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| ©Mikhail Medvedev/University of Kansas |
| The solar system's rollercoaster-like path around the galaxy periodically makes it vulnerable to lethal radiation from intergalactic space. |
Earth Changes
Researchers may have uncovered the reason why Earth's biodiversity mysteriously plummets periodically. They have found that a rollercoaster-like wobble in the sun's orbit around the center of the Milky Way galaxy regularly moves Earth closer to a source of dangerous intergalactic cosmic rays.
Dubliners have endured the wettest summer since records began - but the rest of the country didn't have much to smile about either.
More rain fell on Dublin in June and July than in any of the 170 years for which records have been kept, Met Eireann revealed yesterday.
More rain fell on Dublin in June and July than in any of the 170 years for which records have been kept, Met Eireann revealed yesterday.
A sharp summer storm and galeforce winds swept across Finland on Tuesday. Following the storm, trees falling on power lines left thousands of households without electricity in various parts of the country. Still last night, several homes in the municipality of Nurmijärvi in Southern Finland faced power cuts caused by the gales.
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| ©Helsingin Sanomat |
Global warming is not just a theory in Torres Strait - it is lapping at people's doorsteps.
The phenomenon is a visible reality as rising sea levels threaten to erase centuries-old island communities.
Roads have been swallowed whole, buildings washed out, graveyards swamped and houses flooded in six of the most vulnerable low-lying island communities.
The phenomenon is a visible reality as rising sea levels threaten to erase centuries-old island communities.
Roads have been swallowed whole, buildings washed out, graveyards swamped and houses flooded in six of the most vulnerable low-lying island communities.
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| ©OMC |
A pair of rare Albino sparrows have turned up in County Antrim.
The pure white birds, which lack the the common sparrow's usual brown, grey and black pigmentation, were spotted in a garden near Islandmagee.
The pure white birds, which lack the the common sparrow's usual brown, grey and black pigmentation, were spotted in a garden near Islandmagee.
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| ©BBC |
| A keen birdwatcher captured the rare footage of the sparrows. |
Some experts are starting to support the theory that the fall of a giant meteorite some 2 billion years ago may have created the Czech basin, surrounded by mountain ranges, reminding of a crater and easily detectable from high altitudes, writes the weekly Tyden out today.
Two strong earthquakes, one of magnitude 6.2, struck near Sakhalin Island in eastern Russia today, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Two people were killed and Japan's government said a small tsunami hit Hokkaido.
The first, stronger quake struck 81 kilometers (50 miles) west of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin and 205 kilometers north of Wakkanai in Hokkaido at 1:37 p.m. local time, the USGS said on its Web site. The quake's depth was 5 kilometers. The second quake, of magnitude 6.1, occurred at 4:22 p.m. eastern Russian time in the same area with a depth of 21 kilometers.
The first, stronger quake struck 81 kilometers (50 miles) west of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin and 205 kilometers north of Wakkanai in Hokkaido at 1:37 p.m. local time, the USGS said on its Web site. The quake's depth was 5 kilometers. The second quake, of magnitude 6.1, occurred at 4:22 p.m. eastern Russian time in the same area with a depth of 21 kilometers.
Chantal's quick two-step with eastern Newfoundland Wednesday likely caused millions of dollars in damages, officials say.
Post-tropical storm Chantal dumped up to 150 millimetres of rain in places on the eastern third of the Island, flooding towns and and washing out dozens of roads.
Post-tropical storm Chantal dumped up to 150 millimetres of rain in places on the eastern third of the Island, flooding towns and and washing out dozens of roads.
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| ©Tom O'Keefe/CanWest News Service |
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| ©Tom O'Keefe/CanWest News Service |
| Onlookers survey the damage in Dunville, Newfoundland. |
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck in the South Pacific 30 miles (45 km) southeast of Santo, Vanuatu, the U.S. Geological Survey says.
On average, said senior government climatologist David Phillips, Toronto gets four 30-plus days every August; this year, we appear to be getting two of them in the month's first two days.
