Channel 4 Thursday 8 March at 9pm
In a polemical and thought-provoking documentary, film-maker Martin Durkin argues that the theory of man-made global warming has become such a powerful political force that other explanations for climate change are not being properly aired.
The film brings together the arguments of leading scientists who disagree with the prevailing consensus that a 'greenhouse effect' of carbon dioxide released by human activity is the cause of rising global temperatures.
Accepted theories about man causing global warming are "lies" claims a controversial new TV documentary.
'The Great Global Warming Swindle' - backed by eminent scientists - is set to rock the accepted consensus that climate change is being driven by humans.
The programme, to be screened on Channel 4 on Thursday March 8, will see a series of respected scientists attack the "propaganda" that they claim is killing the world's poor.
High levels of pesticides are wafting into protected rain forests in Costa Rica, even though the lowland farms being sprayed with the chemicals are miles away, a recent study reports.
Vermont's maple syrup makers are seeing a change in their industry, as warmer winters and shorter seasons reduce the sap produced by their trees.
Tom Vogelmann, chairman of the plant biology department at the University of Vermont, told the New York Times that tapping technology can help sugar makers keep up syrup production for a while, but eventually it won't be worth it.
"It's within, well, probably my lifetime that you'll see this happen," Vogelmann told The Times. "How can you have the state of Vermont and not have maple syrup?"
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| A map showing the average crust thickness on the Earth. The red dot marks the location of the exposed mantle that scientists aboard the RSS James Cook will study.
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There's a huge hole that extends over thousands of square miles in the Atlantic seafloor between the Cape Verdes Islands and the Caribbean nearly 2 miles below the ocean surface where Earth's deep interior is exposed without any crust covering and a team of scientists wants to find out why.
"It's quite a substantial area," said Chris MacLeod, a marine geologist at Cardiff University in the UK, who will be part of the expedition.
Comment: And then, there is the possibility of cometary impact...
UPISat, 03 Mar 2007 20:08 UTC
SALT LAKE CITY -- A 17-year U.S. study shows the power of the huge volcanic hotspot beneath Yellowstone National Park is much greater than thought.
At least 40 people have been killed and scores more are missing in landslides on the Indonesian island of Flores, officials have said.
The Mont Blanc tunnel connecting France and Italy has been closed to traffic due to a landslide on the French side, the ATMB company which jointly runs the tunnel said on Saturday.
Experts were on site to decide on how to clear the blockage but the company said the 11.6 km (7 mile) tunnel beneath western Europe's highest mountain was unlikely to be reopened to traffic before the end of the day.
On THE morning of December 26, 2004, villagers from Bang Koey in Thailand noticed something strange. Buffalo grazing on the beach lifted their heads, pricked their ears and looked out to sea, then stampeded to the top of a nearby hill. For the baffled villagers who chose to follow them, it was a live-saving move. Minutes later, the tsunami struck.
Since then, there have been hundreds of reports of animals seemingly foretelling catastrophe - not just minutes, but sometimes hours and even days before it occurred. These include tales of bizarre behaviour by wild beasts including elephants, antelopes, bats, rats and flamingos, plus stories of dogs refusing to go for their usual morning walk.
Could these creatures have sensed the massive earthquake that triggered the 2004 tsunami? It is an outlandish assertion, given that seismologists have so far failed to come up with any sign that a quake is imminent. Yet, for the same reason, the possibility animals might hold the answer cannot be ignored. After all, an advance warning system could save thousands or even millions of human lives.
The unseasonably warm weather this winter has set records in the Tohoku region, hurting business at ski resorts but helping other industries.
The warmth has also led to bigger hauls of fish, especially anchovies, with the December catch of the species 45 times larger than usual.
In Iwate Prefecture, 21 of the 34 meteorological observation posts--including those in Morioka, Ofunato and Miyako--did not record a single day below 0 C between December and the end of February. In Morioka, temperatures stayed above freezing through the end of February for the first time since records were first kept there in 1924. In Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, it was the first time that temperatures had stayed so high since the city began keeping records in 1937.
In Maebashi, meanwhile, it was the first time since records began being kept there in 1897 that snow did not accumulate.
Comment: And then, there is the possibility of cometary impact...