Switzerland's agriculture will stay "GMO-free" until 2013 when the outcome of a National Research Programme (NRP59) on the benefits and risks of genetically modified plants has been concluded and the outcome is known. Programme results are expected by mid 2012.
The research programme was initiated shortly after the adoption of the current national moratorium in 2005. This ban prohibits the cultivation of genetically modified plants and the market placement of transgenic animals for food production. However, unless further action is taken, the moratorium will expire in November 2010.
Two persons were killed and two others injured by lightning in Narail, C'nawabganj on Saturday.
The victims were identified as Kanika Biswas, 35, wife of Anil Biswas of Ratadanga village under Sadar upazila and Esamul Shaikh, 10, son of Salam Shaikh of Boyra village under Lohagora upazila.
The injured were Kamel Sikder, 12, and Zamela Khatun, 9, of Ratandanga village. They received first aid at local clinics.
Meanwhile, four persons including a house wife were killed by lightning in the district on Saturday afternoon.
The science of climate change is increasingly confronted by profound disagreements and re-adjustments. The rise in temperatures that occurred during much of the 1980s and 1990s appears to have stalled for much of the past 10 years.
Meanwhile, global carbon dioxide emissions have been accelerating considerably. Greenhouse gas emissions increased on average 3 per cent a year from 2000 to 2005, compared with a growth rate of 1 per cent a year on average during the 1990s. Yet global temperatures failed to rise as a result of accelerating emissions.
RALEIGH, N.C. - Each April, weather wizard William Gray emerges from his burrow near the Rocky Mountains to offer his forecast for the six-month hurricane season that starts June 1. And the news media are there, breathlessly awaiting his every word.
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| ©AP Photo/Logan Wallace
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| A solitary sunbather, a renourishment pipe and a condemned oceanfront home is shown in North Topsail Beach, N.C., Wednesday, May 14, 2008. The island has ongoing difficulties with erosion that may make it particularly vulnerable to hurricane strikes.
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Dukono Volcano in Indonesia was upgraded to level 3 alert (out of maximum 4) on 30th May 2008. Volcanic explosion earthquakes increased from 32/day to 280/day between April and May 2008. On 25th May, ash emissions reached 800 m above the crater, and booming noises were heard coming from the summit. Ash emissions reached 1000 m above the summit on 29th May. Residents close to the volcano are warned to be alert for ashfall. A 3 km exclusion zone has been placed around the volcano. The volcano was on alert level 2 between January 2002 and May 2008.
QUITO, Ecuador: A volcano on the largest of the Galapagos Islands has begun erupting and authorities are evaluating possible dangers to the island's famed plant and animal life, officials said Friday.
Andrew Bones
ASAP NewsFri, 30 May 2008 17:38 UTC
The Chaiten Volcano in Chile has been erupting for almost a month now, and the ash that it has been emitting into the air has been causing some problems for incoming flights. Chile's national carrier, LAN was forced to cancel several flights to some of the region's smaller airports, like Temuco, Osorno, Valdivia and Puerto Montt. Authorities said that the shifting winds have blown the ash northwestwards within the Chilean border making it dangerous to fly, as the ash can clog a jet engine.
Michael Kahn
ReutersWed, 28 May 2008 17:24 UTC
LONDON - The collapse of the world's fastest-growing mud volcano could redirect nearby rivers and threaten villages in Indonesia, researchers said on Wednesday.
RENO -- A magnitude 3.2 earthquake shook Mineral County, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.
The temblor that struck shortly before 10 p.m. Friday was centered near the historic mining town of Rawhide about 115 miles southeast of Reno, officials with the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
A magnitude-6.4 earthquake hit the Pacific Ocean off the northern Philippines Sunday morning and was felt as far as southeastern Taiwan, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The epicenter was about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Basco, the capital of the Batan Islands in the Philippines and about 340 miles (550 kilometers) south of Taipei, Taiwan.
