Earth Changes
Landslides, weird weather, weirder lights in the sky, tornadoes... 2013 is strange!
© Science/AAAS
Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California-Berkeley suggest that more human conflict is a likely outcome of climate change. The researchers found that 1 standard-deviation shift — the amount of change from the local norm — in temperature and precipitation greatly increase the risk of personal violence and social upheaval. Climate-change models predict an average of 2 to 4 standard-deviation shifts in global climate conditions by 2050 (above), with 4 representing the greatest change in normal conditions.
Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California-Berkeley suggest that more human conflict is a likely outcome of climate change. The researchers found that 1 standard-deviation shift — the amount of change from the local norm — in temperature and precipitation greatly increase the risk of personal violence and social upheaval. Climate-change models predict an average of 2 to 4 standard-deviation shifts in global climate conditions by 2050 (above), with 4 representing the greatest change in normal conditions.
Should climate change trigger the upsurge in heat and rainfall that scientists predict, people may face a threat just as perilous and volatile as extreme weather - each other.
Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California-Berkeley report in the journal Science that even slight spikes in temperature and precipitation have greatly increased the risk of personal violence and social upheaval throughout human history. Projected onto an Earth that is expected to warm by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, the authors suggest that more human conflict is a likely outcome of climate change.
The researchers analyzed 60 studies from a number of disciplines - including archaeology, criminology, economics and psychology - that have explored the connection between weather and violence in various parts of the world from about 10,000 BCE to the present day. During an 18-month period, the Princeton-Berkeley researchers reviewed those studies' data - and often re-crunched raw numbers - to calculate the risk that violence would rise under hotter and wetter conditions.
The woman was alone in the post office in the village of Blenod-les-Pont-a-Mousson in eastern France, when she felt the chilling caress and screamed for help.
Firemen caught the fugitive reptile and discovered a second one in the parcel. The pair was identified by a vet as ball pythons - non-aggressive snakes that coil up into a tight ball when threatened - and was donated to a nearby zoo.
"They're not dangerous but they're very impressive," an officer said. Ball pythons are popular with snake enthusiasts as pets but are also a protected species for which owners need a legal certificate stating they have not been taken from the wild.
Customs officers raided the home address of the parcel's sender, where they found no certificates but two other snakes, a stuffed caiman and a stuffed turtle which the owner had been trying to sell over the Internet. The post office stressed that its terms and conditions clearly forbade the shipping of animals, live or dead.
Source: Reuters
© PA
The huge python was spotted the day after the break-in by terrified shop workers
The huge python was spotted the day after the break-in by terrified shop workers
The python, weighing 17kg (37lbs), was recovered by a snake-handler after police investigated a suspected break-in at the shop in Ingham, Queensland.
"Its head was the size of a small dog," said police spokesman Sgt Don Auld.
The snake fell through a ceiling panel, smashing shop goods. Police said it may have got in through the roof, which was damaged by Cyclone Yasi in 2011.
When police were initially called to the property on Monday, they believed a person had fallen through the ceiling because the roof panel had been cut in half.
Crockery, clothes and other goods were scattered all over the floor.
Police were called back to the shop the following day when a large crowd formed outside.
Sgt Auld said the snake must have been hiding when police went there the first time.
It has been released in nearby wetlands.
© Dorothy Edwards | The Virginian-Pilot
From right, Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team members Krystle Rodrique of Virginia Beach, Va. and intern Liz Schell of Durango, Co. carry a deceased male dolphin on a metal stretcher from Ocean View Beach in Norfolk, Va. on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. This was their third dolphin retrieval of the day.
From right, Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team members Krystle Rodrique of Virginia Beach, Va. and intern Liz Schell of Durango, Co. carry a deceased male dolphin on a metal stretcher from Ocean View Beach in Norfolk, Va. on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. This was their third dolphin retrieval of the day.
Since Thursday, 13 dolphin corpses have been recovered in the state, bringing the total for 2013 well above the typical 64 found annually by the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team.
Some of the dolphins have been severely decomposed, making it difficult for marine biologists to understand what is causing the die-off.
"We get calls from people who see them floating, but we don't have the equipment to track them down," said Joan Barns, spokeswoman for the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center. "Unfortunately, there are probably more dead dolphins out there, but they just haven't landed yet."
According to marine biologists, dolphin strandings peak in May and June. But this year, 44 dolphins were found dead on Virginia beaches in July, most in the southern part of the Chesapeake Bay. On average, only six or seven dead dolphins are picked up by the team in July.
© Keith Magnuson
A dead sturgeon was found floating in Lake Washington over the weekend.
A dead sturgeon was found floating in Lake Washington over the weekend.
"At first I thought it was a shark, but then we figured out it was a large sturgeon," Magnuson said.
Magnuson found the sturgeon that he and a friend estimated to be about 8 feet long floating belly up north of Matthews Beach.
The dead sturgeon is now tied to a post, and state Fish and Wildlife planned to send out a biologist to take a look at it in the next couple days.
Miami Beach -- Crews are working to repair a sinkhole in South Florida, after a car fell in it!
The driver of a Toyota sports car says he was waiting at a stop sign, when he felt his car begin to sink. He tried to drive out, but it was too late.
The driver was able to get out of the car, and crews later pulled the vehicle out of the sinkhole.
City officials say they believe construction equipment caused two cracks in a water main that caused the hole to open. About 500 residents had to deal with a water outage.
Source: CNN
Aston Expressway closed while police remove reptile from carriageway
Police photo of the snake discovered on the Aston ExpresswayA five-foot snake caused tailbacks on a busy Birmingham commuter route on Thursday morning.
The exotic pet, believed to be a python, was spotted on the city-bound carriageway of the A38(M) Aston Expressway near to Dartmouth Circus at 9am.
One lane was temporarily closed while the slithering creature was caught and safely removed from the highway by officers from the Central Motorway Police Group.
They are now trying to find out how the roving reptile got there.
The lane closure caused further misery for motorists using the busy Expressway to get into Birmingham.
Police photo of the snake discovered on the Aston Expressway
The exotic pet, believed to be a python, was spotted on the city-bound carriageway of the A38(M) Aston Expressway near to Dartmouth Circus at 9am.
One lane was temporarily closed while the slithering creature was caught and safely removed from the highway by officers from the Central Motorway Police Group.
They are now trying to find out how the roving reptile got there.
The lane closure caused further misery for motorists using the busy Expressway to get into Birmingham.
Heading the list is Karnataka with the loss of 13 tigers till now, followed by eight in Maharashtra, seven in Uttarakhand and five in Madhya Pradesh. Out of the five tiger deaths in Madhya Pradesh, two are from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, two from Pench Tiger Reserve and one from Katni forest division.
National Tiger Conservation Authourity (NTCA) DIG, SP Yadav on Wednesday said, every tiger in the country is under threat from poaching. Under the new protocol issued by NTCA on tiger mortality, cause of every tiger death will be considered as due to poaching, till the time state government proves it otherwise with proper evidence.
Earlier there was trend among states to hide exact cause of the death. Now rules have been changed so as to highlight the actual cause of tiger deaths. The NTCA directions will bring in more transparency in the post-mortem process.
© USGS
2013-08-06 17:21:58 UTC
2013-08-07 04:21:58 UTC+11:00 at epicenter
Location
16.880°S 167.401°E depth=31.2km (19.4mi)
Nearby Cities
84km (52mi) S of Lakatoro, Vanuatu
136km (85mi) NW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
151km (94mi) S of Luganville, Vanuatu
447km (278mi) N of We, New Caledonia
591km (367mi) N of Dumbea, New Caledonia
Technical Details
Comment: See also -
Bordeaux man-finds-2m-snake-in-his-car
Escaped python kills two kids in New Brunswick
14 Foot Brumese python found in Florida shed: Giant snake was eating local cats
Large snake discovered in Leicester garden pond, UK