Earth Changes
Greece's summer of natural disasters took a new twist yesterday as authorities in northern Greece switched from fighting wildfires to trying to cope with floods caused by rainfall that was much heavier than the seasonal average.
ZAGREB - Firefighting planes on Monday bombarded flames that threatened the historic Croatian resort of Dubrovnik where authorities have declared a state of emergency.
Three Canadair water bombers came to the aid of 250 firefighters and hundreds of residents who are trying to save their imperiled town on Croatia's Dalmatian coast.
Three Canadair water bombers came to the aid of 250 firefighters and hundreds of residents who are trying to save their imperiled town on Croatia's Dalmatian coast.
ROME (AFP) - Around 40 fires flared up in Italy's south Sunday, forcing firemen backed by aircraft to deploy to protect woodland and national parks, Italy's civil protection service said.
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A "mini-tornado" has been spotted on the outskirts of Aberdeen.
The spiral was seen swirling over the Peterculter area at about 1230 BST, with people taking pictures of what they saw.
It wasn't an alarm clock that awakened some residents of western North Carolina this morning.
A mild earthquake centered southeast of Asheville shook the region shortly after 6 a.m.
The earthquake's magnitude was 2.8. A National Weather Service meteorologist says the quake started on a fault 5.8 miles deep and six miles northeast of Lake Lure in Rutherford County, just west of Chimney Rock.
A mild earthquake centered southeast of Asheville shook the region shortly after 6 a.m.
The earthquake's magnitude was 2.8. A National Weather Service meteorologist says the quake started on a fault 5.8 miles deep and six miles northeast of Lake Lure in Rutherford County, just west of Chimney Rock.
High tidal waves were reported on Friday along Tamil Nadu's coast, but the weather office here said they were "normal" as there was no significant weather phenomenon over the Bay of Bengal.
As the waters were rough and the surging waves reached a height of seven feet, fishermen stayed away from the sea.
As the waters were rough and the surging waves reached a height of seven feet, fishermen stayed away from the sea.
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A coal mine collapsed Monday in central Utah, trapping six miners, less than 20 miles from the epicenter of a minor earthquake, authorities said.
The Genwal mine reported a "cave-in" at 3:50 a.m., an hour after the magnitude 4.0 earthquake, the Emery County sheriff's office said.
"Rescue workers are on scene trying to locate six miners that are unaccounted for," the sheriff's office. The miners are in the Crandall Canyon Mine.
The Genwal mine reported a "cave-in" at 3:50 a.m., an hour after the magnitude 4.0 earthquake, the Emery County sheriff's office said.
"Rescue workers are on scene trying to locate six miners that are unaccounted for," the sheriff's office. The miners are in the Crandall Canyon Mine.
A new study reveals correlations between plentiful sunspots and periods of heavy rain in East Africa. Intense rainfall in the region often leads to flooding and disease outbreaks.
The analysis by a team of U.S. and British researchers shows that unusually heavy rainfalls in East Africa over the past century preceded peak sunspot activity by about one year. Because periods of peak sunspot activity, known as solar maxima, are predictable, so too are the associated heavy rains that precede them, the researchers propose.
"With the help of these findings, we can now say when especially rainy seasons are likely to occur, several years in advance," says paleoclimatologist and study leader Curt Stager of Paul Smith's College in Paul Smiths, New York. Forewarned by such predictions, public health officials could ramp up prevention measures against insect-borne diseases long before epidemics begin, he adds.
The sunspot-rainfall analysis is scheduled to appear on 7 August in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.
The analysis by a team of U.S. and British researchers shows that unusually heavy rainfalls in East Africa over the past century preceded peak sunspot activity by about one year. Because periods of peak sunspot activity, known as solar maxima, are predictable, so too are the associated heavy rains that precede them, the researchers propose.
"With the help of these findings, we can now say when especially rainy seasons are likely to occur, several years in advance," says paleoclimatologist and study leader Curt Stager of Paul Smith's College in Paul Smiths, New York. Forewarned by such predictions, public health officials could ramp up prevention measures against insect-borne diseases long before epidemics begin, he adds.
The sunspot-rainfall analysis is scheduled to appear on 7 August in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.
PARADOX, Colo. - No damages or injuries were reported after a minor earthquake rattled the small town of Paradox, near the Colorado-Utah border.
Flash floods triggered by a tropical storm have killed eight people in Vietnam, while 14 others remain missing and another was killed by a falling tree.
In the Central Highland province of Daklak, four people were killed on Sunday and 14 others are still missing, including a family of five whose house was washed away by flash floods, said provincial disasters official Phan Thi Thu Hien.
In the Central Highland province of Daklak, four people were killed on Sunday and 14 others are still missing, including a family of five whose house was washed away by flash floods, said provincial disasters official Phan Thi Thu Hien.
