows the cause yet. China Radio International reports:

Inspectors from the Wenzhou Environmental Protection Bureau are taking samples and analyzing the cause of the incident.

The villagers pointed out that there wasn't a chemical plant along the upper stream.

Local residents say the river was flowing normally at 4am, but it started to redden at around 6am, and in no time at all had turned as crimson as blood.

Sploid
25 Jul 2014

Earth tremor causes panic in parts of Accra, Ghana

My Ghana

An earth tremor hit parts of Accra on Thursday night with residents of Bortianor and neighbouring communities confirming they felt the earth move.

The Earth tremor which occurred around 8pm lasted for about six seconds.

Residents said though the earth tremor  is not new, last night’s  vibrations were  of a higher magnitude.

Meanwhile the Chief Executive Officer of Development Geo-Information Service (DeGEOSERV), Prof. Emmanuel Amamoo-Otchere is cautioning residents in the affected areas to either relocate or take steps to protect their buildings against earth tremors.

He explained that even though the situation may not be frightening currently, the magnitude could increase and cause major destruction to life and properties in earthquake prone zones.

Records indicate that in 1615,  earthquakes occurred in Ghana with magnitude greater than 6.0 on the Richter Scale.

The last three major earthquakes occurred in Ghana in 1862, 1906 and 1939. The 1862 Accra earthquake with a magnitude 6.5 on the Richter Scale killed three people and caused considerable damage.

The Osu Castle was destroyed. The effects of this earthquake were felt in Togo and in Benin. Two magnitude 4.6 and 4.9 seismic events occurred in Accra in 1871 and 1872.

The epicenter of the 1906 earthquake was near Ho collapsing buildings and causing severe damage.

citifmonline
25 Jul 2014

All the lawns are brown: California's Catastrophic Drought

California’s Central Valley was once known as America's food basket providing vast supplies of fruit, vegetables and meat, but as these recent photographs show the devastating effects of the state’s worst drought in decades has played havoc on the region leaving much of it unfit for farming.

And it's not just farms in the region, as luxury homes and golf clubs have also been left with scorched earth where once there had been lush grass.

The most populous U.S. state is in its third year of what officials are calling a catastrophic drought, leading farmers to leave fallow nearly a half-million acres of land and leaving some small communities at risk of running out of drinking water.

Thousands of workers facing losing their jobs and farmers in the state are facing losses of $1.7 billion, according to recent economic study of what may be the state's driest year on record.

As many as 14,500 full time and seasonal jobs could be lost as a result of the drought, as farmers fallow land and there are fewer crops to plant and pick, according to the preliminary study.

Altogether, 410,000 acres may be left unplanted in the San Joaquin Valley alone, the analysis showed, as farmers enter the growing season with about two-thirds of the water that they need.

By comparison, a drought in 2009 led to the fallowing of 270,000 acres of cropland and the loss of 7,500 jobs, the study showed.

Most farmers in California rely on irrigation rather than rain, many purchasing supplies from federal and state projects that pump from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. But less water than normal is available from those sources this year.

Last week, Lake Mead dropped to the lowest levels since the reservoir was filled upon the completion of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s.

The everlasting drought for the past 14 years has forced waters down more than 130 feet since a high-water mark was last reached in 2000.

As entire marinas run dry, the Bureau of Reclamation fears that an ongoing drought could force the agency to declare a shortage by 2017, which could ultimately affect the more than 40 million people that rely on Lake Mead for water.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited drought-stricken homeowners on Friday in Central California, saying drought and climate change would require major investment to secure future water supplies.

Vilsack also announced $9.7 million in new emergency drought aid to help rural Californians hurt by the state's three-year drought.

A drought monitor sponsored by the federal government says 81 percent of the state is experiencing major agricultural losses and widespread water shortages or restrictions.

All but one of the state's 58 counties are now federally designated disaster areas because of the drought, making farmers and ranchers eligible for emergency loans, according to the agriculture department.

California Gov. Jerry Brown also is pushing for heavy investment to secure state water service, including a proposed $15 billion to build giant tunnels to carry water from the San Francisco Bay Area to the state's water-thirsty south.

Daily Mail
24 Jul 2014

This year's mayfly hatch in the Mississippi River reached Biblical proportions

The mayfly emergence is an annual event in which mayflies leave the Mississippi River after one or two years of incubation. The flies live for up to 36 hours before they return to the water, lay a new crop of eggs, and die.

The La Crosse, Wisconsin branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) reports that the mayflies caused a three-vehicle car crash as they descended over the town. The flies caused a bow echo on the NWS radar, which normally occurs during heavy rains, and proceeded to make a Wisconsin road slick, causing a driver to lose control of her car. Two people were injured in the crash, and one was treated at a local hospital.