Earth ChangesS


Life Preserver

Wind farms could drive bird species to extinction: conservationists

More than 60 years after it was pushed to the edge of extinction, one of North America's rarest birds, the whooping crane, faces new danger from environmentally-friendly wind farms, conservationists warned.

"Companies want to put their farms where the best wind is, and that overlaps with the migration corridor of the whooping crane," Tom Stehn, the whooping crane coordinator of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, told AFP.

Cloud Lightning

Extreme weather set to continue across Australia



Oz clouds
©Unknown

Extreme weather patterns have hit Australia with tropical cyclones, snow and heatwaves this month - but the weirdness is set to continue with an active monsoonal trough over north Queensland and a storm front heading for Sydney this evening.

Cloud Lightning

Floods hit thousands in Argentina

Heavy rain and floods in Argentina have forced thousands of people from their homes, caused power cuts and brought transport chaos.

About 2,000 people are reported to have been evacuated in the province of Buenos Aires. The capital is still on alert as more rain is expected.

Bizarro Earth

5.9 million Chinese short of drinking water: Report

The number of people facing drinking water shortages in China has more than doubled to 5.9 million because of a severe winter drought, state media reported.

The figures released late on Friday jumped from 2.43 million a week earlier, a Chinese news agency said, citing figures from the State Flood and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Stop

China's snowstorms claim 129 lives

China's worst snowstorms in 50 years have killed a total of 129 people so far this winter, Xinhua news agency reported, citing official data.

The agency quoted the Ministry of Civil Affairs as saying the extreme weather has cost the country's economy $21 billion.

Snow and cold weather in China have affected 70 million people in 20 provinces, including Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan in central, southern and eastern China.

About 1.66 million people are reported to have been evacuated from the blizzard-hit areas and over 485,000 buildings have collapsed.

Evil Rays

Magnitude 7.0 quake hits off Philippine coast-USGS

A strong earthquake of 7.0 magnitude struck in the ocean off the east coast of the Philippines on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake, which struck at 10:11 p.m. local time (1411 GMT), was centered about 116 miles (187 km) east-southeast of Pandan, Catanduanes, at a depth of 20.5 miles (33 km), USGS said.

Cloud Lightning

Extreme weather kills 13 in Europe

BERLIN - Hurricane-strength winds howled across Europe over the weekend, killing 13 people and leaving a trail of destruction as cars were blown off the road, roofs were ripped off and trees fell like matchsticks.

The storm, dubbed "Emma" by forecasters, brought with it winds of up to 200 kilometres (125 miles) an hour and heavy rains as it ripped its way across central Europe.

Cloud Lightning

Severe storm hits Europe

Storm Emma has left a trail of destruction across Europe. Nine people have in total have lost their lives, four in Austria, three in Germany, and two in the Czech Republic. In the United Kingdom thousands of rail passengers suffered delays caused by the severe weather conditions. High winds blew several containers from goods trains onto the rails, blocking the most important rail routes between England and Scotland.

Better Earth

Earthquake felt in Florence, Bologna

An earthquake in central Italy measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale was felt in the cities of Florence and Bologna, news reports said.

No injuries to people or damage to buildings were immediately reported in the earthquake which struck early Saturday, the ANSA news agency said.

Snowman

Global warming sceptics buoyed by record cold

Global warming sceptics are pointing to recent record cold temperatures in parts of North America and Asia and the return of Arctic Sea ice to suggest fears about climate change may be overblown.

According to the US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the average temperature of the global land surface in January 2008 was below the 20th century mean (-0.02°F/-0.01°C) for the first time since 1982.