Earth ChangesS

Bizarro Earth

Park the mower: climate change to kill off lawns

The Met Office is to warn gardeners to plan for a warmer climate by cultivating drought-tolerant plants such as palms, olives and Mediterranean herbs and to resign themselves to the death of the traditional lawn.

It believes this year will be one of the hottest on record.

The Met Office will issue the warning at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Hampton Court Palace flower show this July.

Comment: This article continues the "global warming" myth, despite scientific evidence that show that the planet is cooling instead of warming.


Bizarro Earth

Poor hit hardest by climate change

The devastating effects of natural disasters caused by climate change is hitting the poorest the hardest, a new report reveals. Of the 443,000 people killed and 2.5 billion affected by weather-related incidents in the last 10 years more than 98 per cent of them came from developing countries.

Comment: Note that this article does not include the latest disaster in Myanmar, which caused the death of hundred thousand people.


Battery

Ancient tree provides fuel for thought

Peter Gould has a vision of being able to grow his own fuel on his property at Terania Creek.

Mr Gould has spent more than 10 years researching biofuels and eventually came up with what he and his business partner Martin Novak, of Whian Whian, believe is the perfect solution - a plant native to both India and northern Australia called pongamia.

Hourglass

Ancient tea trees found in central China

Beijing -- Botanists have recently discovered ancient tea trees in central China's Wudang Mountains which were an integral part of a centuries-old Taoist tea culture.

ancient china tree
©cnsphoto
A botanist examines an ancient tea tree that was discovered in the Wudang Mountains on Tuesday, May 6, 2008.

Bizarro Earth

Philippines: Another mild earthquake hits Bicol

Manila - Another mild earthquake hit the Bicol region Wednesday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

In its bulletin, Phivolcs said a 4.6-magnitude quake was recorded in Legaspi City, Albay province. The quake was felt at Intensity 3 in Irosin, Sorsogon and Legaspi City and Intensity 2 in Lignon Hill, Legaspi City and Masbate, Masbate .

Its epicenter was located 38 kilometers southwest of Legaspi City and had a depth of 22 kilometers, which volcanologists consider as shallow.

Bizarro Earth

US: Small earthquake strikes Northern Virginia

A small earthquake shook the Washington area yesterday, and some residents reported feeling tremors, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

There were no reports of damage or injuries.

The earthquake occurred at 1:30 p.m., and the epicenter was about a mile from Annandale. The Geological Survey estimated its magnitude at 1.8.

Extinguisher

U.S. honey bees in dramatic decline

The Apiary Inspectors of America says the United States has seen a dramatic decline in the number of managed honey bee colonies since 1980.

Better Earth

Cod fall may speed 'toxic tide'

Declining fish stocks could be partly responsible for algal blooms in the oceans, researchers have found.

Scientists found that the fall in cod stocks in the Baltic Sea in recent decades increased numbers of the tiny marine plants that produce the blooms.

Stop

U.S. envoy: Myanmar deaths may top 100,000



Myanmar Girl
©CNN
A girl drinks water from a container as her homeless family eat donated food in the outskirts of Yangon on May 7.

The death toll from the cyclone that ravaged the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar may exceed 100,000, the senior U.S. diplomat in the military-ruled country said Wednesday.

Stop

Earthquake: Ready To Rumble In Reno?



Rumble In Reno
©Cal Orey
Cal Orey says her Brittany spaniels, Simon
and Seth, help her predict seismic events.

Tiny earthquakes have been swarming near Reno for weeks, and seismic experts are trying to gauge whether things are settling down or heading toward a bigger rumble. All this is making some of the region's residents jittery - including Cal Orey, who lives near Lake Tahoe and issues earthquake predictions based on such things as headaches, pet behavior and moon phases.