Earth Changes
The Japan Meteorological Agency on Saturday started issuing volcanic activity warnings for areas centering around seven active volcanoes including one which is undersea in line with a revised meteorological business law, noting that there has been no change in the levels of activity themselves.
Scientists have revealed an important discovery that raises doubts concerning the viability of plans to fertilize the ocean to solve global warming, a projected $100 billion venture. Research performed at Stanford and Oregon State Universities, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, suggests that ocean fertilization may not be an effective method of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a major contributor to global warming.
SAN FRANCISCO - Hundreds of dead or injured seabirds have washed up on the shores of Monterey Bay in recent weeks, and scientists believe a red tide of marine algae is to blame.
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| ©AFP |
| Algerian officials and rescuers check a collapsed bridge. |
Flooding from five days of heavy rains in northern Algeria has claimed 11 lives and three more people are missing feared dead, officials said Wednesday.
Four people died in the northwestern Mediterranean city of Oran when their old houses collapsed on Tuesday and Wednesday, head of civil protection Houari Saadaoui told public television.
Their deaths brought to 11 the number of people confirmed to have died in weather-related incidents since the heavy rains began to sweep across northern Algeria on Saturday.
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| ©AP Photo/Irwin Fedriansyah |
| Indonesians wade through a flooded street in North Jakarta. |
Jakarta, Indonesia - Indonesia's environment minister said Tuesday that global warming was to blame after the capital of Jakarta was partially flooded, forcing thousands of people to flee homes and cutting off a highway to the international airport.
Authorities used pumps to lower water levels, which reached six feet in the worst-hit areas and washed more than a mile inland Monday, said Iskandar, an official at Jakarta's flood crisis center. At least 2,200 houses were inundated, some with chest-deep water.
Developing countries in Asia could face an "unprecedented" water crisis within a decade due to mismanagement of water resources, the Asian Development Bank said in a report on Thursday.
The effects of climate change, rapid industrialisation and population growth on water resources could lead to health and social issues that could cost billions of dollars annually, it said.
"If the present unsatisfactory trends continue, in one or two decades, Asian developing countries are likely to face and cope with a crisis on water quality management that is unprecedented in human history," Ajit Biswas wrote in the report.
The effects of climate change, rapid industrialisation and population growth on water resources could lead to health and social issues that could cost billions of dollars annually, it said.
"If the present unsatisfactory trends continue, in one or two decades, Asian developing countries are likely to face and cope with a crisis on water quality management that is unprecedented in human history," Ajit Biswas wrote in the report.
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| ©Philippine Daily Inquirer/Ray B. Zambrano |
| Sheds at the Tondaligan Blue Beach in Dagupan City, destroyed by a storm surge Tuesday night. |
Lingayen, Pangasinan, Philippines -- Residents living in coastal areas of Pangasinan were thrown into panic Tuesday night after water from the Lingayen Gulf began to rise and flooded their houses.
According to the provincial disaster coordinating council here, at least 280 families were taken to various evacuation centers here and in the towns of Binmaley, San Fabian, Labrador and Bolinao and Dagupan City.
Researchers have worked out the neurological trick used by a species of wasp to turn cockroaches into 'zombie slaves'. The discovery explains why, once stung, cockroaches can be led by a much smaller master towards certain death. Researchers have proven their theory by replicating the effect, and by using an antidote injection to release the cockroaches from their zombie state.
About 2,500 penguins en route to their Antarctic mating grounds could be sickened by a diesel fuel spill from a cruise boat that struck an iceberg and sank last week, Chilean scientists said Friday.
Areas surrounding the mile-long spill site include breeding grounds for Antarctic and Adelia penguins, and the largest mating colony for Papua penguins, said Maria Jose Rosello, a Chilean marine biologist.
Areas surrounding the mile-long spill site include breeding grounds for Antarctic and Adelia penguins, and the largest mating colony for Papua penguins, said Maria Jose Rosello, a Chilean marine biologist.
Storm surges that generated big waves whipped coastal areas in the provinces of Negros Occidental and Iloilo, and in Cebu City that reportedly resulted in the death of two persons and the displacement of over 100 families, GMA News's Saksi said on Wednesday.
