Earth Changes
Warm temperatures melted an area of western Antarctica that adds up to the size of California in January 2005, scientists report.
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| ©NASA/JPL
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| NASA's QuikScat satellite detected extensive areas of snow melt, shown in yellow and red, in Antarctica in January 2005.
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Satellite data collected by the scientists between July 1999 and July 2005 showed clear signs that melting had occurred in multiple distinct regions, including far inland and at high latitudes and elevations, where melt had been considered unlikely.
James Grubel
ReutersWed, 16 May 2007 13:17 UTC
Water shortages facing Australia's drought-hit prime agricultural area might be worse than expected, the government was told on Wednesday, as river towns braced for unprecedented restrictions on water use.
CBS/APWed, 16 May 2007 11:59 UTC
LAKE CITY, Fla. - Authorities evacuated hundreds of homes after a massive wildfire along the Georgia-Florida border jumped a containment line overnight, authorities said Tuesday.
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake has struck northern Laos, shaking buildings as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok, around 800 kilometres to the south, US Geological Survey (USGS) says.
RICHMOND, Va. - Agriculture officials are hoping to stop the eastward spread of the emerald ash borer beetle, an invasive, hard-to-control insect that has killed more than 20 million trees in the Midwest and Canada and is heading toward Virginia.
"It's not here yet but it can be transported easily in firewood, so we're asking people to buy firewood at your destination," said Elaine Lidholm, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "Don't take it with you."
The beetle is indigenous to eastern Russia, northern China, Japan and Korea and was initially found in southeastern Michigan in 2002, likely arriving in ash wood used in packing material. Because the insect has no native predators in North America, the infestation has continued to spread through parts of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Maryland - areas now under a federal quarantine.
NOVOSIBIRSK- Rising water levels on a West Siberian river have hit villages across the region, flooding homes and cutting off roads but causing no casualties, local emergencies officials said Wednesday.
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| ©RIA Novosti
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Hundreds of birds from as far south as Miami are falling from the sky or flying head-first into buildings and dying after being exposed to smoke from wildfires blanketing parts of Florida, according to a report.
Veterinarians said the birds have very sensitive lungs and the toxins in the smoke are poison to them, Local 6 reported Monday.
Kenneth R. Weiss
LA TimesMon, 14 May 2007 20:35 UTC
An outbreak of toxic algae is called the worst on record; its cause is unclear. Sea lions and seabirds take a big hit.
The current outbreak of toxic algae off the Los Angeles Harbor is the most virulent on record, scientists say, so overburdening animal rehabilitation centers that some sickened sea lions are temporarily left to fend for themselves on Los Angeles County beaches.
BBCFri, 11 May 2007 19:55 UTC
A Magellanic penguin whose natural habitat is the cool climes of southern Chile has strayed thousands of miles from his home, arriving in Peru.
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| ©BBC
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Twenty-seven U.S. states have been affected, reporting losses of up to 90 per cent, and the ailment seems to be moving north, Clay said.
New Brunswick has lost about 85 per cent of its bee colonies. Ontario beekeepers have lost about one-third, and Quebec 40 per cent so far.
And nobody is sure why.
Comment: For more information on Antartica Ice Melt and what is behind the news:
Fire and Ice: The Day After Tomorrow