Earth Changes
For the first time, research planes have flown in the windiest region on Earth. The location - the appropriately named Cape Farewell in Greenland - generated the winds likely to have carried Viking explorers from Iceland and Greenland to North America, making them the first Europeans to discover the continent.
Monthly summary
Unsettled weather is expected to continue into the beginning of October with the best hope of any drier brighter weather in the south and east.
August was an average month in only one respect, temperatures hovered around the seasonal average.
It was a very wet month for most of us with widespread flooding in Northern Ireland and parts of eastern Scotland. Northern Ireland had its wettest August since records began back in 1914.
Unsettled weather is expected to continue into the beginning of October with the best hope of any drier brighter weather in the south and east.
August was an average month in only one respect, temperatures hovered around the seasonal average.
It was a very wet month for most of us with widespread flooding in Northern Ireland and parts of eastern Scotland. Northern Ireland had its wettest August since records began back in 1914.
HOUSTON - Cars and trucks streamed inland and chemical companies buttoned up their plants Thursday as a gigantic Hurricane Ike took aim at the heart of the U.S. refining industry and threatened to send a wall of water crashing toward Houston.
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| ©AP Photo/David J. Phillip |
| Traffic lines Interstate 45 leaving Houston as Hurricane Ike approaches the Texas Gulf Coast Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 in The Woodlands, Texas. |
London - The okapi, an African animal so elusive that it was once believed to be a mythical unicorn, has been photographed in the wild for the first time, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) said Thursday.
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| ©AFP/Zoological Society Of London |
| An okapi, pictured in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is so elusive that it was once believed to be a mythical unicorn. |
Britain is facing its worst harvest for at least 40 years as 30 per cent of the country's grain lies in waterlogged or sodden ground. Hilary Benn, the Rural Affairs Secretary, is expected to give the go-ahead today for farmers to salvage what is left of their crops by using heavy machinery on wet fields.
European Union rules ban farmers from using combine harvesters on wet land to protect soil quality. Those who flout the ban can be prosecuted. The exemption is expected to last for about three weeks.
The poor harvest is unlikely to lead to a rise in the price of bread, cakes, biscuits and flour, however. Gordon Polson, director of the Federation of Bakers, said that although much of the milling wheat was of a poor quality it could still be used for bread and flour.
He said: "The poorer wheat means it has less protein, but manufacturers can add gluten to ensure the proper quality for making bread. We are not happy and we may still have to import some milling wheat, but no one is talking about price rises for bread."
European Union rules ban farmers from using combine harvesters on wet land to protect soil quality. Those who flout the ban can be prosecuted. The exemption is expected to last for about three weeks.
The poor harvest is unlikely to lead to a rise in the price of bread, cakes, biscuits and flour, however. Gordon Polson, director of the Federation of Bakers, said that although much of the milling wheat was of a poor quality it could still be used for bread and flour.
He said: "The poorer wheat means it has less protein, but manufacturers can add gluten to ensure the proper quality for making bread. We are not happy and we may still have to import some milling wheat, but no one is talking about price rises for bread."
Earthquake Details
Magnitude 6.9
Date-Time
* Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 00:20:52 UTC
* Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 09:20:52 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 41.979°N, 143.625°E
Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
Distances 125 km (80 miles) SSW of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan
225 km (140 miles) SSE of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan
225 km (140 miles) ESE of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
775 km (485 miles) NNE of TOKYO, Japan
Magnitude 6.9
Date-Time
* Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 00:20:52 UTC
* Thursday, September 11, 2008 at 09:20:52 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 41.979°N, 143.625°E
Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
Distances 125 km (80 miles) SSW of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan
225 km (140 miles) SSE of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan
225 km (140 miles) ESE of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
775 km (485 miles) NNE of TOKYO, Japan
HOUSTON - The frail and elderly were put aboard buses Wednesday and authorities warned 1 million others to flee inland as Hurricane Ike steamed toward a swath of the Texas coast that includes the nation's largest concentration of refineries and chemical plants.
Sender Name: U.S. Geological Survey
Headline: EQ 5.2 Jumla, Nepal - PRELIMINARY REPORT
Description: An earthquake with magnitude 5.2 occurred near Jumla, Nepal at 01:28:07.10 UTC on Sep 10, 2008. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)
Web
Headline: EQ 5.2 Jumla, Nepal - PRELIMINARY REPORT
Description: An earthquake with magnitude 5.2 occurred near Jumla, Nepal at 01:28:07.10 UTC on Sep 10, 2008. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)
Web
Santiago - A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, shaking the ground in an area home to copper mines but there were no immediate reports of any damage.
The quake hit 63 miles east of Iquique, Chile, the agency said, near the country's large copper mining areas.
Anglo American's Collahuasi mine is located near Iquique. Officials at the mine were not immediately available for comment, and an Anglo American official said he was unaware of any quake. Chile is the world's top copper producer.
"Things are calm now after a quake which was felt intensely by the local population," Miriam Escobar, provincial governor of Iquique, told Reuters.
The quake hit 63 miles east of Iquique, Chile, the agency said, near the country's large copper mining areas.
Anglo American's Collahuasi mine is located near Iquique. Officials at the mine were not immediately available for comment, and an Anglo American official said he was unaware of any quake. Chile is the world's top copper producer.
"Things are calm now after a quake which was felt intensely by the local population," Miriam Escobar, provincial governor of Iquique, told Reuters.
Hosuton - Hurricane Ike churned through the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters on Wednesday on a track that will likely skirt the heart of the U.S. offshore oilpatch before it slams into the Texas coast on Saturday.
Ike, a Category 1 storm with 85 mile-per-hour (140 kph) winds, has left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean after toppling decrepit buildings in Cuba's capital and ripping the communist-run island from end to end.
Forecasters said Ike would likely regain power in the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters and become a major storm again, revving up to a Category 3 on the five-step hurricane intensity scale with a minimum of 115 mph (178 kph) winds.
But latest projections pointed Ike toward the middle of the Texas coast, skirting to the west of the main region for offshore production in the gulf, which provides a quarter of U.S. oil and 15 percent of its natural gas.
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| ©REUTERS/Claudia Daut |
| Palm trees are swayed by outer bands of Hurricane Ike in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, September 9, 2008. |
Ike, a Category 1 storm with 85 mile-per-hour (140 kph) winds, has left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean after toppling decrepit buildings in Cuba's capital and ripping the communist-run island from end to end.
Forecasters said Ike would likely regain power in the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters and become a major storm again, revving up to a Category 3 on the five-step hurricane intensity scale with a minimum of 115 mph (178 kph) winds.
But latest projections pointed Ike toward the middle of the Texas coast, skirting to the west of the main region for offshore production in the gulf, which provides a quarter of U.S. oil and 15 percent of its natural gas.
Comment: And is there any particular reason for the jet stream being out of position? Any implications for the global climate system?
Consider this article, which reads: And what happens if the "conveyor belt" shifts position, or even worse, stops its motion?