Watch the skies and land and oceans

[Gaby]

Can't remember this one from 2024. It's like over 40 giant sinkholes at the bottom of Lake Michigan, they're up to 300 meters (1000 feet) wide and 12 m (40 feet) deep. They were discovered in 2022.

It seems off gassing and/or earth "opening up". And pretty concentrated in that area of the world. There are more between Michigan and Canada.

Lucky that shipwreck hunters brought this up, otherwise no one would have looked, at least officially. It seems they were literally not there before. They would not disclose when was the last time they looked, if they did.

Image credit: Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary

Scientists confirm there are 40 huge craters at the bottom of Lake Michigan

Researchers recently surveyed the bottom of Lake Michigan after spotting strange circles on the lakebed in 2022. New observations show the circles are craters, but how they formed remains unclear.

www.livescience.com

Researchers recently surveyed the bottom of Lake Michigan after spotting strange circles on the lakebed in 2022. New observations show the circles are craters, but how they formed remains unclear.

Two years ago, sonar images revealed strange circles at the bottom of Lake Michigan that scientists couldn't explain. Now, a survey has determined the shapes are giant holes — but there are many more secrets left to unravel, researchers say.

The holes were first discovered in 2022, when researchers embarked on a mission to map the lakebed inside the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, a protected area of Lake Michigan that contains 36 known shipwrecks, and may contain many more. Weird circles appeared on the map that looked natural rather than human-made, Russ Green, a maritime archaeologist and superintendent of the sanctuary who took part in the mapping project, told Live Science in an email. The shapes were likely depressions in the lakebed, but the researchers couldn't be sure.


"Any kind of new discovery in the Great Lakes is exciting," Green said. "But these features really stand out — they are in deeper water (500 feet [150 meters] ish) and weren't known before, as far as we can tell."

Brendon Baillod, a local shipwreck hunter, spotted the mysterious circles around the same time as Green and his colleagues while searching for a sunken freighter. To his eyes, the circles were clearly depressions, or craters, measuring between 20 and 40 feet (6 to 12 m) deep, Baillod told Live Science in an email. "There were dozens of them in our search grid," he said. "Most were 500 to 1,000 feet [150 to 300 m] in diameter and of irregular shapes."

There was a lag in processing data from the initial mapping expedition, but Green, Baillod and their colleagues eventually contacted scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), Green said.

This year, the research teams conducted a joint survey to examine the circles more closely. On Aug. 21, they used a remotely operated vehicle to confirm that the shapes are enormous, naturally-occurring craters. Scientists counted roughly 40 of them, but there are likely more to be found, Steve Ruberg, a researcher at GLERL, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The craters were like "perfect, little circles" on the lakebed about 14 miles (23 kilometers) southeast of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Ruberg said, and extended southwards in a line toward Port Washington, also in Wisconsin.

Researchers previously found similar depressions at the bottom of Lake Huron, which borders Michigan and Canada. Those depressions turned out to be sinkholes, which are caverns that form — both underwater and on land — when groundwater dissolves the bedrock from below, causing the surface layer to collapse. Lake Michigan partly sits on limestone, which is prone to dissolution, so it's likely that the craters on the lakebed are also sinkholes, Ruberg said.

Others are holding off on calling the circles sinkholes until more research has been done. "I think they might be more accurately called craters, which have formed in the deep bottom sediment due either to water upwelling from below or trapped hydrocarbon offgassing," Baillod said.

The recent survey found no water escaping from the holes that would suggest there is groundwater circulating beneath the lakebed, but Ruberg said he expects researchers will eventually detect some. Images and videos of the holes showed freshwater shrimp, small fish and invasive quagga mussels "doing their thing in the dark down there," he said.

It's unclear what impact the holes might be having on Lake Michigan as a whole, but researchers are confident they will find out in time. "We'll be exploring them for years to come to learn more, and sort out how they got there and what role they play in Lake Michigan's ecosystem," Green said.

They'll find out soon enough, for sure!

Researchers used a remotely operated vehicle to take this photograph of the lakebed inside one of the holes at the bottom of Lake Michigan. (Image credit: Brendon Baillod and Dusty Klifman)

 

[Puma]

RUSSIA. Record snowfall on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. Reports from NDTV, AP News, and local sources confirm that it was an extreme snowfall that buried buildings up to the second floor. (Verified video, not AI)

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013349129477349784

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013225992236441805

“The fire hotspots have reignited again...”
Recording from Penco, Chile, where wildfires have killed at least 14 and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Witnesses say Israeli “tourists” are behind the blaze, just as they were in Argentina.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013069598250143954

Chile has declared a state of catastrophe in two southern regions on Sunday, as raging wildfires forced more than 50,000 people to evacuate and killed at least 18 people.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013216115145781550

 

[Puma]

Images of the fires in Chile that have left at least 20 dead and led to a state of emergency being declared

Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in two regions of the country where devastating forest fires are raging.

At least 20 people have been confirmed dead in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, some 300 miles south of the capital, Santiago.

The most dangerous fire has ravaged dry forests bordering the coastal city of Concepción. Some 536 homes have been destroyed, according to authorities.

Local media are showing images of burned-out cars in the streets. Chile has suffered a series of devastating fires in recent years, exacerbated by prolonged drought.

Like a scene from a movie that no one wants to see, but this is not fiction. This is Concepción #Penco #Lirquén
A state of emergency has been declared as #ForestFires tear through the region. Homes lost. Thousands of people in shelters without a home...
Chile must be more united than ever

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013230712900469080

Chile declares state of emergency in Ñuble and Biobío due to fires that have killed 19 people
Both regions are on red alert, with 14 active fires. The fires have destroyed 325 homes and forced the evacuation of more than 50,000 people.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013243730132660599

 

[Puma]

Severe storm hits Catalonia, Spain. The city of Girona is on alert due to the rising waters of the Onyar River after heavy rains. The City Council has activated its emergency protocol. Businesses are closed, classes are suspended, and residents are being asked to evacuate ground floors in riverside areas. One person is reported missing.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013626577599254715

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013613821613502933

Heavy rains and severe flooding today in Algeria Images of severe flooding in the Jughraf neighborhood, Ghazaouet province, this morning January 20, 2026

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013616753041985646

Violent storm surge affecting the town of Letojanni, Sicily, Italy

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013642363210523094

 

[Puma]

Storm Harry, formed in the Mediterranean Sea by a deep low-pressure system, caused a violent storm in southern Italy, severely affecting the region of Calabria, including the area of Cirò Marina, between January 19 and 20, 2026.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2014017492406911069

Violent tornado strikes Karangpandan, Karanganyar, in Central Java, Indonesia.

They have also registered M5+ earthquakes.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013979868363362723

For the last 36 hours, Earth has been hit by a continuous geomagnetic storm, ranging from strong (G3) to severe (G4)

 

[Puma]

Worrying conditions in the Ano Glyfada area, a neighborhood south of Athens, Greece
Torrential rains and severe flooding inundate streets and avenues
January 21, 2026

https://twitter.com/x/status/2014065992645685551

The state is absent in Glyfada. The residents are alone, without anyone's help, trying to save themselves and their property #badweather #weather

https://twitter.com/x/status/2014072580072714260

Difficult situation in Ano Glyfada.Please, no unnecessary travel. video source Perseas Pentelikou

https://twitter.com/x/status/2014031642780746217

The Steïr River overflows in Quimper, Finistère department, France
Heavy rains continue tonight in the Brittany region, with the overflowing Steïr flooding part of the city center! Credits Baptiste Mebrouk,

https://twitter.com/x/status/2014083533879316524

 

[Sindy-S.R]

What happened in Letojanni, Sicily, is very unfortunate. I know the area well. When I lived in Sicily, I often passed through that town.
My relatives who work in another town near Letojanni have not been able to go to work since Tuesday.
There is no water or electricity, and there is a lot of destruction caused by the force of the waves in all the coastal towns in that area.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

Shocking moment locals run for their lives as streets flood in an INSTANT on Italian holiday island battered by cyclone​

Gemma Scerri , Foreign News Reporter
Published: 10:41, 21 Jan 2026
Updated: 13:07, 21 Jan 2026

A POPULAR holiday hotspot has been lashed with wild weather as Cyclone Harry continues to cause havoc, prompting a state of emergency.

Shocking videos show the moments Sicilian streets are turned into rivers, leaving residents running, with rubbish, pot plants, outdoor furniture and cars washing away.

 

[Gaby]

I'm placing this one on this thread since it is about the South Atlantic Anomaly:

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

AURORAS INSIDE THE SOUTH ATLANTIC ANOMALY: Many unusual things happened during this week's severe geomagnetic storm. Mark this as one of the most unusual. "We saw auroras inside the South Atlantic Anomaly," reports Egon Filter, who sends this picture from Cambará do Sul, Brazil (latitude +29 S)

"We were looking south on Jan. 19th when this strange purple band appeared," says Filter. "At the time, the planetary K-index was 7.6."

The South Atlantic Anomaly is a weak spot in Earth's magnetic field centered on Brazil. There, the planet’s protective magnetic shield is thinner than elsewhere, allowing energetic particles from the inner Van Allen radiation belt to dip unusually close to Earth.​

You might suppose that auroras would be strong in the South Atlantic Anomaly because solar storms can penetrate Earth's defenses there. In fact, the opposite is true. Multiple studies show that auroras are relatively weak in the Anomaly.​

The studies are very surprising. The South Atlantic Anomaly has this as an effect in auroras:

The Impact of the South Atlantic Anomaly on the Aurora System

Our findings reveal that the magnetic fluctuations within the southern auroral oval are significantly weaker in the region that aligns with the SAA. This weakening effect is consistently present, regardless of the season or the level of geomagnetic activity.

Auroral Asymmetry Associated With the South Atlantic Anomaly

we found that the SAA affects auroras in several ways: it increases the differences between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, reduces auroral brightness evenly across seasons, and weakening both duskside and dawnside auroras in the Southern Hemisphere while boosting dawnside auroras in the Northern Hemisphere. These effects are always present but are more noticeable during periods of high geomagnetic activity. Our studies indicate that the SAA not only distorts the local magnetic field but also shapes the auroral patterns and modulates the auroral asymmetries.

You would think you're in trouble if you're there, but it looks like it actually spells trouble for the Northern Hemisphere.

Back to our press release from spaceweather.com

Above: The red star marks Egon Filter's location in the South Atlantic Anomaly

Why? It's a bit of a mystery. One idea holds that weak and disorganized magnetic fields in the Anomaly do a poor job focusing and accelerating solar wind particles. Instead of forming bright, narrow curtains of light, the incoming particles spread out and produce only faint, diffuse glows.

The lights Filter saw might have been a different phenomenon--an SAR arc. SAR arcs are red bands that appear during some geomagnetic storms when Earth's ring current system leaks heat energy into the upper atmosphere. Research suggests that SAR arcs should be supressed inside the Anomaly for some of the same reasons that auroras are suppressed, but the jury is still out.

Auroras or SAR arcs: Either way something unusual happen in the South Atlantic Anomaly on Jan. 19th. Browse the gallery for more lights in strange places--and stay tuned for additional coverage.​

The irony is that the sound track from The Day After Tomorrow just came up in my music list as I'm writing this post.

Remember what deceased plasma physicist, Nuno Loureiro, said:

"And it reverses sometimes. And those reversals of the Earth's magnetic field, so you know, reversal meaning the North Pole becomes the South Pole and vice versa. So those happen and there's even interesting stories you can tell about how those reversals of the Earth's magnetic field correlate with many ice ages and things like this."

 

[Puma]

At least two dead and several missing in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, after record-breaking rain triggered landslides. Footage shows debris rushing down the mountain and hitting Beachside Holiday Park.

January 22, 2026

https://twitter.com/x/status/2014405409772339557

UNFORTUNATE
Torrential rains and severe flooding in Kuşadası, Aydın, Turkey

https://twitter.com/x/status/2014432140851581404