Earth Changes
WEST SALEM, Ill. - A 5.4 earthquake that appeared to rival the strongest recorded in the region rocked people awake up to 350 miles away early Friday, surprising residents unaccustomed to such a powerful Midwest temblor.
The Borneo pygmy elephant may not be native to Borneo after all. Instead, the population could be the last survivors of the Javan elephant race - accidentally saved from extinction by the Sultan of Sulu centuries ago, a new publication suggests.
The origins of the pygmy elephants, found in a range extending from the north-east of the island into the Heart of Borneo, have long been shrouded in mystery. Their looks and behaviour differ from other Asian elephants and scientists have questioned why they never dispersed to other parts of the island.
The origins of the pygmy elephants, found in a range extending from the north-east of the island into the Heart of Borneo, have long been shrouded in mystery. Their looks and behaviour differ from other Asian elephants and scientists have questioned why they never dispersed to other parts of the island.
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| ©Jan Vertefeuille |
| Pygmy elephant with radio collar. |
Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Washington (UW) have for the first time documented the sudden and complete drainage of a lake of meltwater from the top of the Greenland ice sheet to its base.
From those observations, scientists have uncovered a plumbing system for the ice sheet, where meltwater can penetrate thick, cold ice and accelerate some of the large-scale summer movements of the ice sheet.
From those observations, scientists have uncovered a plumbing system for the ice sheet, where meltwater can penetrate thick, cold ice and accelerate some of the large-scale summer movements of the ice sheet.
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| ©Ian Joughin, UW Polar Science Center |
| WHOI glaciologist Sarah Das stands in front of a block of ice that was raised up 6 meters by the sudden drainage of a meltwater lake in Greenland. |
Songbirds feeding near the contaminated South River are showing high levels of mercury, even though they aren't eating food from the river itself, according to a paper published by William and Mary researchers in the journal Science.
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| © iStockphoto/Ronnie Wilson |
| Pollutant - mercury-laden spiders are eaten by birds, and also fed by parent birds to their nestlings. |
Roger Francis McGill, 61, of Kaukapakapa, was riding with the Northland Hunt on a farm near Dargaville when struck by a bolt of lightning during a violent electrical storm. He died instantly.
Myth: If it isn't raining, there is no danger from lightning.
Fact: Lightning often strikes away from heavy rainfall. It may occur as far as 10 miles away from any rainfall.
Fact: Lightning often strikes away from heavy rainfall. It may occur as far as 10 miles away from any rainfall.
The Earth's jet streams, the high-altitude bands of fast winds that strongly influence the paths of storms and other weather systems, are shifting--possibly in response to global warming. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution determined that over a 23-year span from 1979 to 2001 the jet streams in both hemispheres have risen in altitude and shifted toward the poles. The jet stream in the northern hemisphere has also weakened. These changes fit the predictions of global warming models and have implications for the frequency and intensity of future storms, including hurricanes.
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| ©NOAA |
| Hurricane Andrew. Storm paths in North America are likely to shift northward as a result of the jet stream changes. Hurricanes, whose development tends to be inhibited by jet streams, may become more powerful and more frequent as the jet streams move away from the sub-tropical zones where hurricanes are born. |
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 rocked the northwest coast of the Japanese island of Honshu today, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quake, recorded at 4:19 a.m. local time, was 147 kilometers (91 miles) deep, the agency said. Its epicenter was 372 kilometers north of Tokyo, and about 81 kilometers south of Akita.
The quake, recorded at 4:19 a.m. local time, was 147 kilometers (91 miles) deep, the agency said. Its epicenter was 372 kilometers north of Tokyo, and about 81 kilometers south of Akita.
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| ©AP Photo/Pueblo Chieftain, Chris McLean |
| Farm structures, fence, trees and brush go up in flames on rural property near Ordway, Colo., on Tuesday, April 15, 2008. What started as a grass fire southeast of the small town in southeastern Colorado quickly grew into a massive blaze as high winds fueled flames and destroyed houses and agricultural ground. |
Firefighters were hoping rain and snow Wednesday would help them quell blazes that scorched thousands of acres, forced hundreds of residents to evacuate and left three people dead.
Six teenagers and a teacher have been killed in a flash flood on a river in New Zealand. The river level had risen sharply in half an hour, sweeping some of them downstream through a gorge.
A group of 12 students and teachers were on an outdoor leadership course when they were hit by floodwaters late yesterday in the Mangetepopo Gorge, in an isolated area near the centre of New Zealand's North Island.
A group of 12 students and teachers were on an outdoor leadership course when they were hit by floodwaters late yesterday in the Mangetepopo Gorge, in an isolated area near the centre of New Zealand's North Island.
