CORVALLIS, Ore. - A temperature analysis of more than 600 boreholes from throughout the Northern Hemisphere suggests that the Earth's climate may be warming at a higher rate than tree-ring analysis and other methods had led scientists to believe.
"If we're right, these boreholes are showing that the Earth is more sensitive to whatever is forcing the climatic change," said Robert N. Harris, an associate professor in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University and a principal investigator in the study.
Results of the research by Harris and colleague David S. Chapman of the University of Utah were just published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. The researchers also will present their data in December at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Borehole temperatures have been measured since the 1920s, but only recently has this temperature analysis been applied to global warming studies. Unlike most "proxy" methods to reconstruct climate models, which depend entirely on statistical analysis, borehole temperature research is based on the physics of heat diffusion.
Earth Changes
Some people felt or heard the Summerville earthquake Saturday, but other town residents had no idea it occurred. It measured magnitude 2.6 on the Richter scale, said Pradeep Talwani, director of the South Carolina Seismic Network at the University of South Carolina.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at magnitude 2.4, said Joyce Bagwell, retired director of the Earthquake Education Center at Charleston Southern University.
"That's what we call a preliminary reading. You really need to get all your data in," Bagwell said.
Bagwell, who lives in Summerville, said she didn't feel the quake, but her son and grandchildren did. A quake has to be at least magnitude 2 to be felt, she said.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at magnitude 2.4, said Joyce Bagwell, retired director of the Earthquake Education Center at Charleston Southern University.
"That's what we call a preliminary reading. You really need to get all your data in," Bagwell said.
Bagwell, who lives in Summerville, said she didn't feel the quake, but her son and grandchildren did. A quake has to be at least magnitude 2 to be felt, she said.
Tokyo - An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook southern Japan on Tuesday in the latest major tremor to hit the archipelago, but there were no reports of damage, officials said.
Global warming hits Himalayas
Nawa Jigtar was working in the village of Ghat, in Nepal, when the sound of crashing sent him rushing out of his home. He emerged to see his herd of cattle being swept away by a wall of water.
Jigtar and his fellow villagers were able to scramble to safety. They were lucky: 'If it had come at night, none of us would have survived.'
Ghat was destroyed when a lake, high in the Himalayas, burst its banks. Swollen with glacier meltwaters, its walls of rock and ice had suddenly disintegrated. Several million cubic metres of water crashed down the mountain.
Nawa Jigtar was working in the village of Ghat, in Nepal, when the sound of crashing sent him rushing out of his home. He emerged to see his herd of cattle being swept away by a wall of water.
Jigtar and his fellow villagers were able to scramble to safety. They were lucky: 'If it had come at night, none of us would have survived.'
Ghat was destroyed when a lake, high in the Himalayas, burst its banks. Swollen with glacier meltwaters, its walls of rock and ice had suddenly disintegrated. Several million cubic metres of water crashed down the mountain.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Tropical Storm Gamma weakened into a tropical depression Sunday and drifted off Honduras after torrential downpours lashed the Central American coast, killing 14 people including a young family of four.
Sydney - The northern Australian city of Darwin was rocked by an offshore earthquake on Monday but there were no reports of injuries or damage.
VENTURA, Calif. - Calming wind early Saturday helped firefighters battle a 3,700-acre wildfire that prompted a voluntary evacuation of about 200 ridge-top homes.
PLYMOUTH, Mass. A small-scale earthquake shook a section of Plymouth on Thursday.
Officials with the Weston Observatory, which monitors earthquake activity, say the 2.5 registered tremor was centered two miles south of the center of town.
Officials with the Weston Observatory, which monitors earthquake activity, say the 2.5 registered tremor was centered two miles south of the center of town.
SANTIAGO -- A strong earthquake hit northern Chile and southern Bolivia on Thursday, causing panic among local residents and cutting utilities, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, officials in Chile and Bolivia said.
