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| ©REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado |
| A family walks past a street blocked with debris in the town of Tocopilla, some 1559 km (968 miles) north of Santiago, November 16, 2007. |
Earth Changes
A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile on Saturday, the latest in a series of aftershocks to hit the mineral-rich Andean country since a powerful temblor on Wednesday.
Military ships and helicopters were trying on Saturday to reach thousands of survivors of a super cyclone that killed more than 1,600 people and pummeled impoverished Bangladesh with mighty winds and waves.
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| ©REUTERS/Rafiqur Rahman |
| A mother in a veil takes her injured daughter to a hospital in Barisal district town, south west of the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, November 17, 2007. |
Polar stratospheric clouds have become the focus of many research projects in recent years due to the discovery of their role in ozone depletion, but essential aspects of these clouds remain a mystery. MIPAS, an instrument onboard ESA's Envisat, is allowing scientists to gain information about these clouds necessary for modelling ozone loss.
"The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) is unique in its possibilities to detect polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) since it is the first instrument with the ability to observe these clouds continuously over the polar regions especially during the polar night," Michael Höpfner of Germany's Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH said.
Using data collected by MIPAS, a German-designed instrument that observes the atmosphere in middle infrared range, Höpfner and other scientists discovered a belt of nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) PSCs developing in the polar night over Antarctica in 2003 about one month after the first PSCs, which were composed of water crystals, were detected.
"The Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) is unique in its possibilities to detect polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) since it is the first instrument with the ability to observe these clouds continuously over the polar regions especially during the polar night," Michael Höpfner of Germany's Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH said.
Using data collected by MIPAS, a German-designed instrument that observes the atmosphere in middle infrared range, Höpfner and other scientists discovered a belt of nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) PSCs developing in the polar night over Antarctica in 2003 about one month after the first PSCs, which were composed of water crystals, were detected.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - An 18-foot minke whale ran aground on a sandbar in the Amazon jungle some 1,000 miles from the ocean, Brazilian media reported Friday. Globo television broadcast images of dozens of people gathered along the Tapajos River splashing water on the animal, whose back and dorsal fin were exposed to the hot Amazon sun. Sea creatures rarely venture so far into fresh water.
Georgia was enduring its worst drought in a century, and it had already asked President Bush and the Supreme Court for relief. So on Nov. 13, Republican Governor Sonny Perdue appealed to a higher power, hosting a statehouse vigil to "pray up a storm," begging God to bring the rain he had withheld for 14 months.
DHAKA, Bangladesh - A cyclone that slammed into the coast with 150 mph winds killed at least 1,100 people, isolating remote towns and villages swamped by a storm surge or hemmed in by piles of debris, aid workers and a Bangladeshi news agency said Friday.
A tornado hit a village in central Greece yesterday, uprooting trees, tearing off roofs from houses and felling power poles, according to authorities.
There were no reports of injuries.
There were no reports of injuries.
A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck southern Ecuador on Thursday, shattering building windows in the city of Guayaquil while leaving no immediate victims, Ecuadoran and US officials said.
The quake could be felt in at least six provinces in the Andes mountain range, the Amazon jungle and the coast in the Peru border region, said an Ecuadoran Civil Defence source.
The quake could be felt in at least six provinces in the Andes mountain range, the Amazon jungle and the coast in the Peru border region, said an Ecuadoran Civil Defence source.
A strong earthquake measuring 7.1 degrees on the Richeter Scale jolted northern Chile at 11:06 p.m. Beijing time Thursday.
Bangladesh was battered by a super-cyclone yesterday, with winds of about 150mph (240km/h) - some of the worst on record in the region. At least 28 fishermen were feared drowned.
As Cyclone Sidr slammed into the southwestern coast, destroying thousands of houses, 650,000 villagers fled to shelters. Officials said that another 3 million people would have to be moved. In the coastal districts of Barguna, Bagerhat, Barisal and Bhola thousands of flimsy straw and mud huts were flattened as the cyclone flooded lowlying areas and uprooted trees and electricity and telephone poles. Road, rail and river transport was also affected.
As Cyclone Sidr slammed into the southwestern coast, destroying thousands of houses, 650,000 villagers fled to shelters. Officials said that another 3 million people would have to be moved. In the coastal districts of Barguna, Bagerhat, Barisal and Bhola thousands of flimsy straw and mud huts were flattened as the cyclone flooded lowlying areas and uprooted trees and electricity and telephone poles. Road, rail and river transport was also affected.
