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Heavy drought continues in northern China

Zhang Ning
China Central Television
Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:44 UTC
Many regions in Northern China continue to suffer from drought, despite the recent rainfall. The worst drought in 60 years has dried up half of the arable land in Liao-ning province, threatening three million residents.

In hard hit Chaoyang County, over 80 per cent of the crops have died due to the drought. Many farmers will lose their only source of income. But, the region is undergoing trial runs for an agricultural insurance program. Farmers can enjoy reimbursements for losses caused by the drought.

Over 10,000 farmers have been reimbursed by insurance companies, totaling 200,000 yuan. Local authorities have pledged to expand the program to other regions. The measures will help reduce losses during natural disasters. And efforts are underway to provide drinking water to affected residents and their livestock. Liao-ning and Jilin province have used artificial rain to relieve drought stricken areas.
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Phoenix

Greece: Thousands flee as fire and destruction advance on Athens

Elinda Labropoulou and Claire Soares
The Independent
Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:29 UTC
Image
© Milos Bicanski / Getty ImagesFire and smoke illuminate the sky behind the Acropolis in Athens, as wildfires come within 20 kilometres of the Greek capital.
Raging fires were closing in on the Greek capital Athens last night, having already forced thousands of people to flee, razed acres and acres of forest and olive groves, and demolished scores of buildings in the northern suburbs.

Struggling to extinguish the blazes, which sent black clouds of smoke spewing over the Acropolis, the Greek government called on EU allies for reinforcements. Italian planes joined the 20 Greek aircraft dumping gallons of water on the flames, and more were expected from France and Cyprus. "The fire is raging, rekindled by the constant change in the wind's direction," said fire brigade spokesman Giannis Kapakis.
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Bizarro Earth

5.8 Earthquake Strikes Off Indonesia's Sumatra Island


The Daily Telegraph/Agence France-Presse
Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:57 UTC
A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island, meteorologists said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The quake hit at 2:20 pm (0720 GMT) with the epicentre 139 kilometres (86 miles) southwest of Gunungsitoli city in North Sumatra province, 86 kilometres deep, the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency said.

No tsunami warning was issued.
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Bizarro Earth

5.0 Earthquake Hits Philippines


Xinhua
Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:32 UTC
An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale rocked the Philippine Islands Region at 4:27 p.m. Sunday Hong Kong time (0827 GMT), according to a bulletin released by the Hong Kong Observatory.

The epicenter was initially determined to be at 20.1 degrees north latitude and 121.5 degrees east longitude, about 230 kilometers north-northeast of Laoag, the Philippines.
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Arrow Up

Climate change means more heavy rain across most of the world

Doyle Rice
USA Today
Sun, 23 Aug 2009 05:29 UTC
Climate change will lead to an increase in heavy rainfall events across most of the world, according to a study published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Caltech.

The computer models used in the study predict that areas such as North America can expect a significant increase in heavy rain.

How much rain? The study suggests that precipitation in extreme events will increase by about 6% for every 1.8 degree rise in global temperature. A global temperature increase of anywhere from 2 to 11 degrees is expected by 2100, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
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Bizarro Earth

4.4 Earthquake Jolts Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Slamet Susanto
The Jakarta Post
Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:02 UTC
An earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale shook Yogyakarta on late Saturday morning, the second quake that hit the province in the week.

Yogyakarta Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency recorder that the quake hit at around 11:35 a.m. The quake's epicenter was located 10 kilometer beneath the earth surface in Temu Ireng, Panggang, about 13 kilometers southeast af Bantul regency in southern Yogyakarta.

Bambang Subadio, head of observation division at the agency, said that Saturday's quake was not related to the quake earlier in the week.
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Bug

Tourists warned as Asian hornets terrorise French

Henry Samuel
Telegraph UK
Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:38 UTC
Asian Wasp
© Agence France-PresseAn Asian predatory wasp (vespa velutina), a predator of honey bee hives, which has installed itself in several southern regions of France

The bee-eating hornets, instantly recognisable by their yellow feet, are rapidly spreading round France and entomologists fear that they will eventually cross the Channel and arrive in Britain.

Hundreds of the insects attacked a mother on a stroll with her five-month-old baby in the Lot-et-Garonne department, southwestern France, at the weekend before turning on a neighbour who ran over to help. The baby was unharmed.

They then pursued two passers by and two Dutch tourists on bikes. The victims were treated in hospital for multiple stings, which are said to be as painful as a hot nail piercing the skin.

In the same week, a cleaner in local primary school came under attack after disturbing a hornet nest hidden in the ground.

The Vespa velutina, which grow up to an inch in length, is thought to have arrived in France from the Far East in a consignment of Chinese pottery in late 2004.
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Sherlock

Peru: Global Warming freezes 20,000 alpaca


Peruvian Times
Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:18 UTC
Climate change continues to wreck havoc in Peru's southern Altiplano, where the arrival of freezing temperatures since March - almost three months earlier than usual - have killed at least 20,000 alpaca, reported Peru's National Agriculture and Sanitation Service, or Senasa.

Since January, approximately 20,000 alpaca - a number that still remains within normal limits - have died, and 73,000 others have suffered from various illnesses due to the cold, said Senasa Director Reinaldo Llano Flores.

Alpacas, or vicugna pacos, is a domesticated species of South American camelid, and resembles a small llama. These animals are mostly kept in herds, and bred specifically for their high-quality fiber.
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Sun

Sun Run of 41 Days Without a Spot Now Among the Top 10 Longest

Joseph D'Aleo
IceCap
Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:39 UTC
Spotless Sun
© unknown

Today, Thursday, August 20th marked the 41st straight day without a sunspot, one of the longest stretches this solar minimum.

In fact it rises into 10th place among all spotless periods since 1849 (first table here). The total number of spotless days this transition from cycle 23 to 24 is now 694 rapidly approaching the approximate number leading into cycle 15 in the early 1900s (graphic below).
Solar Cycles spotless days
© unknown
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Clock

Greenpeace Leader Admits Global Warming Scare Tactics Over Arctic Ice

Phelim McAleer & Ann McElhinney
Not Evil Just Wrong
Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:30 UTC
The outgoing leader of Greenpeace has admitted his organization's recent claim that the Arctic Ice will disappear by 2030 was "a mistake."

Greenpeace made the claim in a July 15 press release entitled "Urgent Action Needed As Arctic Ice Melts," which said there will be an ice-free Arctic by 2030 because of global warming.

Under close questioning by BBC reporter Stephen Sackur on the "Hardtalk" program, Gerd Leipold, the retiring leader of Greenpeace, said the claim was wrong.

"I don't think it will be melting by 2030. ... That may have been a mistake," he said.

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