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The prospect of climate change sparking food and water shortages in the Middle East is less likely than previously thought, with new research by an Australian climate scientist suggesting that rainfall will be significantly higher in key parts of the region.
China's government estimates it will cost $147 billion to rebuild from the massive earthquake that struck the central part of the country in May, according to state media.
Nova Scotia - Mr. Mokey has been behaving a bit oddly, frequently looking up after a massive black bird swooped down out of the sky, barely missing the Shelburne County cat.
"He's constantly looking skyward and has been acting strange ever since it happened," said Alice Whitehouse, Mr. Mokey's owner.
It seems the behemoth bird that tried to attack a Lunenburg County man, then his neighbour, recently has gone west.
"I guess Big Bird is (down) my way now but I did not know what the heck it was," Ms. Whitehouse said of her Tuesday afternoon encounter.
"He's constantly looking skyward and has been acting strange ever since it happened," said Alice Whitehouse, Mr. Mokey's owner.
It seems the behemoth bird that tried to attack a Lunenburg County man, then his neighbour, recently has gone west.
"I guess Big Bird is (down) my way now but I did not know what the heck it was," Ms. Whitehouse said of her Tuesday afternoon encounter.
Three people have been killed in fresh floods in northern Vietnam while the death toll in the wake of tropical storm Kammuri has risen to 119.
Heavy rains since tuesday caused new floods in several districts of Quang Ninh province, east of Hanoi.
Heavy rains since tuesday caused new floods in several districts of Quang Ninh province, east of Hanoi.
The ash cloud from Kasatochi Volcano has drifted over 1650 miles into the flight paths of aircraft in Anchorage and caused more than 50 flight cancellations Sunday and Monday. The oval shaped ash cloud was 300 miles at its widest point and moving around 39,000 to 40,000 feet in the air. This is an old ash cloud emitted during the initial eruption last Thursday. Alaska Volcano Observatory scientist Chris Waythomas says the ash might cause more delays over the next few days and that Kasatochi may not be through erupting.
In a study published in the July 2008 issue of Geophysical Research Letters, Drs. David S. Nolan and Eric D. Rappin from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science describe a new method for evaluating the frequency of hurricane formation in present and future tropical climates.
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| ©UM/RSMAS |
| Figure shows an example of a hurricane computer simulation generated by the Rosenstiel School team. The colors indicate water vapor in a vertical column of the atmosphere, where the dark red areas would indicate extremely heavy rainfall. The small size of each pixel, 3 km x 3 km provides remarkably accurate detail in the storm. In comparison, the number of pixels in an image used to represent storms in global climate models are typically 100 km x 100 km, at best. |
In spite of the media's obsession with global warming, only 25 percent of Americans view climate change as the world's biggest environmental threat, according to a new ABC News poll. Fewer than half - 47 percent - viewed global warming as "extremely" or "very" important to them.
Comment: Don't forget SOTT's special editorial back in January of 2007, Fire and Ice: The Day After Tomorrow.
Ice at the North Pole melted at an unprecedented rate last week, with leading scientists warning that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer by 2013.
Satellite images show that ice caps started to disintegrate dramatically several days ago as storms over Alaska's Beaufort Sea began sucking streams of warm air into the Arctic.
Satellite images show that ice caps started to disintegrate dramatically several days ago as storms over Alaska's Beaufort Sea began sucking streams of warm air into the Arctic.
An anonymous British donor is funding a project which may help clean up the bespoiled landscape.
American biologists Jess Work, Brian Page and Ecuadorian fungus expert, Ricardo Viteri, are working to develop a mushroom that can 'eat' the toxic components in the soil and help reclaim the land.
American biologists Jess Work, Brian Page and Ecuadorian fungus expert, Ricardo Viteri, are working to develop a mushroom that can 'eat' the toxic components in the soil and help reclaim the land.
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| ©Charles Foley |
| In a recent paper in The Royal Society's Biology Letters, conservationists with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Zoological of London found that the oldest matriarch elephants may retain valuable memories of permanent sources of food and water and their that become crucial in times of drought. |
A recent study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) suggests that old female elephants - and perhaps their memories of distant, life-sustaining sources of food and water - may be the key to survival during the worst of times.
In particular, experienced elephant matriarchs seem to give their family groups an edge in the struggle for survival in periods of famine and drought, according to a recently published paper in The Royal Society's Biology Letters.
"Understanding how elephants and other animal populations react to droughts will be a central component of wildlife management and conservation," said Wildlife Conservation Society researcher Dr. Charles Foley, lead author of the study. "Our findings seem to support the hypothesis that older females with knowledge of distant resources become crucial to the survival of herds during periods of extreme climatic events."
Comment: Usually turkeys run away too, they are fairly timid. And they only fly short distances. Usually only to roost. Turkeys eat insects, berries and seeds. Not animals the size of a cat! Or a human! So what's going on here?
Maybe it was a turkey, maybe not. As the wildlife official said, without a picture you can't really identify it.