With wildfires spreading across the country and even some roads melting, the death toll from Britain's heatwave continues to rise.
A 15-year-old boy is thought to have drowned in a river in the latest heatwave water death.
The teenager was airlifted to hospital after the incident in Roe Valley Country Park near Limavady, Northern Ireland, yesterday afternoon, but died in hospital.
It takes the death toll of water-related deaths to 14 since Britain's longest heatwave for seven years began.
According to Public Health England, 650 people died in the hot weather from July 6 to July 14, with more deaths likely to have added to that tally in recent days.
Earth Changes
Global average temperatures in June were the fifth highest on record, as above-average heat conditions continued a multidecade streak, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported yesterday.
June marked the 340th consecutive month -- a span of time more than 28 years -- that global temperatures surged above the 20th century average, according to the agency.
"The last below-average June temperature was June 1976 and the last below-average temperature for any month was February 1985," NOAA said in a release.
At the same time, it is too early to determine whether the stifling heat wave bringing misery to much of the eastern United States for the past week is unusual.
"This heat wave is still unfolding, so it's kind of hard for us to put it into a perspective of past heat waves," said Jake Crouch, a climatologist at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
US Drought Map as of July 16, 2013, released by US Drought Monitor on July 18, 2013.
In contrast, the eastern half of the United States remained out of drought, given steady summer rains and cool temperatures.
The U.S. Drought Monitor, issued by state and federal experts, said on Thursday that drought areas in the "moderate to exceptional" range reached 44.85 percent, up from 44.06 percent a week ago.
"Dry conditions persisted across most of the southern Great Plains and Lower Mississippi River Valley," the online U.S. Drought Monitor said.
While temperatures there were still generally below normal for the week, they were still warm, it said. "Accordingly, the coverage of drought conditions was increased across the Southern Great Plains."
Faced with widespread concerns in Europe over its genetically modified foods, US agro-chemicals giant Monsanto said Thursday it was giving up on plans to grow new GM crops in the EU, which has held up approval for years.
"We will no longer be pursuing approvals for cultivation of new biotech crops in Europe," Monsanto said, adding that it would now focus on its conventional seeds business.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it "took note of the decision" by Monsanto which produces a whole stable of GM crops and in wide use in the United States and elsewhere.
In Europe, however, suspicion about the use of GM food products is widespread, with many fearing their use is a health hazard.
"We will no longer be pursuing approvals for cultivation of new biotech crops in Europe," Monsanto said, adding that it would now focus on its conventional seeds business.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it "took note of the decision" by Monsanto which produces a whole stable of GM crops and in wide use in the United States and elsewhere.
In Europe, however, suspicion about the use of GM food products is widespread, with many fearing their use is a health hazard.
© Geonet
This Geonet map shows quake felt reports across New Zealand. Yellow is strong, green is moderate and blue is light.
This Geonet map shows quake felt reports across New Zealand. Yellow is strong, green is moderate and blue is light.
The first quake struck at 9.06 am and was centered 30km east of Seddon, south of Blenheim, at a depth of 8 km. Rated as severe, it turned Wellington office workers white-knuckled as it swayed high-rises in the capital, with buildings also being rocked in Blenheim. The shallow tremor was felt as far away as Christchurch and New Plymouth. In Wellington it was felt as one jolt, gradually picking up in intensity, while those in Blenheim felt two shakes. GeoNet said it received more than 6000 reports after the jolt. It said the fact it struck off the South Island spared the region from its full force, though there were a few reports that it had a damaging intensity.
Shock: Sydney Sainsbury describes the 'terrifying' and 'unprovoked' otter attack
Sydney Sainsbury of West Yellowstone was 'viciously' attacked by an otter on July 9, leaving her needing serious medical attention, including an arm brace and eight stitches to her head.
Sainsbury was tubing on the Madison River when she says she saw the animal about 20 feet away. She says that the animal then launched a sudden and unprovoked attack.
© New York Times
A recent report highlights the connection between food price increases and social unrest.
A recent report highlights the connection between food price increases and social unrest.
"When you have food prices that peak, you have all these riots. But look under the peaks, at the background trend. That's increasing quite rapidly, too," said Yaneer Bar-Yam, president of NECSI, in an interview with Wired Science. "In one to two years, the background trend runs into the place where all hell breaks loose."
Social unrest, the NECSI report explained, often reflects severe cases of poverty, unemployment, and injustice. While food prices might not be the primary cause of protests, it provides a platform for populations to revolt.
© Fox12 Oregon/KPTV
FOX 12 meteorologist Stephanie Kralevich said it's a fragment of a circumhorizontal arc, which is an optical phenomenon formed by plate-shaped ice crystals in high cirrus clouds. The clouds are common this time of year when the sun is high in the sky and high, thin clouds move by.
© Fox12 Oregon/KPTV
y residents woke Thursday morning to find a sinkhole that had formed over night on East Cherokee Drive
Cherokee County Sheriff spokesman Lt. Jay Baker said that the water main break was called in a little after 2 a.m., on Thursday morning. As deputies closed the road, the asphalt began to sink.
Then the road collapsed.
"Fortunately, we were getting calls about it when water was coming through the road," Baker said. "If it had just happened, it could have been deadly for somebody who drove into it."
The Cherokee County Water and Sewage Authority turned off water for about five houses in the area. Spokesman Dwight Turner said a 20-foot section of PVC pipe had split under East Cherokee Drive, causing water to leak out of the road.
"[The pipe] is probably 30 years old or older," he said. "We've been replacing PVC pipe with ductile iron pipe for many, many years and we will continue to. But we haven't gotten it all done yet. And that's just one of the things that happens."
Ductile iron pipes are thought to last for several decades, Turner said.
Tina Sanchez
Sanchez had to be pulled out of a sinkhole Monday by East Joliet Firefighters when the ground gave way in the mobile home park where she lives at 1703 S. Chicago St.
About 6 p.m. Sanchez and her son were walking past a nearby home when she stopped to talk to a neighbor near a parking space and a steel drain, she said. Without warning, she fell into the ground and had to hold on to her son and try to brace her feet against the drain, she said.
"I was freaking out," Sanchez said. "The more I kept trying to get up, the more I kept falling in."
Comment: Although the above Reuters article describes the drought's growth entering its 4th week, it has since entered its 5th week...
U.S. Drought Expands for 5th Straight Week