Earth ChangesS

Black Cat

Scientist says cat owners threatening fish supplies



cat
©Unknown

Cat owners who feed their pets with fish are contributing to overfishing, which is threatening fish stocks worldwide, a scientist at an Australian university said.

Dr Giovanni Turchini of Deakin University said the global cat food industry each consumes 2.48 million metric tons of forage fish - small, rapidly breeding fish that are eaten by larger fish - each year.

Stop

Scotland declares war on urban seagulls

The Scottish government has declared war on increasingly aggressive urban seagulls.

The initial battle will be joined in the southwestern town of Dumfries during next spring's breeding season when a special anti-gull "task force" will seek to destroy nests and drive out the birds.

Magic Wand

Quake-hit Chinese province sees surge in giant panda births



panda
©Unknown

A total of 19 giant panda cubs have been born in captivity in southwest China's Sichuan Province since the May 12 earthquake, state news agency Xinhua cited researchers as saying.

Zhang Zhihe, a leading national panda expert, said nine pandas were born in the devastated region of Wolong and 10 in the provincial capital, Chengdu. The cubs, including eight sets of twins, were born from July onwards.

Giant panda Guo Guo gave birth to twins in mid-July, becoming the first giant panda to give birth since the disaster, the agency said.

Extinguisher

Flashback Lightning charged storms start fires

First came a deafening bang and an unnerving rattle, followed moments later by the distinctive smell of smoke.

Two homeowners in the Fishers area described identical experiences today hours after lightning strikes peppered property throughout the region.



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ยฉJohn Tuohy / The Star
Michael Marcum, who lives in Fishers' Spyglass Falls neighborhood, examines a 5-by-5 foot hole today in his 15-year-old son's bedroom after firefighters extinguished a lightning-sparked fire at his home.


Target

Earthquake shakes central Philippines

Manila -- A 5.7-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of the Visayas and northern Mindanao of the Philippines on Monday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake strikes Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

A strong earthquake, measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale, has shaken the Hawke's Bay region.

GeoNet Science reports the quake, which struck at 11.25pm and was centred 10km southwest of Hastings could be felt over a large area.

Target

Strong earthquake rocks Tibet

New Delhi - A strong earthquake measuring 6.4 magnitude struck Tibet on Monday, but no immediate loss of life was reported, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the tremor at 6.3 magnitude, centered near the China-Nepal border at a depth of 21.7 miles. The quake was felt in the Indian capital New Delhi, where witnesses said buildings swayed.

Snowman

US: Winter weather? Almanac says 'Numb's the word!'

Lewiston, Maine - People worried about the high cost of keeping warm this winter will draw little comfort from the Farmers' Almanac, which predicts below-average temperatures for most of the U.S.

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©AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach
Peter Geiger, editor of the Farmers' Almanac, poses outside his company in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008. The 192-year-old publication, which claims an accuracy rate of 80 to 85 percent for its forecasts that are prepared two years in advance is predicting below-average temperatures for most of the U.S. this coming winter.

"Numb's the word," says the 192-year-old publication, which claims an accuracy rate of 80 to 85 percent for its forecasts that are prepared two years in advance.

The almanac's 2009 edition, which goes on sale Tuesday, says at least two-thirds of the country can expect colder-than-average temperatures this winter, with only the Far West and Southeast in line for near-normal readings.

"This is going to be catastrophic for millions of people," said almanac editor Peter Geiger.

The almanac predicts above-normal snowfall for the Great Lakes and Midwest, especially during January and February, and above-normal precipitation for the Southwest in December and for the Southeast in January and February. The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions will likely have an unusually wet or snowy February, the almanac said.

In contrast, the usually wet Pacific Northwest could be a bit drier than normal in February.

Cloud Lightning

Tornadoes strike near Denver on eve of convention

Tornadoes touched down just outside Denver amid stormy weather on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, the US National Weather Service said.

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©Jeff Smith

The service issued tornado warnings for four counties immediately south and east of Denver, but not for the city itself.

"Numerous trained weather spotters reported several tornadoes between Parker and Castle Rock," two towns south of Denver, the National Weather Service said in a bulletin.

It reported a large tornado in southern Arapahoe county, east of Denver, at 5:47 pm (2347 GMT).

Local television channel KUSA showed a huge funnel cloud touching ground in relative open country around Parker, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of downtown Denver.

Cloud Lightning

UPDATE: Two million hit by Indian monsoon, toll reaches 800

The death toll from monsoon-related accidents reached 800 and two million people have been displaced by flooding following heavy rains across India, officials said on Sunday.

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©AFP
Indian commuters make their way through a waterlogged street after a heavy downpour flooded parts of Amritsar on August 12, 2008. Heavy downpours of rain continue to cross northern India as the south-west monsoon travels across the Indian sub-continent.

At least 26 people died in overnight accidents in northern Uttar Pradesh, taking the toll to 686 in the country's most populous state since the monsoon struck in June, Relief Commissioner G. K. Tandon said.

"Several districts are receiving continuous rains for the past month and a half," Tandon said in the state capital Lucknow as local aid agencies backed by World Health Organisation staff rushed emergency supplies to those affected.

Tandon put the number of people hit by the floods at 1.29 million and said 3,000 villages were swamped in Uttar Pradesh, in monsoon damage he described as "unprecedented".