High temperatures in the Austin area have already broken records during December, after November also brought record high temperatures and, for the first time in decades, no rain in Austin for the entire month. Austin saw no measurable rainfall in November, according to reports compiled on the Austin-Bergstrom Airport Area by the National Weather Service Southern Region Headquarters. According to the report, this is the first year Austin has had only trace amounts of rainfall in the month of November since 1970, more than four decades ago.Record highs were set on Nov. 1 at 88 degrees and Nov. 3 at 87 degrees. High temperatures reached into the 80s on 15 days in November, and lows never reached freezing. The most days it has reached 80 degrees in the area in November was in 1931, with 17 days in the 80s.

Japan should brace for a catastrophic volcanic eruption at some point, say experts, citing a massive buildup of magma at many of the nation's 110 active volcanoes. The last particularly serious eruption in Japan occurred in 1914, when Mount Sakurajima in southern Kagoshima Prefecture blew its top. According to study by volcanologists, Japan, which lies on the Pacific Rim of Fire, has been shaken by more than 1,000 volcanic eruptions over the past 2,000 years.

"The possibility of a major eruption in the future is real," said Yoichi Nakamura, a professor of volcanology at Utsunomiya University who has been analyzing volcanic eruptions with a team of researchers.

To be classified as active, a volcano must have erupted within the past 10,000 years or still be spewing gases, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The active volcanoes include sites in the disputed Northern Territories off northeastern Hokkaido as well as undersea volcanoes.

Of the 110 active volcanoes, the agency monitors activity of the 47 around the clock to detect signs of an imminent eruption.

Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations

H.E. Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary-General
United NationsFirst Avenue and East 44^th Street
New York, New York, U.S.A.

Policy actions that aim to reduce CO2 emissions are unlikely to influence future climate. Policies need to focus on preparation for, and adaptation to, all dangerous climatic events, however caused

On November 9 this year you told the General Assembly: "Extreme weather due to climate change is the new normal ... Our challenge remains, clear and urgent: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to strengthen adaptation to ... even larger climate shocks ... and to reach a legally binding climate agreement by 2015 ... This should be one of the main lessons of Hurricane Sandy."

On November 13 you said at Yale: "The science is clear; we should waste no more time on that debate."

The following day, in Al Gore's "Dirty Weather" Webcast, you spoke of "more severe storms, harsher droughts, greater floods", concluding: "Two weeks ago, Hurricane Sandy struck the eastern seaboard of the United States. A nation saw the reality of climate change. The recovery will cost tens of billions of dollars. The cost of inaction will be even higher. We must reduce our dependence on carbon emissions."

We the undersigned, qualified in climate-related matters, wish to state that current scientific knowledge does not substantiate your assertions.

Blasting out of the Pacific, the third and most powerful "Pineapple Express" storm of the week swept over the Bay Area Sunday morning, dumping heavy rain on a region already soaked to the roots and reeling from power outages and flooding. "It's a mess," said CHP Officer James Evans. "We've got flooding everywhere."

Animals, so sensitive they suck their thumbs if upset, suffer population crash

While Australia's northern hairy-nosed wombat may be one of the world's most endangered mammals, its southern cousin has, by comparison, thrived. But now a food shortage - and an invasion of toxic plants - has killed thousands of southern wombats, prompting fears of a local extinction.

Nicknamed the "bulldozer of the bush" because of its stocky build and ability to survive in an arid landscape, the southern hairy-nosed wombat is in a parlous state in the Murrayland region of South Australia, one of its main population areas. Many animals are emaciated, and have also lost their coats, making them susceptible to skin diseases and sunburn. Brigitte Stevens, who runs the Wombat Awareness Organisation, has been conducting food drops in the area. "We're up there four or five times a week, and we see hundreds of dead wombats every time," she said. "There's just nothing for them to eat. They're literally starving to death."

One of Japan's longest tunnels has collapsed, trapping vehicles amid reports that at least five people have died.

Sections of concrete fell from the ceiling of the Sasago tunnel, 50 miles west of Tokyo, crushing cars and blocking the road with debris, report Sky News.

The tunnel began to cave at 08:00 local time (23:00 GMT Saturday), report the BBC. A fire is believed to have broken out and charred bodies have been pulled from the mouth of the tunnel by rescue workers.

Event Time
2012-12-02 00:54:23 UTC
2012-12-02 11:54:23 UTC+11:00 at epicenter

Location
17.012°S 167.626°E depth=34.1km (21.2mi)

Nearby Cities
101km (63mi) SSE of Lakatoro, Vanuatu
108km (67mi) NW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
170km (106mi) SSE of Luganville, Vanuatu
433km (269mi) N of We, New Caledonia
581km (361mi) NNE of Dumbea, New Caledonia

Technical Details

The second in a series of storms slammed Northern California on Friday as heavy rain and strong winds knocked out power, tied up traffic and caused flooding along some stretches.

The weather also may be behind the death of a Pacific Gas & Electric worker in West Sacramento who was killed after his truck crashed into a traffic signal pole during the stormy weather.

Flights were delayed at San Francisco's airport, and in the city's affluent Pacific Heights neighborhood, traffic was blocked for hours after a large tree crashed down, smashing a car and obstructing a busy street.

A flash flood watch will remain in effect for most of the San Francisco Bay Area extending to the Santa Cruz Mountains throughout the weekend. A constant barrage of downpours could lead to standing water and overflowing drains, said Diana Henderson, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Monterey.

We've been flooded with emails ever since we published a police log post about several recent reports of unexplained 'explosion noises' in Salem.

Ever since we published a police log post entitled "Explosions Heard on Bridge Street" last week, we've received more than a dozen emails from Salem residents who are interested in finding out what's causing the unusual late-night noises.

At 12:22 a.m., on Monday, Nov. 19, local police officers responded to multiple reports of loud explosions in the area of Bridge Street. A search of the area, however, didn't reveal the source of the alleged sounds, according to the following morning's police log.

Some local residents even emailed in other information, including other dates when they swear they heard similar unexplained booming sounds echoing across the city.

One even suggested that there could be some correlation between that earthquake in Maine in October and the booming noises heard just beforehand in Salem. (A minor 2.1 earthquake was recorded in Belfast, Maine, on Friday night.)

Here's some of the comments our readers have posted about the recent noises:

Jared Robinson Yeah. The explosions on bridge st were wicked loud. There were like 4-5 loud ones.

Carolyn Costain Hey Jared, I hope, Peabody and Salem can find and explanation for the explosions and I hope they "are" just transformers. I do a lot of research and people have described and heard the same kind of unexplained explosions as we heard ,usually before an earthquake. I have been looking at the earthquake live maps but see no activity, " yet" when we felt that quake a few months ago, there were reports of the same kind of explosions heard and within only a few short days the quake struck. I hope both Salem and Peabody find the "actual source" and that its not the earth shifting in our area?

Albuquerque, N.M. - Wildlife managers at one of the nation's premiere bird-watching spots have a mystery on their hands. A strange-looking bird with dark plumage showed up at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge earlier this month to join the tens of thousands of cranes and geese that spend the winter in the Rio Grande Valley.

The problem: No one knows exactly what kind of bird it is.

The debate has spread from the refuge's fields and wetlands onto Facebook, where guesses have ranged from some kind of mutant to a Thanksgiving turkey disguised as a crane for self-preservation. Birding experts from New York to California continued studying photographs of the bird Thursday, spurring even more theories.

The refuge posted a photograph of the bird on its Facebook page this week, sparking dozens of comments. Aside from the disguised turkey and oil-slicked bird theories, some suggested it could be a hybridization between a crane and an emu or a trumpeter, which are native to South America.

It could be a sandhill crane that has come down with a feather-staining fungal infection. Or maybe he - or she - has a genetic disorder that results in too much melanin production.

"It's different. It's got to be a hybrid-cross more than likely, but what, we don't know," Refuge Manager Aaron Mize told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Members of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Team Sapsucker - known as some of the best birders anywhere, they hold the U.S. record for finding the most bird species in 24 hours - say it's a sandhill crane. "We can't say why it's colored so differently, but we can be certain about species anyway," said Pat Leonard, a spokesman for the Cornell lab.

Other bird-watchers have reported seeing birds with similar coloring in wintering areas in California and along the Platte River in Nebraska. Some experts have said breeding birds have been known to preen mud into their feathers, resulting in the unusual colors.