Earth ChangesS


Butterfly

Australia: Wet and wild conditions continue to lash Queensland

Wet and wild conditions are continuing across Queensland, with severe weather warnings issued, including flash flooding and damaging winds. A new low pressure system forming off the Sunshine Coast is due to intensify the stormy weather which has lashed the southern coastline for the past week.

Question

Trees absorbing less CO2 as world warms, study finds

The ability of forests to soak up man-made carbon dioxide is weakening, according to an analysis of two decades of data from more than 30 sites in the frozen north.

The finding published today is crucial, because it means that more of the CO2 we release will end up affecting the climate in the atmosphere rather than being safely locked away in trees or soil.

Magnify

Nature and Man Jointly Cook Arctic

WASHINGTON - There's more to the recent dramatic and alarming thawing of the Arctic region than can be explained by man-made global warming alone, a new study found. Nature is pushing the Arctic to the edge, too.

Snowman

Snow and cold weather grips much of Canada - but Atlantic Canada suffers most

As residents of Atlantic Canada dug out Wednesay from the fourth winter storm in a week, the man considered Canada's unofficial weather guru said it appears Mother Nature is repeatedly taking aim at the region.

Snowman

Southern U.S. Farmers Fret As Cold Sets In

ORLANDO, Florida - A wintry system that added inches to record snow accumulations in some Northern states sent temperatures plummeting Wednesday in the South, where farmers scrambled to protect their crops.

Temperatures were expected to drop into the 20s and teens in parts of Florida by Thursday morning, following the 30-degree temperatures some northern parts of the state saw Wednesday.

The cold spell could prove devastating to the state's citrus industry, which is the nation's largest and already has suffered from years of disease and hurricanes.

Bizarro Earth

Villagers flee volcano eruption in Chile



©EPA
A view of the Llaima volcano in the La Araucania region of southern Chile.

Hundreds of residents fled their homes and spent the night out in the open after a volcano in southern Chile erupted, spewing lava and ash.

The director of the government's emergency bureau, Carmen Fernandez, today said that a state of alert remained in the area of the Llaima volcano 650km (400 miles) south of Santiago, but that no mass evacuation was yet necessary.

Fish

Pacific Salmon Invading Atlantic, Threatening Penguins

Ocean-swapping Pacific salmon are moving into Atlantic waters, scientists say.

©Miguel Pascual, Centro Nacional Patagónico
A researcher displays a chinook salmon found in the headwaters of the Santa Cruz River in Argentina. A new study has found that the invasive salmon, native to the North Pacific, are invading the South Atlantic, posing a threat to penguins and sea mammals that compete with the fish for food.

Snowman

New Year's Snowstorm Hits Michigan Hard

DETROIT - A fast-moving New Year's Day storm dumped more than a foot of snow on southeastern Michigan, a record blast that made driving hazardous, snarled the flight home for holiday travelers and threatened to do the same in New England.

Evil Rays

Earthquake measuring 6 pts on Richter scale occurs in Kyrgyzstan

An earthquake measuring 6.0 points on the open-ended Richter scale was registered in southern Kyrgyzstan in the small hours of Tuesday, January 1, spokespeople for the press service of Kyrgyzstani Ministry for Emergency Situations told Itar-Tass.

There have been no reports on victims.

Frog

Big Rat, Tiny Possum Found in Rainforest

Researchers in a remote jungle in Indonesia have discovered a giant rat and a tiny possum that are apparently new to science, underscoring the stunning biodiversity of the Southeast Asian nation, scientists said Monday.

Unearthing new species of mammals in the 21st century is considered very rare. The discoveries by a team of American and Indonesian scientists are being studied further to confirm their status.

©Unknown

The animals were found in the Foja mountains rainforest in eastern Papua province in a June expedition, said U.S.-based Conservation Inter­national, which organized the trip along with the Indonesian Institute of Science.