A moderate earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale hit Japan's northernmost Hokkaido region Saturday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency Saturday.
The focus of the quake, which occurred at 9:36 local time (0036 GMT), was some 100 km underground at Hidaka-shicho Seibu region, Kyodo News quoted the agency as saying here.
Earth Changes
Sacramento - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Friday because of three years of below-average rain and snowfall in California, a step that urges urban water agencies to reduce water use by 20 percent.
"This drought is having a devastating impact on our people, our communities, our economy and our environment, making today's action absolutely necessary," the Republican governor said in his statement.
"This drought is having a devastating impact on our people, our communities, our economy and our environment, making today's action absolutely necessary," the Republican governor said in his statement.
For decades, biologists have puzzled over those fishes' eyes, because apparently they could look in only one direction - upward - and have wondered at the role of the mysterious transparent shield that covers their heads much like the cockpits of jet fighter planes.
Now two marine biologists in Monterey Bay, trolling with remote-controlled submarines from their surface ship, have tracked and captured the 6-inch living barreleyes on film and studied them in a lab to solve the puzzle: Those tunnels that hold their eyes, the scientists discovered, can actually pivot up and down - a rarity for any animal.
A study showed that vast Antarctic glaciation was caused by global cooling, according to a news release issued by the University of Hong Kong on Thursday.
Global climate rapidly shifted from a relatively ice-free world to one with massive ice sheets on Antarctica about 34 million years ago. A team of scientists from research units from different countries and regions offered a new perspective on the nature of changing climatic conditions across this greenhouse-to-icehouse transition, which has important implications for predicting future climate changes.
Detailed in the latest issue of Science, an international scientific journal, the data disproved a long-held idea that massive ice growth in the Antarctic was accompanied by little to no global temperature change.
Global climate rapidly shifted from a relatively ice-free world to one with massive ice sheets on Antarctica about 34 million years ago. A team of scientists from research units from different countries and regions offered a new perspective on the nature of changing climatic conditions across this greenhouse-to-icehouse transition, which has important implications for predicting future climate changes.
Detailed in the latest issue of Science, an international scientific journal, the data disproved a long-held idea that massive ice growth in the Antarctic was accompanied by little to no global temperature change.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency on Friday because of three years of below-average rain and snowfall in California, a step that urges urban water agencies to reduce water use by 20 per cent.
Mandatory conservation is an option in the US if the declaration and other measures are insufficient.
The drought has forced farmers to fallow their fields, put thousands of agricultural workers out of work and led to conservation measures in cities throughout the state, which is the top agricultural producer in the US
Mandatory conservation is an option in the US if the declaration and other measures are insufficient.
The drought has forced farmers to fallow their fields, put thousands of agricultural workers out of work and led to conservation measures in cities throughout the state, which is the top agricultural producer in the US
© The University of Queensland
Turtle on Heron Island.
Turtle on Heron Island.
Zoologist Dr David Booth, from UQ's School of Biological Sciences, said green turtle hatchlings from Heron Island weren't swimming as well as usual.
"The 2008-2009 green turtle nesting season on Heron Island has seen the highest nest temperatures recorded at this site, with many nests having average temperatures above 31 degrees, and experiencing temperatures above 35 degrees during the last week of incubation," Dr Booth said.
"Initial impressions are that hatchlings emerging from these hot nests are not as strong swimmers as hatchlings coming from cooler nests recorded in previous years.
"If climate change results in consistently high nest temperatures in the future, then the poorer swimming ability of hatchlings emerging from hot nests may have a negative impact on recruitment of hatchlings from coral cays because predation rate is thought to be related to swimming ability."
© Max Planck Institute
Cataglyphis fortis
Cataglyphis fortis
Until now researchers thought that the Desert Ant Cataglyphis fortis, which makes its home in the inhospitable salt pans of Tunisia, was a pure vision-guided insect. But Kathrin Steck, Bill Hansson and Markus Knaden from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany used gas chromatography to verify that desert microhabitats do have unique odour signatures that can guide the ants back to the nest.
© Unknown
Police said the man, an immigrant worker, was struck while working in fields in the buffer zone, about 25 kilometres west of Nicosia.
He was taken to hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
© Reuters
Greenpeace activists hold a banner during a rally outside the U.S. embassy for Hillary Clinton in Jakarta on Feb. 19.
Greenpeace activists hold a banner during a rally outside the U.S. embassy for Hillary Clinton in Jakarta on Feb. 19.
After years of resistance from the Bush administration, global warming advocates are convinced the time has come for passage of major climate change legislation.
But even with a sympathetic White House and Congress, the years of delay might well have complicated their task as an army of lobbyists assembled to do battle over the issue.
A Center for Public Integrity analysis of Senate lobbying disclosure forms shows that more than 770 companies and interest groups hired an estimated 2,340 lobbyists to influence federal policy on climate change in the past year, as the issue gathered momentum and a bill came to a vote in Congress.
That's an increase of more than 300 percent in the number of global warming lobbyists since 2003, when Congress previously voted on climate change legislation, and means that Washington can now boast more than four climate lobbyists for every member of Congress.
It also means that 15 percent of all Washington lobbyists spent at least some of their time on global warming last year, based on a tally of the total number of influence peddlers on Capitol Hill by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The center estimates that lobbying expenditures on climate change last year topped $90 million. About 130 businesses and interest groups spent more than $23.5 million on lobbying teams solely focused on climate, but that vastly understates the money devoted to the effort.
The winter storm that swept across New Brunswick on Monday blew in record levels of snow in some parts of the province.
Some of the snowiest places following Monday's blizzard were McNamee, near Boiestown, which saw more than 65 centimetres of snow fall, as well, Kouchibouguac, on the province's east coast, witnessed 60 centimetres of snow fall.
Bathurst residents were digging out from 55 centimetres of snow, which set a new record for the northern city in terms of snowfall in one day in February.
Bathurst Mayor Stephen Brunet said the cleanup is continuing from Monday's record-breaking snowfall, one of the worst winter storms he can remember.
"You're driving down the street and you're going down like a snake. You know, there's nothing straight on our streets at all because of the snow," Brunet said.
Additionally, 48 centimetres of snow fell on Fredericton, 37 centimetres on Saint John and 21 centimetres in Moncton.
Some of the snowiest places following Monday's blizzard were McNamee, near Boiestown, which saw more than 65 centimetres of snow fall, as well, Kouchibouguac, on the province's east coast, witnessed 60 centimetres of snow fall.
© Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
A Fredericton resident cleans up on Monday after 48 centimetres of snow fell.
A Fredericton resident cleans up on Monday after 48 centimetres of snow fell.
Bathurst Mayor Stephen Brunet said the cleanup is continuing from Monday's record-breaking snowfall, one of the worst winter storms he can remember.
"You're driving down the street and you're going down like a snake. You know, there's nothing straight on our streets at all because of the snow," Brunet said.
Additionally, 48 centimetres of snow fell on Fredericton, 37 centimetres on Saint John and 21 centimetres in Moncton.
