Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Snow, thunderstorms black out thousands in Southeast US

A broad storm system spread heavy snow across the Great Lakes region Tuesday and fired up violent thunderstorms that knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast.

Info

Invading Bees Take Best Genes from Predecessors

When marauding Vikings decided to settle down they usually "went native,'' marrying local girls and blending in. Invading honey bees may be doing the same. The invasion of new bee populations has attracted attention in recent years with the spread of so-called Africanized, or "killer bees'' moving north from South America.

When a new strain of bees invades a region already populated by honey bees, they interbreed and gain benefits from the genes of their predecessors, researchers report in this week's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 7.0 - Kepulauan Mentawai Region, Indonesia

Earthquake Details
Magnitude 7.0
Date-Time

* Monday, February 25, 2008 at 08:36:35 UTC
* Monday, February 25, 2008 at 03:36:35 PM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 2.352°S, 100.018°E
Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA

Evil Rays

Magnitude 6.7 quake hits off Indonesia's Sumatra-USGS

A magnitude 6.7 quake hit off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

It said the quake, initially reported as a magnitude 6.9, struck at 1806 GMT 102 miles (164 km) southwest of Padang in Sumatra and was only 21.7 miles (35 km) deep.

Cloud Lightning

Death toll from China snow storms hits 129: report

The death toll from severe snow storms that have paralysed large parts of China this winter has reached 129, state media reported Sunday.

china snowstorm
©Unknown

Cloud Lightning

One killed and one missing as storm lashes Japan

One man has died and another is missing after Japan was battered by strong winds on Sunday, officials said.

A 72-year-old fisherman died after being thrown out of his boat in high waves in the Sea of Japan off Toyama prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, a local government official said.

"Another man has separately been missing, while six others were injured in wind-related incidents," the official said, adding that more than 200 houses were flooded as high surf engulfed large areas near the coast.

Fish

Pygmy sperm whale rescued off Florida Keys

A pygmy sperm whale found stranded off the Florida Keys was in critical condition at a rehabilitation center on Sunday.

The 10 1/2-foot long male was discovered Saturday off Islamorada and transferred to the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo.

pygmy sperm whale
©Florida Keys News Bureau, Bob Care
In this photo released by the Florida Keys News Bureau, marine mammal rescue volunteers Bob Coakley, left, and Lloyd Brown, right, closely examine a pygmy sperm whale at the Marine Mammal Conservancy Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008, in Key Largo, Fla. The 10-foot-long male, estimated to weigh 1,000 pounds, was discovered stranded off the Florida Keys early Saturday, Feb. 23, and was subsequently transported to the Conservancy for care.

Bizarro Earth

Indonesia hit by Powerful earthquake

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale hit Indonesia's Sumatra Island Sunday, but no injuries or tsunami warnings were reported initially.

An India-based meteorology agency measured the quake at 6.5, while the U.S. Geological Survey had it at 6.4. The temblor was felt throughout the island's Bengkulu province and in the province of West Sumatra, the state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.


Better Earth

Amazon Corridors Far Too Narrow, Warn Scientists

Protected forest strips buffering rivers and streams of the Amazon rainforest should be significantly wider than the current legal requirement, according to pioneering new research by scientists at the University of East Anglia. This is the first wildlife study on remnant riparian tropical forest corridors.

Brazilian forestry legislation currently requires that all forest strips alongside rivers and streams on private land be maintained as permanent reserves and it sets a minimum legal width of 60m.

But after investigating the effects of corridor width on the number of bird and mammal species, Alexander Lees and Dr Carlos Peres of UEA's School of Environmental Sciences say a minimum critical width of 400m is necessary.

Cow Skull

Busy Beavers Can Help Ease Drought

They may be considered pests, but beaver can help mitigate the effects of drought, and because of that, their removal from wetlands to accommodate industrial, urban and agricultural demands should be avoided, according to a new University of Alberta study.

beavers
©Glynnis Hood, University of Alberta
Beavers can help mitigate the effects of drought and should not be pushed away from wetlands for industrial and residential development, a University of Alberta study says.