Earth ChangesS

Bizarro Earth

The Dark Side of Ethanol and Biodiesel Subsidies

Americans now understand that climate-destabilizing greenhouse gases are a major threat to our survival. Unfortunately, large corporations have convinced Congress to ignore real solutions to the crisis (like significant advances in fuel-efficiency), while providing billions of dollars per year in subsidies to big-agribusiness for agrofuels.

Hourglass

Bat Deaths in New York, Vermont Baffle Experts

Bats are dying off by the thousands as they hibernate in caves and mines around New York and Vermont, sending researchers scrambling to find the cause of mysterious condition dubbed "white nose syndrome.''

The ailment - named for the white circle of fungus found around the noses of affected bats - was first noticed last January in four caves west of Albany. It has now spread to eight hibernation sites in the state and another in Vermont.

Hourglass

People Blamed for Water Woes in West

Washington - Human activity such as driving and powering air conditioners is responsible for up to 60 percent of changes contributing to dwindling water supplies in the arid and growing West, a new study finds.

Ambulance

Floods trigger Ecuador emergency declaration

President Rafael Correa on Thursday declared a state of emergency as Ecuador was lashed by its worst rainy season in a decade, which has sparked widespread flooding and destruction of crops.

Bulb

Migrating birds detect latitude and longitude, but how remains a mystery

Eurasian reed warblers captured during their spring migrations and released after being flown 1,000 kilometers to the east can correct their travel routes and head for their original destinations, researchers report online on January 31st in Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press.

The new evidence suggests that the birds have true navigation, meaning that they can identify at least two coordinates that roughly correspond to geographic latitude and longitude.

The findings challenge the notion held by some that birds might be limited to navigation in the north-south direction. But scientists still don't know how they do it.

Cloud Lightning

Storms batter parts of Britain



©PA
The Forth Bridge was closed for a time by the bad weather

Passengers are being airlifted from a ferry in the Irish sea as high winds batter much of the UK, with forecasters warning of blizzards to come.

Cloud Lightning

Record rainfall causes heavy flooding in Samoa

A clean up is underway in Samoa's capital, Apia, after extensive flooding caused by the highest rainfall ever recorded by the local weather bureau.

The 108 millimetres over the last four days came from a low pressure trough that emerged south of the country.

Cloud Lightning

Snow, Winds Disrupt Transport in Greece

ATHENS, Greece - Snowfall and high winds disrupted transport across Greece Tuesday, canceling some domestic flights and confining ferries to port.

Cloud Lightning

Floods claim more lives, wreak havoc in Bolivia

LA PAZ - Flooding and torrential rains have killed 40 people in Bolivia since November, wrecking highways, crops and thousands of homes in the impoverished country, officials said on Wednesday.

Nearly 400,000 people living in the Andean city of La Paz have been forced to ration their drinking water after mudslides damaged water pipes last week, and the mayor said the shortages could last until March.

Clock

Flashback Melting permafrost methane emissions: The other threat to climate change

A frozen peat bog covering the entire sub-Arctic area of Western Siberia, the size of France and Germany, contains billions of tonnes of greenhouse gas that is melting for the first time since since it was sequestered more than 11,000 years ago before the end of the last ice age.