Red tide is due to aggregations of dinoflagellates, or a kind of marine plankton. The dinoflagellates create a blue aura at times, though the phenomenon is not yet fully understood by scientists.

Waves or movement of the water cause the phytoplankton to glow neon blue at night, according to Bioluminescence Expert Michael Latz, a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California San Diego.

On Monday, May 7, observers were able to spot the bright bioluminescence from La Jolla to Encinitas, California.

Since May 3, dozens of homes have been destroyed, mandatory evacuations have been ordered and dangerous sulfur dioxide gas has filled the air after the KÄ«lauea Volcano in Hawaii erupted.

After a brief pause in volcanic activity early in the week, two fissures split open in Leilani Estates on Tuesday afternoon. While the fissures have since paused emitting lava, dangerous fumes continue to spill out.

Nighttime images have appeared apocalyptic at times as fissures that split open allowed raging fountains of lava to reach hundreds of feet in the air.

At 12:46 p.m. HST, on May 4, a large ash plume occurred after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook the Big Island of Hawaii. (Photo/USGS)

Mandatory evacuations were issued for the Leilani Estates subdivison on Hawaii's Big Island, where about 1,700 people reside. More than two dozen homes were destroyed.

In some cases, lava collected over homes and will never be cleared, according to AccuWeather's Jonathan Petramala, who is on the island.

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Hawaii Gov. David Ige has asked for a presidential disaster request from the Trump administration.

Social media was awash with pictures of asperitas clouds over Chicago this week.

The cloud is a new classification from the World Meteorological Organization, only being formally accepted in 2017. The rare clouds occur at sharp boundaries of dry and moist air.

Chicago residents caught the sight of the clouds during their morning commutes on Thursday.

Rare clouds roll over Chicago on Thursday, May 9. (Photo/Barry Butler)

Kenya continues to reel after intense rain led to catastrophic flooding and dam failures.

The Patel Dam in Solai collapsed this week, killing at least 44 people. Local police chief Joseph Kioko called it a "disaster."

Almost an entire village was swept away by the floodwaters and associated debris and mud, according to the county police chief in charge of criminal investigations, Gideon Kibunja.

Over 160 people have died since March due to seasonal rains and floods in the region, with over 225,000 displaced, according to a government statement.

Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano wasn't the only active volcano to prompt concerns this week.

In Indonesia, authorities ordered residents living withing a 3-mile radius of Mount Merapi to leave their homes after it spewed steam and ash into the sky on Friday, Reuters reported. An airport in the city of Yogyakarta, located on the densely populated island of Java, was closed due to the threat of ash.

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