Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Tornadoes claim more lives in U.S. this year

Meteorologists who keep records for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration say that the United States is having its deadliest tornado season in a decade and that this year may be on pace to set a record for the most tornadoes.

Umbrella

Hailstorm, Torrential Rains Hit Bulgaria's Pleven

After an evening of a true torrential downpour on Wednesday, the region of Bulgaria's northern town of Pleven was hit by a severe hailstorm.

The worst-hit district was Dolni Dabnik, where the size of the ice pieces were as big as eggs, local citizens said.

Snowman

Arizona: Unseasonable weather brings rain, hail, snow

Arizona will be a contradiction of weather terms over the next few days as an unusual weather system passes through the state through Sunday.

Rain was falling in Phoenix, hail fell in the East Valley, a snow advisory has been issued in the north and a wind advisory in the southeast. Tucson and Nogales face hazardous fire conditions.

There is a 30 to 60 percent chance of rain on Friday, said Jaret Rogers, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

Cloud Lightning

At least one killed by tornado in northern Colorado

Windsor, Colo. - A large tornado tore through several northern Colorado towns on Thursday, flipping over tractor-trailers, ripping roofs off buildings and killing at least one person.

The Weld County coroner's office confirmed one person was killed in the storm, which struck about 50 miles north of Denver. The office declined to provide details about how or where the person was killed.

Bulb

WCCO meteorologist: Global warming 'extremism' uses 'squishy science'

Longtime WCCO-TV meteorologist Mike Fairbourne says that the environmental movement is practicing "squishy science" when it ties human activity to global warming.

Fairbourne's assessment Monday came on the same day that the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine appeared before the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and announced that it has the signatures of more than 31,000 scientists -- including Fairbourne's -- who agree that the human impact on global warming is overblown.

Cloud Lightning

44 left dead by tropical storm "Halong" in Philippines

The death toll from tropical storm "Halong" reached 44 in the Philippines till Thursday morning as it has left the archipelago, the country's national disaster relief agency said.

The damage to property has risen to more than 3.743 billion pesos (87 million U.S. dollars), mostly in infrastructure and agricultural crops, the Philippine National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said in a report posted on its website.

At least 205,165 families or 1,107,875 persons were affected in1,176 villages in 61 towns and seven cities in five provinces in the north part of the archipelagos.

Attention

Canada should brace for tsunamis

The coast of British Columbia has long been considered as a high risk zone for earthquakes and underwater landslides that often cause tsunamis. Scientists now say Quebec and the East Coast should also brace for such hazard.

David Mosher, a marine geohazard expert at Natural Resources Canada, has studied Canada's deadliest tsunami that devastated fishing communities in southern Newfoundland in 1929.

The Grand Banks disaster triggered giant sea waves that killed 27 people and swept houses and fishing boats out to sea.

Snowman

Alps hit by two-decade decline in snowfall

PARIS - A forthcoming study has added to worries that the Alpine ski industry will be badly affected by global warming, the British weekly New Scientist reports on Wednesday.

A "dramatic step-like drop" in the amount of snow falling in the western European mountain chain occurred in the late 1980s and since then snowfall has never recovered, it says.

The evidence has been compiled by researcher Christoph Marty at the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.

Life Preserver

Aid reaches China's quake-stricken pandas

BEIJING - Huge supplies of bamboo and other favourites have arrived at China's top panda breeding centre after the deadly quake in the nation's southwest left the reserve without food, state press said Wednesday.

Tons of bamboo, apples, soybeans, eggs, milk powder and other foods have been shipped to the China Giant Panda Protection Research Centre, Xinhua news agency said. Large quantities of medicine were also included in the shipments, it said.


Clock

Prince Charles: Eighteen months to stop climate change disaster

The Prince of Wales has warned that the world faces a series of natural disasters within 18 months unless urgent action is taken to save the rainforests.

chameleon in Madagascar
©Unknown
A chameleon in a Madagascar rainforest. Prince Charles has warned of 'disaster' if urgent steps are not taken to protect the forests