Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Earthquake experts: Hayward Fault in California is a 'tectonic time bomb'

Studying layers of soil in a trench they dug near the Fremont BART station, earthquake experts have made a startling discovery: The Hayward Fault has had a big earthquake every 140 years, on average, since 1315.

And this Sunday marks year 139.

Cloud Lightning

Vietnam: Torrential rains kill one, cause heavy landslides

Extended torrential rain in central Quang Nam Province yesterday killed one person and caused many heavy landsides, said a source from the Quang Nam Storm Flood Prevention Department.

The rains led to flooding, and swept away a primary school teacher on his way home. The rains, quickly raising the water levels in local rivers, caused 27 landslides in the central province's six mountainous districts, blocking a mountain route. The rains have concerned the 1,500 residents near Tra Can Lake in Dai Loc District, and others in Dai Hiep Commune are preparing to flee.

Bizarro Earth

Philippines: Families flee Bulusan lahar

Families living at the foot of Mount Bulusan volcano in Sorsogon were forced to leave their homes Wednesday night when heavy downpour loosened more volcanic deposits, triggering lahar that swelled the river channels in four villages in Irosin town, officials said.

Cloud Lightning

US: Missouri storm kills 2; tornado hits shopping mall in Pensacola, Fla.

High winds from a possible tornado struck rural northeastern Missouri early Thursday, killing a couple in a mobile home, authorities said. Several twisters hit in the southwest part of the state without causing major damage.

A tornado also touched down in the Florida Panhandle on Thursday, damaging the city's major shopping mall as a line of violent thunderstorms made their way across the state's western Panhandle. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Coffee

Elephants can literally sniff out danger

Elephants can literally smell danger, according to a study on Thursday that shows the animals can sniff out whether humans are friends or foes.

©REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic
Elephants in Kenya's Masai Mara national reserve, August 23, 2007.

Bizarro Earth

Israel's Mediterranean a 'septic tank?'

The Mediterranean is often called the world's most polluted sea and the waters around Tel Aviv offer a reason why.

©REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen
A man walks along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the Israeli city of Haifa, October 9, 2007.

Magic Wand

The fish that can survive for months in a tree

It's one of the golden rules of the natural world - birds live in trees, fish live in water.

The trouble is, no one bothered to tell the mangrove killifish.

Scientists have discovered that it spends several months of every year out of the water and living inside trees.

©Unknown
The killifish can alter the way it breathes

Bizarro Earth

Volcano Erupted in Kamchatka, East Russia

Bezymyannyi volcano, located in the Ust-Kamchatka District, erupted on October 15.

Seismologists registered a sudden increase in activity of the volcano at 3:30 a.m. local time. Scientists think giant volcano kept erupting for two hours. It threw out columns of ash to the height of 5 to 7 km. The ash shower covered dozens of kilometres around the volcano, RIA Sever DV reports.

Cloud Lightning

Update: 10 killed, over 100 missing as storm hits S Bangladesh

Violent storms triggered by depression have swept Bangladesh's south and southeastern coastal belt, leaving at least 10 people dead and over 100 fishermen missing in the Bay of Bengal.

The storm struck the country's southern districts of Barisal, Bhola, Barguna, Noakhali, Patuakhali, Bagerhat, Faridpur and Rangamati Monday night, triggering heavy rain, tornado and landslide and leaving 10 killed and over 150 injured.

Better Earth

Mysterious foam on Lago Maggiore



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