Earth Changes
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck in the South Pacific 30 miles (45 km) southeast of Santo, Vanuatu, the U.S. Geological Survey says.
On average, said senior government climatologist David Phillips, Toronto gets four 30-plus days every August; this year, we appear to be getting two of them in the month's first two days.
The return of oxygen-depleted water off the Oregon coast is a sign of a warming climate, which could have ill effect on populations of sea creatures, scientists said Monday.
It's the sixth year the water, known as a dead zone, has formed.
''It does, indeed, appear to be the new normal,'' said Jane Lubchenco, professor of marine biology at Oregon State University. ''The fact that we are seeing six in a row now tells us that something pretty fundamental has changed about conditions off of our coast.''
It's the sixth year the water, known as a dead zone, has formed.
''It does, indeed, appear to be the new normal,'' said Jane Lubchenco, professor of marine biology at Oregon State University. ''The fact that we are seeing six in a row now tells us that something pretty fundamental has changed about conditions off of our coast.''
In Central Siberia alone, fires have destroyed 38 000 km2 in the extreme fire year of 2003. In that year the smoke plumes were so huge that they caused air pollution as far as in the United States. An international team of scientists believes that Siberian fires are influenced by climate change. The study was led by the Professor Heiko Balzter of the Department of Geography at the University of Leicester.
Professor Balzter said "Last century a typical forest in Siberia had about 100 years after a fire to recover before it burned again. But new observations by Russian scientist Dr Kharuk have shown that fire now returns more frequently, about every 65 years. At the same time annual temperatures in Siberia have risen by almost two degrees Celsius, about twice as fast as the global average. And since 1990 the warming of Siberia has become even faster than before."
Professor Balzter said "Last century a typical forest in Siberia had about 100 years after a fire to recover before it burned again. But new observations by Russian scientist Dr Kharuk have shown that fire now returns more frequently, about every 65 years. At the same time annual temperatures in Siberia have risen by almost two degrees Celsius, about twice as fast as the global average. And since 1990 the warming of Siberia has become even faster than before."
Millions of people were forced to flee their homes in northeast India as the death toll rose from raging floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains, a minister said.
'The situation has turned devastating overnight, drowning five more people in separate incidents and displacing another three million in 15 districts,' Bhumidhar Barman, relief and rehabilitation minister of Assam state, told Agence France-Presse.
'The situation has turned devastating overnight, drowning five more people in separate incidents and displacing another three million in 15 districts,' Bhumidhar Barman, relief and rehabilitation minister of Assam state, told Agence France-Presse.
Southern and central Manitoba are in the grips of the second heat wave in as many weeks, with temperatures in the high 30s and humidex advisories across the regions.
Temperatures were forecast to reach as high as 38 C in Manitoba Monday, with humidex values in the mid-40s.
Temperatures were forecast to reach as high as 38 C in Manitoba Monday, with humidex values in the mid-40s.
More than a month's worth of rain has fallen on Stewart Island in the past five days, causing flooding and widespread slips which have left some residents with no access to their homes.
MetService readings show a record 177mm has pelted the island at the South West Cape since Wednesday, while further north in Oban, 118mm has fallen.
High winds and heavy seas also played havoc, pulling roads into the sea and causing landslips 30m wide.
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| ©stuff.co.nz |
| Motorists drive through floodwater on State Highway 1 in southern New Zealand. |
MetService readings show a record 177mm has pelted the island at the South West Cape since Wednesday, while further north in Oban, 118mm has fallen.
High winds and heavy seas also played havoc, pulling roads into the sea and causing landslips 30m wide.
A strong typhoon in the western Pacific Ocean headed toward Japan on Tuesday and officials said the storm was likely to strike the country's southernmost island later in the week.
Typhoon Usagi, which means "rabbit" in Japanese, was 1,000 kilometres south of Japan and was moving north northwest at 15 kilometres an hour, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.
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| Typhoon Usagi - 31 Jul, 20:46 GMT |
Typhoon Usagi, which means "rabbit" in Japanese, was 1,000 kilometres south of Japan and was moving north northwest at 15 kilometres an hour, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.
The oxygen-poor "dead zone" off the Louisiana and Texas coasts isn't quite as big as predicted this year, but it is still the third-largest ever mapped, a scientist said Saturday.
Crabs, eels and other creatures usually found on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico are swimming in crowds on the surface because there is too little oxygen in their usual habitat, said Nancy Rabalais, chief scientist for northern Gulf hypoxia studies.
"We very often see swarms of crabs, mostly blue crabs and their close relatives, swimming at the surface when the oxygen is low," she wrote in an e-mail from a research ship as it returned to Cocodrie from its annual measurement trip.
Crabs, eels and other creatures usually found on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico are swimming in crowds on the surface because there is too little oxygen in their usual habitat, said Nancy Rabalais, chief scientist for northern Gulf hypoxia studies.
"We very often see swarms of crabs, mostly blue crabs and their close relatives, swimming at the surface when the oxygen is low," she wrote in an e-mail from a research ship as it returned to Cocodrie from its annual measurement trip.
Wildfires sweeping across Spain's Canary Islands have forced authorities to evacuate around 11 000 people in the biggest fires on the archipelago in a decade, the head of the regional government said on Tuesday.
The fires, which broke out on Friday, have covered 24 000 hectares on two of the archipelago's seven islands - Gran Canaria and Tenerife - after being fanned by strong winds, Paulino Rivero said.
The fires, which broke out on Friday, have covered 24 000 hectares on two of the archipelago's seven islands - Gran Canaria and Tenerife - after being fanned by strong winds, Paulino Rivero said.
