Earth ChangesS

Better Earth

Butterfly shows evolution at work

Scientists say they have seen one of the fastest evolutionary changes ever observed in a species of butterfly.

The tropical Blue Moon butterfly has developed a way of fighting back against parasitic bacteria.

©BBC
The bacteria selectively kills male Blue Moons before they can hatch

Bizarro Earth

New Mexico Ranchers Fight Caterpillar Invasion

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - It has all the makings of a potential rangeland disaster: thousands of acres of grass and the herds of cattle, antelope and other animals that need to eat it versus an emerging army of spiky caterpillars with voracious appetites. But ranchers hope quick action will take care of the caterpillars _ also known as range worms _ before they can destroy pastures in northeastern New Mexico.

Cloud Lightning

1 dead as heavy rain continues in western Japan

A man died Wednesday in Kumamoto Prefecture after falling into a swollen river as heavy rain continued in western Japan.

Star

Sleepless and Sizzling in Seattle




They are suffering in Seattle, and throughout western Washington, with record heat. A heatwave of historic proportions peaked today. The high in Seattle: 98 degrees. That broke the old record of 95, set back in 1951, but fell short of the all-time Seattle record of 100 degrees.

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 3.0 Earthquake Recorded In The Geysers, California

THE GEYSERS - A magnitude 3.0 earthuqake was recorded Wednesday morning in The Geysers area, a remote section of Lake County, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The minor quake generated no reports of any injuries or damage, authorities said.

The quake's epicenter was one mile west-northwest of The Geysers, a seismically active area along the Sonoma-Lake county border, according to the USGS.

Bizarro Earth

Minor earthquake hits southwest of Portland

A 3.3 magnitude earthquake shook the southwest Portland metro area at 8:53 p.m. Wednesday.

The quake was centered just west of Barlow, nine miles south of Tualatin and about 19 miles southwest of Portland. Some buildings shook but no one was injured.

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake, Magnitude 6.0, shakes Peru

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Peru on Thursday near the city of Pucallpa in the Amazonian rain forest, US seismologists said.

The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred at 12.43am (05H23 GMT) and had a depth of 152 kilometres.

Cloud Lightning

Rains, flooding continues to hit Oklahoma

A flood-weary region cringed again early this week as more rain fell, causing more high water.

Storms drenched parts of Oklahoma and Texas, dropping 3 to 6 inches of rain. Thunderstorms were forecast for the region for the rest of the week.

©National Weather Service - Wichita, Kansas
Residents cleaning up from flooding in Coffeyville must cope with an oil spill as well.

Cloud Lightning

China floods 75 villages to ease swollen river



©Reuters
Local residents check a bridge which is partially submerged by the floods in southwest China's Chongqing municipality

China flooded dozens of evacuated villages on Tuesday to ease pressure from a swollen river after torrential rains that have killed more than 100 people nationwide.

Snowman

Switzerland experiences unseasonably cold weather

Heavy rain and unseasonably low temperatures have marred the beginning of the summer holiday period in many parts of Switzerland, the official Swiss info website reported on Tuesday.

While the mixed weather appears to have had no major impact on tourism, the authorities issued warnings as the levels of several lakes reached a critical point, according to the report.