Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Science has underestimated power of tornadoes + Australian floods devastate wildlife

#1
C C Offline
Scientists have been underestimating the power of tornadoes
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/...-tornadoes

RELEASE: The U.S. National Weather Service rates a twister's intensity by assessing the damage it leaves in its wake. But this methodology may be underrating tornadoes that move through open fields in rural areas, The Washington Post reports. For a decade, researchers measured the wind speed of 82 tornadoes that hit the Great Plains and showed that most of them were stronger and wider than the damages indicated, with about 20% reaching the highest levels of the so-called Enhanced Fujita scale of tornado intensity. The findings, reported this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, will be used by a joint committee of the American Meteorological Society and the American Society of Civil Engineers to improve estimates of the destructive power of tornados.


The Australian Floods Are Devastating Wildlife
https://earther.gizmodo.com/the-australi...1846539042

EXCERPTS: Parts of Australia are underwater. The country has seen three feet of rain in just five days, constituting a once-in-a-century event. [...] All kinds of animals have gotten swept up in the floodwaters. “We’ve lost a lot of animals this weekend,” Nat Blatchford of the New South Wales-based animal rescue service Wildlife in Need of Care, told the Guardian, noting that some kangaroos had perished, as had many birds that became waterlogged in the rain.

Experts are also concerned for animals that live underground, like quolls and echidnas. [...] they can easily get trapped inside their homes by floodwaters. Blatchford told the Guardian that her organization has already seen this happen to wombats, and another expert told the outlet that bandicoots have also been affected.

[...] Rescue workers have also found several hawksbill turtles washed ashore by massive storm surge in the ocean, as well as hundreds of baby loggerhead tortoises, which are an endangered species.

[...] Australians have also captured photos of spiders and snakes swarming into their neighborhoods and homes, looking to escape the rising waters. ... That’s bad news since both spiders and snakes play vital roles regulating the food chains of Australian ecosystems. But also, coming home to a flooded house full of snakes is an absolute nightmare in itself. New South Wales authorities are warning residents returning home to keep an eye out for snakes as well as structural damage...

[...] The timing comes after the continent’s wildlife endured a brutal year in 2020 as bushfires ravaged the countryside... (MORE - details)


https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/4bWatxhmIPA
Reply
#2
C C Offline
Thousands of spiders filmed fleeing floodwaters in southeastern Australia
https://www.earthtouchnews.com/in-the-fi...australia/

EXCERPT: Australia has a reputation for harbouring all manner of dangerous creatures (in case you haven’t noticed) and armies of arachnids hardly help change that perception, but experts have assured locals that the spiders do not pose a significant threat. “These are native species trying to do their thing, trying to survive. The last thing that you want to do is get out the insecticide spray,” Dr Lizzy Lowe, an arachnologist at Cesar Australia told the Guardian.

The spiders form a vital part of the ecosystem and have always been there – they are just typically hiding out in a field rather than crawling up a garage door. Elsewhere in the country, wildlife rescuers have been inundated with cases of animals either injured in the floodwaters or hurt in car strikes while trying to flee to higher ground. Locals have been urged to report any injured animals to local rescue groups who can assist.

As for the spiders, locals will have to learn to live with those for now... (MORE - details)


https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/4L5tZHwdLHY
Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Article Wildland-urban fire disasters aren’t a wildfire problem + Sound can reveal tornadoes C C 0 51 Dec 18, 2023 04:48 PM
Last Post: C C
  Is using overpasses as shelter from tornadoes actually safe or popular nonsense? C C 3 137 Oct 28, 2021 11:48 AM
Last Post: Zinjanthropos
  2nd Dust Bowl will be felt worldwide + Midwest preparing to get hit with major floods C C 0 337 Mar 20, 2020 09:12 PM
Last Post: C C
  Australian fires reach 'apocalyptic status' C C 10 796 Feb 3, 2020 03:31 AM
Last Post: Ben the Donkey
  Tornadoes, windstorms pave way for lasting plant invasions C C 0 270 Jul 19, 2019 02:03 AM
Last Post: C C
  Misjudging methane release? + Law unto themselves: Australian Bureau of Meteorology C C 3 1,245 Nov 22, 2017 02:27 PM
Last Post: RainbowUnicorn
  Fukushima Sea FLeas attack australian teen RainbowUnicorn 2 690 Aug 8, 2017 04:13 PM
Last Post: RainbowUnicorn
  The Science Behind This Winter's Deadly Tornadoes C C 0 522 Jan 1, 2016 06:59 PM
Last Post: C C



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)