Bogota - Landslides triggered by a volcanic eruption injured nine people and destroyed more than 20 homes and five bridges in southwest Colombia, prompting a red alert for more activity.
President Alvaro Uribe flew with disaster officials over the volcano Friday, and ordered the air force to create an "air bridge" to supply cut off towns along the Rio Paez.
Earth Changes
Jakarta -- A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck just off the coast of southern Sumatra, Indonesia, on Saturday evening, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
No agencies reported any damage or injuries, and a tsunami was not expected.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a "destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data.
"However, there is a very small possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than 100 kilometers from the earthquake epicenter," the tsunami warning center said in a statement.
The quake happened about 11 p.m., the USGS said. It was centered about 147 kilometers (91 miles) west-southwest of Bengkulu, Sumatra, and 671 kilometers (417 miles) from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
No agencies reported any damage or injuries, and a tsunami was not expected.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a "destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data.
"However, there is a very small possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than 100 kilometers from the earthquake epicenter," the tsunami warning center said in a statement.
The quake happened about 11 p.m., the USGS said. It was centered about 147 kilometers (91 miles) west-southwest of Bengkulu, Sumatra, and 671 kilometers (417 miles) from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
It boggles the mind. Years after global temperature rises peaked around 1998 - and the world has been cooling ever since - we're still hearing shrill warnings that we are doomed to be deep fried by Mother Nature.
It's almost like insisting the world is flat even after Columbus made it to the New World without plunging over the edge of the earth.
And the warming alarmists have the gall to compare the growing number of scientists and others who scoff at their specious claims to flat-earth believers.
Whatever warming that took place as the world slowly emerged from the last little ice age has stopped. The cold hard fact of the matter is that the world is getting cooler. Spring and fall seasons are getting shorter, and all the evidence points to the onset of a new little ice age, if not a big one.
We don't have to worry about proving the case for global cooling. Mother Nature is doing the job for us. I'm willing to bet that as this winter gets underway, she's going to put on a real winter carnival for us, with blizzards of unprecedented fury, shoulder-high snow falls, and temperatures so cold as to be in some cases life-threatening.
Global warming is a fraud.
It's almost like insisting the world is flat even after Columbus made it to the New World without plunging over the edge of the earth.
And the warming alarmists have the gall to compare the growing number of scientists and others who scoff at their specious claims to flat-earth believers.
Whatever warming that took place as the world slowly emerged from the last little ice age has stopped. The cold hard fact of the matter is that the world is getting cooler. Spring and fall seasons are getting shorter, and all the evidence points to the onset of a new little ice age, if not a big one.
We don't have to worry about proving the case for global cooling. Mother Nature is doing the job for us. I'm willing to bet that as this winter gets underway, she's going to put on a real winter carnival for us, with blizzards of unprecedented fury, shoulder-high snow falls, and temperatures so cold as to be in some cases life-threatening.
Global warming is a fraud.
The waves of cold, Canadian air washing over the eastern United States brought a record low to Athens this morning, breaking a low-temperature mark that stood for 117 years.
The official temperature in Athens sank to 20 degrees, breaking a record set in 1891, said Frank Taylor, spokesman for the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City.
The official temperature in Athens sank to 20 degrees, breaking a record set in 1891, said Frank Taylor, spokesman for the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City.
Freezing winds from the Arctic are blasting Britain, with much of the country braced for snow showers.
Several roads have been closed in northern Scotland after heavy snow made driving conditions treacherous.
Snow showers are spreading down eastern England, affecting north Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Snow could hit more areas on Sunday.
Drivers are being warned of black ice on roads, with snow and rain due to fall on frozen surfaces overnight.
Several roads have been closed in northern Scotland after heavy snow made driving conditions treacherous.
Snow showers are spreading down eastern England, affecting north Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Snow could hit more areas on Sunday.
Drivers are being warned of black ice on roads, with snow and rain due to fall on frozen surfaces overnight.
A new, third species of bottlenose dolphin has been discovered in the waters off southern Australia. It is only the second new dolphin to be discovered in 50 years.
Luciana Möller of the Marine Mammal Research Group at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and her colleagues were studying populations of what they thought were Indo-Pacific and common bottlenoses in southern waters.
DNA analysis, though, revealed that most the animals living close to the shores of the states of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania were in fact a new species, belonging to a new genus. "They look very like the Indo-Pacific species, but genetically they're very different," says Möller.
Luciana Möller of the Marine Mammal Research Group at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and her colleagues were studying populations of what they thought were Indo-Pacific and common bottlenoses in southern waters.
© Macquarie University
The Southern Australian bottlenose dolphin is only the second new dolphin to be discovered in 50 years.
The Southern Australian bottlenose dolphin is only the second new dolphin to be discovered in 50 years.
DNA analysis, though, revealed that most the animals living close to the shores of the states of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania were in fact a new species, belonging to a new genus. "They look very like the Indo-Pacific species, but genetically they're very different," says Möller.
© CA Dept of Fish and Game
In another, a large mountain lion crept along a creek, searching for a way across without getting wet.
Then there was the phantom creature that snuck right behind the wildlife biologist and his camera, then disappeared - but only for a moment. In another episode, a bear, the Holy Grail of "critter cams," hovered over a salmon pool on a remote creek, then out-quicked the camera.
A "critter cam," also known as a "trail cam," can unveil the wildlife secrets of forests, streams and lakes. These are movement-activated cameras strapped to trees, or fixed video cameras positioned at strategic locations on land and underwater. They are like having hidden eye-witnesses in the wilderness.
Brisbane - Flash floods killed a woman and forced evacuations as torrential rain drenched Australia's battered city of Brisbane Thursday just days after it was hit by a violent storm, officials said.
The 85-year-old died when she was trapped in her car as it was swept away by floodwaters east of the Queensland state capital, police said. Her elderly husband was recovering in hospital.
More than 1,000 calls were made to emergency services in Brisbane and surrounding areas on the east coast, which were pounded by up to 25 centimetres (nearly 10 inches) of rain over seven hours overnight.
Thousands of homes were plunged into darkness and families were evacuated from houses threatened by a landslip workers had been trying to stabilise after Sunday's storm, said state Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts.
© AFP/Graphic
Map of Australia locating Brisbane, where flash floods killed one person and forced evacuations days after the city was hit by a violent storm, according to officials.
Map of Australia locating Brisbane, where flash floods killed one person and forced evacuations days after the city was hit by a violent storm, according to officials.
The 85-year-old died when she was trapped in her car as it was swept away by floodwaters east of the Queensland state capital, police said. Her elderly husband was recovering in hospital.
More than 1,000 calls were made to emergency services in Brisbane and surrounding areas on the east coast, which were pounded by up to 25 centimetres (nearly 10 inches) of rain over seven hours overnight.
Thousands of homes were plunged into darkness and families were evacuated from houses threatened by a landslip workers had been trying to stabilise after Sunday's storm, said state Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts.
Kansas City, MO - People in a vast seismic zone in the southern and midwestern United States would face catastrophic damage if a major earthquake struck there and should ensure that builders keep that risk in mind, a government report said on Thursday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said if earthquakes strike in what geologists define as the New Madrid Seismic Zone, they would cause "the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States."
FEMA predicted a large earthquake would cause "widespread and catastrophic physical damage" across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee -- home to some 44 million people.
Tennessee is likely to be hardest hit, according to the study that sought to gauge the impact of a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in order to guide the government's response.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said if earthquakes strike in what geologists define as the New Madrid Seismic Zone, they would cause "the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States."
FEMA predicted a large earthquake would cause "widespread and catastrophic physical damage" across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee -- home to some 44 million people.
Tennessee is likely to be hardest hit, according to the study that sought to gauge the impact of a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in order to guide the government's response.
Cold air that is as much as four weeks ahead of schedule has produced record cold temperatures and more lake-effect snow to the lee of the Great Lakes. Snow showers will reach east of the Appalachians into the weekend.
The extreme cold air pouring out of the high Arctic is trailing a weak clipper system that moved into the mid-Atlantic region Thursday. The cold air is spreading across much of the country east of the Rockies, but the core of the cold will be in the Midwest and the Northeast.
Temperatures into the weekend will be as much as 20 degrees below normal, while strong winds will create RealFeel® temperatures that will feel even colder.
© AccuWeather
Temperatures into the weekend will be as much as 20 degrees below normal, while strong winds will create RealFeel® temperatures that will feel even colder.
