Extreme weather wakes US up to climate change

June 29, 2007

US public opinion is rapidly waking up to the threat posed by global warming, despite the best efforts of the Bush Administration and much of industry to deny the problem.
There has been a double-digit increase in the proportion of Americans who say environmental problems are a major global threat - from 23 per cent to 37 per cent, according to a comprehensive survey published this week by the Pew Centre in Washington.
The environment is increasingly in the news in the US, thanks to violent and unusual weather patterns - mainly floods and severe drought - combined with the rising cost of petrol. The past few days have seen dramatic rainfall across the southern states. More than a foot of rain fell across central Texas and Oklahoma yesterday, with more storms predicted.
Hardly a day passes without a report being issued pointing to new environmental threats.

The Pew survey bears out the fact that concern about the environment is still sharply lower in the US than in any other advanced industrial country, with the exception of the UK. In every other Western European country large majorities view global warming as a serious problem, ranging from 57 per cent in Italy to 70 per cent in Spain.
The survey of some 10,000 people worldwide by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that public opinion in Great Britain mirrors the US view. In the UK, less than half (45 per cent) say it is very serious while another 37 per cent rate it as a somewhat serious concern.
The survey found that the Chinese are far more likely than Americans to cite environmental problems as a major global danger (70 per cent against 37 per cent).
Worldwide, most people in the surveyed countries agree that the environment is in trouble and most blame the US and, to a much more limited degree, China. Read Full Article

'Mini-tornado' sweeps through Kootenays

British Columbia, Canada

June 29, 2007

A severe windstorm tore through the Kootenays on Friday night, injuring several people, damaging houses, knocking down powerlines and partially ripping the roof off an RCMP detachment."We just had a freak windstorm coming through with some rain," said Creston works department foreman Doug Ryckman about 45 minutes after the storm hit. "It's just like a mini-tornado touched down in the southern part of town. It took down several trees and powerlines and we lost part of our metal roofing on our RCMP building, and there's lots of house damage."

"You could see it coming from the west towards the east across the valley and then it just hit with extreme force and it just passed right over, and right now the sky is clearing," Ryckman said.

Winds had reached 96 kilometres per hour just after 6 p.m. in Creston before heading north to Cranbrook, where they were measured at up to 108 km/h, levels rare for the interior of the province.

Click the Image Above to Learn More About British Columbia's Changing Climate

Victorians Prepare to Leave Homes

Breaking Earth News

Photo: Business owners in the main street of Lakes Entrance prepare for floods earlier this week.Photo: Wayne Taylor

Australia

LAKES Entrance residents were warned last night to brace themselves as a king tide threatened to swamp the coastal town.
Amid fears that swelling floodwaters would be unleashed by the tide, the community of 4000 was told to prepare for evacuation and warned that a third of their town could go under water.

While most rivers swollen in recent rains have peaked and begun to recede, authorities fear that when the king tide enters the Gippsland Lakes system from the sea, it will push the floodwaters onto the town.
"In effect, the high tide is going to hold these waters in. They will have no chance to be released into the ocean," said SES spokesman Allan Briggs.

Heatwave and blaze take mounting toll on Greece

Greece

June 29, 2007

Hundreds of firefighters and troops on Friday battled forest fires on a mountain overlooking Athens as Greece's longest heatwave on record claimed three new victims.

Some 200 firefighters, 300 troops and 14 water-carrying aircraft battled two fire fronts in Mount Parnitha National Park which continued to burn after an overnight conflagration that covered many Athens suburbs in ash.
Blazes were raging in another nine locations around the country, but firefighters were gaining the upper hand in the majority of cases, the fire department said.

"We have never had so many fires (in three days)," said deputy government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros.
The fires broke out after a nine-day heatwave with temperatures of more than 40 C (104 F) described by authorities as the longest recorded in the country yet, and were fanned by strong winds.

Temperatures began rising beyond seasonal levels on June 19 and on June 26 the Athens Observatory recorded 44.8 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) at its Acropolis station, the highest since measurements began there 110 years ago.
"Such weather conditions are unprecedented in over 100 years," Antonaros said.

Tahoe wildfire's painful lessons

Lake Tahoe, California
THE WILDFIRE that quickly destroyed more than 200 houses near South Lake Tahoe hit home in the Bay Area in many painful ways.

Many of those homes were owned by Bay Area residents.

The chilling images of charred trees and cars and and lonely chimneys marking where homes used to stand were painful reminders of the Oakland Hills (2,500 homes) and Mount Vision (50 homes) fires.

And the breathtaking swiftness of the flames, driven by strong gusty winds, roaring through wooded neighborhoods parched by years of drought is a chilling reminder of what could happen here again.

Photo Above: A home owner cries as she sits in the remains of a home she rented in Meyers, Calif., that was completely destroyed, June 26, 2007. (Getty Images/Justin Sullivan)
View Photo Gallery

RELATED VIDEO-CLICK THE ARROW TO VIEW

Prince Charles visits flood-hit region

Breaking Earth News
Great Britain
Photo: A police officer directs residents carrying sandbags in Bentley


The Prince of Wales is visiting people caught up in the floods in South Yorkshire as the region braces itself for more heavy rain over the weekend.

He was visiting Catcliffe in Rotherham and Doncaster to meet flood victims and emergency services as the clean-up continued across the region.

Hundreds of homes remain flooded with the village of Bentley near Doncaster still badly affected.

Three hundred people from the area spent the night in emergency shelters.

Hurricane Wind Hits Bulgaria's Coastal Burgas, Resort Plunged in Darkness

Bulgaria
Photo: A stormy wind and pouring rain raged in the town of Burgas, on the Southern Black Sea coast, late on Saturday. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)

June 24, 2007
Gale-force winds and pouring rain raged in the town of Burgas, on the Southern Black Sea coast, late on Saturday, uprooting trees and blocking roads.

Rescue teams of the Civil Defense agency worked all night long to fix the damages, whose cost is yet to be estimated.

Four cars were smashed out of recognition by the falling trees, while dozens of districts were left without electricity.

The storm caused a breakdown in the electricity supply to the coastal resort of Sunny Beach and plunged it into darkness for twenty minutes.

Major Forest Fire Threatens Athens Suburbs

Breaking Earth News
Photo: The flames on Mount Parnitha could be seen from Athens


Athens, Greece: Greek firefighters are battling a major forest fire which has threatened the suburbs of the capital, Athens.

The blaze, on the slopes of Mount Parnitha, is being contained, officials say, but a huge plume of black smoke is towering over the city.

Electricity pylons, exploding after a record heatwave, have sparked some of the fires, but arson is also suspected.

The fire near Athens is one of more than 100 blazes which have broken out across Greece in the last few days.

RELATED CONTENT

Rain Continues to Plague Flooded Texas

Breaking Earth News
Texas, USA

Photo: Floodwaters are seen near U.S. Hwy 281 Thursday June 28, 2007, as heavy rains move through the San Antonio area. In San Antonio, there were 52 street closures and 43 calls for high-water rescues, although it's unclear how many people were rescued, said Sandy Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for San Antonio's Emergency Operations Center. (Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News/AP Photo)

More rain fell Thursday in flood-weary parts of Texas, where evacuations were under way and residents were bracing for even more of the constant downpours that have killed 11 people in recent days.

Officials reported calls for dozens of rescues in San Antonio, and hundreds of people were being ordered to leave their homes near the bloated Brazos River in North Texas.

In North Texas, rains continued falling west of Fort Worth, and evacuations of about 300 homes were ordered in Parker County as the Brazos River began creeping into some backyards.

Australia floods engulf towns after long drought

Breaking Earth News
Photo: A neighbor checks a friend's house in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, on Friday.

MELBOURNE, Australia - The worst floods in decades swept across parts of Australia's drought-parched southeast Friday, engulfing farms and towns and forcing hundreds of people to abandon homes and businesses.

Several rivers in the Gippsland region of southeastern Victoria state north of Melbourne burst their banks late Thursday after two days of heavy rain following months of severe drought.

Police helicopters airlifted about 100 people to safety from several flooded towns Thursday, and Victoria's Premier Steve Bracks warned residents downstream to brace for an onslaught Friday.

Story continues

Europe suffers in extreme weather

Breaking Earth News
European Continent

Dozens of people across southern Europe have perished in a blistering heatwave. Greece authorities said that the LONGEST HEATWAVE IN THE COUNTRY'S HISTORY had killed five people, but media said the death toll was at least ten people. “The weather conditions have been UNPRECEDENTED, we have never had a heatwave lasting for eight straight days.” Athens on Tuesday registered heat up to 46.2C (115.16) in the western district of Nea Filadelfia, the HIGHEST SINCE RECORDINGS THERE BEGAN in 1955. Dozens of wildfires have broken out in rural areas of northern, southern and central Greece and threatened homes before being brought under control. In Romania, the weather-related death toll climbed to 30 after a violent storm lashed the south of the country.



HEAT/DROUGHT/WILDFIRES

The heatwave has killed at least 35 people in parts of southeast Europe and hit wildlife and crops, from the humble toad in Greek lagoons to grain across the region, while fruit is ripening weeks early in Italy. Greece is experiencing its WORST HEATWAVE IN 110 YEARS that has already killed eight people, with temperatures reaching 46 Celsius (114.8 Fahrenheit) during five days of sweltering weather that showed no signs on Wednesday of letting up. In southern Italy, after the HOTTEST SPRING IN NEARLY TWO CENTURIES, this year's harvest of grapes and other fruit and vegetables is expected to be as much as a month earlier than usual, at the beginning of August. The heat is "literally cooking" Sicilian lemons on the trees, while watermelons, peppers, courgettes, peaches and tomatoes are also at risk. Greece's flora and fauna are suffering and environmentalists warned the scorching temperatures could have a long-term effect on animal populations and plants. "Birds, now in their nesting period, laying eggs in exposed nests are at a very high risk. The eggs are overheating if left uncovered so birds have to remain on the eggs for much longer." Swallows are having problems finding mud for their nests, forcing them to travel further in search for their building material while frogs, toads and salamanders are seeing their habitats dry up, shortening their life span and affecting in turn those animals who feed on them. "These are all linked to each other. With the frog and toad populations dropping, birds who feed on them have problems finding food as they stay in Greece until the autumn." Greece's unusually mild winter, coupled with a warmer than normal May and the current June heatwave, has already triggered changes that could be here to stay. Fish stocks in rivers and lakes are dropping as water is pumped out for agricultural use due to a lack of rain, threatening a rare Greek otter which feeds on them. "Flowers above the treeline on Mount Olympus that start blossoming in May have already competed their cycle, far too early. Among those are several rare, indigenous flowers." "This weather creates a web of problems that will have long-term effects if it persists or if it reoccurs in the coming years." A drought in southeast Europe has already threatened grain crops in countries including Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, where the Anatolian news agency quoted the head of a big cooperative as predicting a 50 percent drop in this year's cotton crop.

Johannesburg wakes up to first snow in over 20 years

South Africa

June 27, 2007

Johannesburg residents woke up to a winter wonderland for the first time in over 20 years Wednesday as snowfall blanketed vast tracts of South Africa.
Semi-tropical gardens in affluent areas of the City of Gold were topped with a powdery dusting of white crystals as residents reminisced about the last time they could make a snowball sometime in the early 1980s.
Heavier snowfall was reported in more southerly parts of the country. Several mountain passes in Eastern Cape province were declared impassable as snow continued to fall and roads in the hilly Midlands area of KwaZulu-Natal province were also closed, cutting off at least one town.

Snow

The last time it snowed in Johannesburg was on September 10, 1981. On top of the snow this week, a highly unseasonal and thunderous hailstorm had lashed the area on Tuesday night.

Canadian rash of tornadoes 'unusual'

Canada

Photo: Manitoba tornado on June 23 taken by viewer John Raymond

June 26, 2007

While it is tornado season in Canada, weather experts say the sudden rash of twisters touching down in the West is highly unusual.
A funnel cloud was spotted Monday over Richmond, B.C., while another tornado east of Calgary destroyed a barn and downed a power line that electrocuted a horse in a barbed-wire pen on the property.
On the weekend, residents in Manitoba were terrorized by a series of twisters that ripped through the province in less than 24 hours.
"The fact that you've got almost a year's worth of tornadoes in less than 24 hours is unusual in that extent," Environment Canada's David Phillips told CTV.ca Tuesday.

BIGGER STORMS ARE ON THE WAY

View of the Rose and Crown pub after heavy rainfall caused flooding in Beverley, North East Yorkshire, England, Monday June 25, 2007. Much of Britain was battered by rainstorms, which were expected to dump as much as three inches (75 millimeters) of rain on a country already soggy from an exceptionally wet June, Britain's weather office said. At one point on Monday afternoon, the country's Environment Agency had issued 38 flood warnings. (AP Photo/Owen Humphreys,PA)
» More images

United Kingdom

"Unprecedented weather event" Say Weather Forecasters
FLOOD-battered Britain is on alert for further chaos and loss of life this weekend as fears grow that more heavy downpours are on the way.
Forecasters say an “organised band of persistent showers” is set to sweep the country on Friday and Saturday, bringing several more inches of rain to many already-­saturated regions.The worst of the deluge, expected on Saturday morning, could cause flooding on a national scale, with heavy rainfall likely to hit “almost anywhere”. Experts warned that many waterlogged areas were seriously at risk, as the water now has nowhere to go.There are already 245 areas across the country considered to be at risk of flooding after weeks of rain culminated in Monday’s unseasonal downpour.

Pakistanis and Indians struggle to help storm victims

Pakistan
June 27, 2007

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani rescue workers struggled on Wednesday to reach villagers, some stranded in trees, after a cyclone hit the coast, while in India, snakes and scorpions hampered efforts to help storm victims.
Early rainy season storms in South Asia have killed nearly 400 people since late last week and more bad weather for at least parts of the region was on the way, weather officials said. Up to 60,000 people in the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan were affected by a cyclone that hit on Tuesday, killing at least 17 people.
"The situation is out of our hands, it's out of control. The entire town has been inundated and people have taken refuge in tall buildings and trees," Rauf Rind, the mayor of the town of Kach, told Reuters by telephone.

Related News

Cyclone Alert

New cyclone building up in Bay of Bengal

ISLAMABAD: A new cyclone is building up in the Bay of Bengal south of Calcutta in India that could cause more flooding in coastal areas of Pakistan, Chief Meteorologist Shaukat Awan said in a televised interview here on Wednesday.

Romanian state of emergency as drought affects half the country

Romania

June 27, 2007

At least thirty of the 42 counties in Romania have been put on a state of emergency by the Romanian government following weeks of severe drought. Twenty four people have died as the temperatures have soared to a scorching 45 degrees Celsius.Some 1.7 million hectares of cereal crops have been destroyed throughout the country, according to Mediafax, a Romanian News Agency, making this the third consecutive year that Romania has faced a severe natural disaster. 'We need to think about the long-term effects of the drought for the coming winter. Our first focus is on children – ensure water supplies and hydration during the hot season and on people's households to protect them and support them keeping their animals. Together with communities in all WVR ADPs we shall continue working on disaster preparedness plans which we started to work on since the beginning of the year', said Mr. Eugen Borlea – WVR Relief Manager.

Scorching heat, floods wreak havoc across Europe

Photo: A house is flooded due to heavy rain in Bruzaholm, southern Sweden. Dozens of people across southern Europe have perished in a blistering heatwave while storms whipped the north of the continent and floods claimed four lives in Britain, officials said Wednesday.(AFP/SCANPIX/Mikael Fritzon)

June 27, 2007

ATHENS (AFP) - Dozens of people across southern Europe have perished in a blistering heatwave while storms whipped the north of the continent and floods claimed four lives in Britain, officials said Wednesday.

In Greece, authorities said that the longest heatwave in the country's history had killed five people, but media put the toll at at least 10.
"The weather conditions have been unprecedented, we have never had a heat wave lasting for eight straight days," development ministry general secretary Nikos Stefanou told private Flash Radio.
Athens on Tuesday registered temperatures of up to 46.2 degrees Celsius (115.16 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest since recordings there began in 1955, the national weather service said.

Disruption continues after floods

U.K.
June 27, 2007
Photos: Flooding Aftermath



Roads remain closed and hundreds of families are in temporary shelter after floods swept through England.
Flood water is continuing to rise in some areas and more showers are predicted, but forecasters say there will be no repeat of Monday's deluge.
The floods, which were most severe in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands, have claimed four lives.
The Association of British Insurers says the overall cost of the floods will run into hundreds of millions.

California wildfire in new surge

Breaking Earth News

California, USA



Firefighters trying to contain a raging wildfire in California have suffered a setback, after the blaze jumped a defence line forcing hundreds to flee. The authorities have warned that strong winds forecast for the Lake Tahoe area today could fan the flames. The wildfire has so far destroyed 200 homes and forced 1,000 people to leave. Meanwhile, damp, cooler weather has also helped contain a wildfire on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. The blaze south of Anchorage has spread across 90 square miles (233sq km) and destroyed more than 80 homes


WILDFIRES/HEAT

UTAH - Fire restrictions in effect after early season rash of wildfires - Dry vegetation, soaring temperatures and the approach of the traditional fireworks season have promoted fire officials to issue extreme fire restrictions.

COLORADO - Wildfires near oil and gas drilling operations are raising concerns. The Cottonwood Creek fire near Parachute last week burned within 200 yards of gas wells. It was a stark reminder that the proliferation of mountain hideaway homes isn't the only booming development that's added to the challenge of wild land firefighting in recent years. Western Colorado's energy industry has set up natural gas wells and pipelines in many remote areas where wildfires are a threat. Fire manager for the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit says there are not a lot of rules yet on how to deal with this threat.

More Deaths as Southeast Europe Sizzles

Breaking Earth News

European Continent

FOUR more Romanians have died from a heatwave gripping parts of southeast Europe, raising the region's death toll from the past few days to at least 30.

Turkey's western regions reduced working hours for state officials and authorities urged the elderly and children to stay at home, out of the heat.

In Greece, where the scorching weather has killed five people in the past two days, air conditioning systems working flat out pushed energy consumption towards an all-time high, and state offices closed early at noon to conserve power supplies.

Temperatures soared to 46C in some parts of the country on Monday, and authorities expected the heatwave to continue for at least another three days, making this Greece's hottest June ever.

Freak Storm Hits South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA - June 26: Violent storms which lashed the province Monday night have left more than 500 people homeless in the city of Cape Town and carpeted the mountain ranges with snow. Gugulethu and Lwandle near Strand were hit hardest, with heavy flooding. Wind and flood damage displaced 500 people in the Lotus informal settlement in Gugulethu and 20 in Lwandle. Flooding also drove out 14 residents of Du Noon. The severe weather conditions stem from a cold front which swept in off the Atlantic. The cold front wreaked havoc across greater Cape Town with heavy rainfall and blustery conditions causing flooding, power cuts and extensive damage. (VIDEO)

Cold Front Brings Snow
In Sutherland, Allistar Gibbons, of the Karoo Hoogland tourism office, reported this morning: "It's snowing as we speak!"The mountains are totally covered in snow. And the pass you use to get to us, Verlatenkloof Pass on the R354 from Matjiesfontein, is completely blocked. The police have just informed us that it's unsafe for vehicles because of the heavy snow."The temperature dropped to just above freezing on Monday night and the Cape Town Weather Office predicted a maximum of just 4?C for Sutherland on Tuesday.

RELATED ARTICLE

Torrential Rains,Winds Pummel Victoria Area

Breaking Earth News

Gippsland, Australia

Residents of East Gippsland in Victoria are facing one of the biggest floods in years, as a big low pressure system dumps rain from Mallacoota through to the Latrobe Valley.
The weather bureau is predicting rain tallies up to 200 millimetres of rain and driving snow in the high country.
The bureau is warning wind gusts of more than 50 knots (close to 100 kilometres an hour) are expected from Mallacoota through to Wilson's Promontory.
Heavy rain is expected to fall for the rest of the day.
Janice Fowler, at the coastal resort of Loch Sport, says her seaside home is being battered by the gale.
"I'm sitting on a chair looking out the window I have never seen any ocean so rough," she said.
"I'm 155 metres from the water and it is horrific today - white water nearly as far as you can see - absolutely horrific."



Audio Presentation posted at Earth Frenzy Radio Blog

Deadly Floods Force Thousands From Homes

Photo: Catcliffe near Sheffield is under water after heavy rain. Residents have left the village amid fears a nearby dam could collapse.

U.K.

June 26, 2007

Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes amid severe flooding across England and Wales that is now believed to have claimed four lives.

About 900 people are using emergency shelters in Sheffield, and about 700 have left villages near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, amid fears the nearby Ulley dam could collapse.

Map of affected areas

Thousands flee as cyclone hits Pakistan coast

Pakistan

June 26, 2007

Associated Press
QUETTA, Pakistan – Ten people drowned and thousands fled to higher ground today as a tropical cyclone lashed Pakistan's coastline with heavy rains and high winds, officials said.
Navy ships rescued 75 people from four foundering vessels and were searching for more boats caught in the rough seas, said navy spokesman Lt.-Com. Salman Ali.
Cyclone Yemyin hit parts of the coastline of Baluchistan province at about noon today with winds of up to 90 kilometres an hour, said Qamaruz Zaman, director-general of the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
Rain-swollen rivers flooded several coastal districts, killing at least 10 people, including four children, said Raziq Bugti, spokesman for the provincial government.
Floods washed away some bridges and part of the main coastal highway, causing lengthy traffic delays. Hundreds of villagers clutching possessions filed past on foot.
In the hills, spillways were opened to release the water pressure on two dangerously full dams, Bugti said.

Extreme Flooding In Oklahoma, Texas

Breaking Storm News

Oklahoma, Texas-USA

OKLAHOMA CITY - Residents in parts of Texas and Oklahoma braced for more storms Wednesday, a day after heavy flooding led to the dramatic rescue of stranded motorists and the death of a teenager.

In central Texas, emergency officials received multiple reports Wednesday of people trapped in fast moving water atop vehicles, on roofs or clinging to trees. Emergency crews responded by land, air and boat.

The Oklahoma City area received about an inch of rain in 24 hours, bringing the city's annual total to 28.03 inches — about 10 inches above normal. The downpour was expected to continue Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Photo Above: Oklahoma City firefighter Cpl. Brent Koeninger, right, pulls 16-year-old Lauren Penn out of a car on a flooded road in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, June 26, 2007. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

RELATED RAW VIDEO: Click the Arrow to View

Video: The European Heatwave

Deadly flu virus mutatiing rapidly

Pandemic Alert

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is mutating unpredictably and at a rapid pace, a senior WHO official has warned Asia Pacific health ministers.

Source: earthfrenzyradio.blogspot.com

NowPublic

Europe hit by killer heatwave and floods

Breaking Earth News Update
European Continent

A searing heatwave has killed at least 44 people across southern Europe while in Britain torrential rain claimed three lives and forced hundreds to flee a creaking dam.

Twenty-nine deaths have been blamed on the heat in Romania where temperatures on Tuesday hit 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), four in Greece, three each in Italy and Albania and at least five in Bosnia, Croatia and Turkey.

Bucharest was Europe's hottest capital on Tuesday with temperatures at 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) but a heat alert was sounded for much of the south of the country.

Ambulance services were besieged with calls to help people fainting in the street, officials said. Fourteen people have died from the heat in the city over the past week, according to authorities who have set up more than 30 first aid tents in Bucharest alone to cope with the casualties.

Police have been handing out water in the street and the health ministry has warned the elderly and those with debilitating illnesses not to go out during the day.

Too little, too late: Gore blames scientists for climate crisis

Published: 24 June 2007

In an extraordinary outburst aimed at America's failure to tackle global warming, Al Gore says that if scientific agreement on the climate crisis had been reached sooner it would have been easier to "galvanise the public and persuade Congress to act".

The former presidential candidate claims that the stronger scientific consensus he knew was about to emerge meant "we in the US were about to shift into high gear in addressing the climate crisis". Mr Gore argues that if he had made it to the White House, he would have been able to use the office as a "bully pulpit" to achieve change.

"The nature and severity of the climate crisis had seemed painfully obvious to me for quite a long time," claims Mr Gore, writing in a new foreword to a revised edition of his book, Earth in the Balance, being published this week.

In a swipe at the scientific community, he says: "I wish that we could have had in the 1990s the deafening scientific consensus that has emerged in more recent years."

Mr Gore accuses his nemesis, President George Bush, of having taken "virtually no steps to address the problem. Worse, he and Vice President Cheney have led the nation in precisely the wrong direction."

He goes on to detail how the Bush administration reversed a pledge to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant, pulled out of negotiations on the Kyoto treaty and replaced key scientific advisers with ones suggested by oil giant ExxonMobil.

Texas storms cause flooding, damage buildings

Texas, USA
June 25, 2007
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Rainstorms accompanied by high winds swept across Texas on Monday, flooding streets, swelling creeks to near flood stage and damaging buildings.

Storms in North Texas were dropping five centimetres of rain an hour Monday afternoon.

In Rhome, about 40 kilometres northwest of Fort Worth, straight-line winds blew over fences, damaged roofs and sent a metal pole crashing through the roof of one building, said Susan Gomez, a spokeswoman for the Wise County Sheriff's Department

Sustained rainfall over the last month has left the ground saturated and parts of North, Central and East Texas are at high risks of flash flooding. The severe weather shows no sign of letting up, with chances of rain and thunderstorms as high as 90 per cent in some parts of Texas today.

More rain is bringing another week of mild weather. "This is a RARE event. We are more in a mode representative of May or September. This year is pretty special." The rains are causing much more green plant growth than is usual for this time of year, helping to lower temperatures.

Flooding Chaos in the U.K.

Breaking Earth News U.K.
Torrential rain swept across Britain yesterday bringing flooding, tornados and death on the wettest June day on record.

Hundreds of shoppers and office workers were last night stranded by rising waters in the Meadow Hall area of Sheffield as rescue helicopters were airlifting to safety those in most need. One of those trapped described cars floating down the road outside as floodwaters swelled by four feet in a matter of minutes.

In Humberside, hundreds of motorists were marooned on the main route into Hull as floodwater and stranded cars blocked the A63 into the city. Motorists and lorry drivers were standing in the road and sitting on their vehicles in the five-mile tailback in the South Cave area.

Related News

Some parts of Britain had an entire month's worth of rain just in a few hours. The floods could cost the economy millions of pounds, as workers would likely turn up late at work in the coming days, if they manage to make it at all, due to disruptions on transport networks. The number of people in bad trouble was continuing to rise through the evening as reports came in of thousands of people being without power. Elsewhere in Britain rivers broke their banks, flooding roads and homes from Devon in southwest England, to Yorkshire in the north.

PHOTO SHOW

Flood devastation in South Asia

Breaking Earth News
Asia
INDIA, PAKISTAN & AFGHANISTAN - are struggling to cope with the effects of three days of rain that left 350 dead. There are warnings that more bad weather - a cyclone and heavy winds - is imminent. More than 140 have been killed in the rains in India. There have also been a number of deaths in Afghanistan. A landslide in northern Afghanistan struck a wedding party, killing six children. Much of Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi - where 200 died - is still without power and water. Officials have been evacuating residents from shanty towns in Karachi, where badly built homes collapsed or were washed away by the torrential rain. In just one area of the city, Gadap in the north-west, more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed. For weeks before the weekend floods, Karachi had been hit hot weather and power cuts, leading to protests and rioting. The army has been asked to help evacuate people from coastal areas. Winds of up to 40 nautical miles an hour are predicted for the coastline of Pakistan. Fishermen have been told to stay on land because of the dangers of three-metre high waves. In India, the flood situation remains grim in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu and Orissa have been put on alert.
More Photos

Toronto to broil during three-day heat wave

Breaking Earth News

Toronto, Canada

A heat alert has been issued for Toronto as the city is expected to bake under a hot sun and sweat through a muggy air mass over the next three days.
The mercury was expected to rise to 32C on Monday, but the humidity would make it feel more like 37C. The record high was 37C, set in 1952, CTV's Tom Brown reported.
A smog advisory was issued by the Ontario government, meaning pollutants from the U.S. and Ontario sources will accumulate and react with sunlight to form photochemical smog.

Stricken Pakistan braces for possible cyclone

Breaking Earth News

Pakistan

Cyclone Alert

KARACHI (AFP) - Pakistan evacuated thousands of people from southern coastal areas ahead of a possible cyclone, two days after a storm killed at least 235 people in the port city of Karachi, officials said.

The meteorological department issued an alert saying that a tropical storm forming in the Arabian Sea 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Karachi was likely to intensify into a cyclone in the next six to 12 hours.
The new storm was expected to bring strong winds with "heavy to very heavy rainfall" in Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, and neighbouring Baluchistan province, it said on its website. Photo Above: A Pakistani woman looks for shelter during heavy rain, June 25, 2007

Extreme weather hits Europe

Europe
June 22, 2007

EUROPE was experiencing mixed weather this past week. Southern areas are baking in a heatwave while the west has been hit by heavy rainstorms that have killed two Austrians. Temperatures in Istanbul, the capital of Turkey in southern Europe are above seasonal norms. The scorching heat has started to affect daily life in the city. The heatwave has already killed 19 people in southern Europe and emergency service phone lines are running hot. Over in western Europe, Germany has been drenched by a heavy rain storm leading to widespread floods. People have been forced to wade through deep floodwaters and push their vehicles out of the water. And in Austria, a sudden storm mixed with heavy rain killed two people in the capital of Vienna. Hail fell in some areas across Austria, stalling regional train services and leading to power outages and many traffic accidents.

RELATED VIDEO: CLICK THE ARROW TO START

Monsoon Havoc Continues in India

Breaking Earth News
Photo: MONSOON WOES: A sick person being taken to hospital in flood waters in Mumbai on Sunday.

NEW DELHI: Heavy rain lashed most parts of the country on Sunday with the southern and central parts bearing the brunt of monsoon fury. The death toll in flash floods and house collapses was over 130.
Torrential rain hit Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai and its neighbouring areas, and Karnataka. There was little respite in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, where monsoon has been active over the past week.
Thundershowers are expected to hit Delhi and adjoining areas in the next two days. With the temperature and humidity levels rising considerably, the southwest monsoon is expected to arrive in the Capital between June 29 and July 2, according to the Meteorological Department.

Freak storm lashes Penang

Rough weather: Large waves hitting two people by the sea at Tanjung Tokong, Penang.

Malaysia

June, 2007

Last Tuesday, UNUSUALLY strong winds wreaked havoc in Penang and parts of Kedah, toppling trees, blowing off roofs, capsizing boats and forcing four flights to be diverted from the international airport in Bayan Lepas. The winds peaked at Bayan Lepas at 43 knots per hour while it reached 32 knots per hour in Alor Star. The normal wind speed at these places is between five and 20 knots per hour. Giant waves of up to 2m high hit the sea wall at the Esplanade in George Town before pounding onto cars parked along the road. Some tiles and a metal railing along the sea wall were dislodged by the might of the waves. A 10m stretch of the concrete path near the Astaka Medan Renong food court there was broken by the pounding waves. At Pantai Bersih in Butterworth, fishermen said 3m-high waves caused more destruction than the 2004 tsunami, with 14 boats damaged compared to one during the tsunami. At least four of the five restaurants along the beach were damaged by the waves. In Kedah, five fishermen from a boat that capsized 2km off Tanjung Dawai were rescued, while two more fishermen had to be rescued from a capsized fishing boat off Batu Ferringhi on Penang island.

Freak Waves/Unusual Tides
MALDIVES - Last week was the second time in six weeks the Maldives has experienced extensive flooding. Sea wall defences, constructed for millions of dollars, have been destroyed on islands in both cases. And on Wednesday, the 20th, the entire population of seventy three islanders on Hathifushi in Haa Daal had to be evacuated. High seas and rains flooded over thirty islands in the north of the Maldives in three days, the affected atolls have reported no further flooding since Thursday. Every inhabited island in Haa Aliff was flooded at some point last week. Raa is the most recently effected atoll with eight islands flooded on Thursday by rainwater alone, without waves breaking onto the islands.

Flash floods as weather wreaks havoc

United Kingdom
June 24, 2007
A North town centre was cut off by flash floods as torrential rain hit the region yesterday.
Elsewhere in the region the astonishing downpour flooded roads and caused a soggy start to the Hoppings fair in Newcastle.
It was left to the stout-hearted to brave the conditions, which are expected to continue this week. Forecasters predicting the equivalent of a month's worth of rain - 7.5cm (3in) - will fall in the next 24 hours.

Flooding has also caused problems on the railways, disrupting the journeys of thousands of passengers.

Firefighters Battle Massive Lake Tahoe Wildfire

Breaking Earth News

Photo: The charred remains of a bathtub, foreground, rests among the debris of a destroyed home along with two other destroyed homes, background, in Meyers, Calif.,

MEYERS, Calif. - A growing army of firefighters launched an aggressive attack Monday to corral a forest fire that had destroyed at least 220 homes in less than a day and forced about 1,000 people to flee neighborhoods near the southern edge of Lake Tahoe.

The fire, believed to be caused by human activity, had charred nearly 2,500 acres — nearly 4 square miles — since it started Sunday afternoon. No injuries were reported.
It was less than 10 percent contained Monday morning, said Lt. Kevin House of the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department.
"This is far and above the biggest disaster that has happened in this community, I don't know, probably in forever," House told reporters in an early morning briefing.

RELATED VIDEO: CLICK THE ARROW TO BEGIN

Karachi storms kill 228

Pakistan

Photo: Low-lying neighbourhoods were submerged after 17.7 millimetres (0.7 inches) fell on the city from Saturday.

June 24, 2007

Storms and torrential rain have killed more than 200 people in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi, a provincial minister said yesterday, and left angry residents without power.
"Now the total number of those killed because of rain is 228," provincial Health Minister Sardar Ahmad said. "These deaths are caused by electrocution, falling trees, house collapses and road accidents."
More bad weather is forecast for Pakistan and neighbouring India, where dozens have died after prolonged downpours across the country in the last few days. Aid workers and military helicopters in India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh were battling yesterday to provide food for 200,000 people displaced by monsoon floods.
Karachi residents hurled stones at passing cars and power company vehicles and burned tyres in protest at the power outage affecting most of the country's commercial hub.

Alaska Wildfire Rages Out of Control

Alaska, USA

June 22, 2007

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A blitzkrieg of fires burning on the Kenai Peninsula and in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough continued to spread uncontrollably throughout the day Thursday, state fire officials said.

The fire season is off to an early start again this year, due in part to light snowfall during the winter and dry, hot conditions around the state this month.
Tankers containing retardant were diverted from the Caribou Hills Fire — which had more than quadrupled in size throughout the day to nearly 10,000 acres — burning about 30 miles north of Homer to the Susitna Valley because of the number of fires burning there.

Heat Wave Blamed for Deaths in Europe

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - June 23, Southeastern Europe baked under soaring temperatures Friday, with nearly 30 deaths across the region blamed on the year's first major heat wave. Electricity supplies, particularly in Greece and Albania, were strained as air conditioning use spiked.
Temperatures reached 104 degrees in Athens on Friday, with a top recorded temperature of 113 degrees on the island of Rhodes, according to state NET television.
Romania was particularly hard hit. Nineteen people have died of heat-related causes in the past few days, including 14 in the capital, Bucharest, the country's Health Ministry said.

Temperatures in parts of the country are expected to reach 109.4 degrees this weekend, some of the highest temperatures since the record-breaking summer of 1987, when hundreds of people died due to the heat.

Torrential Rains Lash China

Image Above: Concentric ovals of red, orange, yellow, and green are draped over southern China, showing rainfall totals for the week of June 4 through June 11, 2007. The rainfall totals are from the Goddard Space Flight Center Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis, which is based on rainfall measurements taken by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Though seasonal rains are not unexpected in the area, the rain that fell during the week was torrential and relentless. As the image shows, a broad stretch of China received up to 200 millimeters (8 inches) of rain, and some areas were inundated with up to 500 millimeters (20 inches). Floods and landslides resulted, destroying crops and forcing some 643,000 people from their homes, reported the Xinhua News Agency on ReliefWeb.

Breaking Earth News

China

Mumbai/Hyderabad, June 24: Torrential rains on Sunday lashed Karnataka and Maharashtra, throwing life out of gear while the situation improved in worst-hit Andhra Pradesh and Kerala even as the toll in these states mounted to over 130. Mumbai and its neighbouring areas bore the brunt of the monsoon’s fury, which claimed five lives since Saturday. The weather office said "heavy to very heavy" rains and gusty winds would continue to hit the metropolis. Several flights from Mumbai were delayed and rail traffic disrupted.
The monsoon continued to lash Karnataka, claiming six more lives and taking the toll in rain-related incidents in the state to 39.

Violent Tornado Hits Monitoba Town

Manitoba, Canada
Photo: Viewer Sara Tkachyk took this picture of the Elie Tornado from her farm, five miles north of Culross, Manitoba.

June 23, 2007
A tornado that obliterated at least four homes in a small Manitoba town has been classified as an F4 -- one of the most violent twisters possible.
Environment Canada meteorologists believe the twister that hit Elie, a community west of Winnipeg, had wind speeds of up to 417 kilometres per hour.
In addition to the destroyed homes in Elie, several houses were damaged, a few trucks were tossed into fields and powerful winds caused a transport truck to roll over into a ditch on the Trans Canada Highway.

Storm kills 45, floods villages in India

India

Photo: Children play football on a waterlogged street in Mumbai June 24, 2007. In India's financial capital, Mumbai, heavy monsoon rains flooded homes and streets where a century-old British-built drainage system failed to cope with the storm water.At least one person was killed when a wall collapsed. People waded through water in low-lying neighbourhoods. Media reports said about 50 people had died in the rains in the western state of Maharashtra -- of which Mumbai is the capital -- over the past three days. REUTERS/ARKO DATTA

HYDERABAD, India, June 23 (Reuters) - A ferocious storm in India's southern Andhra Pradesh state has killed at least 45 people and displaced tens of thousands, officials said on Saturday, sparking a major relief operation.
"We have opened up 95 relief camps ... for 56,000 displaced people and also brought in 200 medical teams to contain the spread of water-related diseases," said Preeti Sudan, the state's disaster management commissioner.
At least 45 people were reported dead and officials said many others, including fishermen out at sea, were missing after the tropical storm hit coastal regions of the state on Friday.

Flooding chaos as storms hit region

United Kingdom
Photo: STORMY WEATHER: Workmen carry pupils from Cockerton CE Primary School, in Darlington, to safety after flash flooding hit the town yesterday

June 23, 2007
WEATHER forecasters issued a three-day storm alert last night after freak weather brought flash floods to some parts of the North-East yesterday, while other areas remained sunny and dry.
The floods caused schools to be evacuated, roads to close, and power cuts across the region.
Fire crews had to pump out Durham Tees Valley Airport after its restaurant flooded, and lightning caused The Great North Air Ambulance's communication system to fail.

Cleanup continues after microburst

Colorado, USA

View Slideshow

June 22, 2007

DENVER - Cleanup continues Friday after a series of microbursts hit part of the metro area Thursday afternoon.
Microbursts are the hard hitting storms which caused damaged around Denver last night. In many areas trees were uprooted, cars damaged and most dramatic of all the roof of an animal clinic was ripped off.

Rising Seas to Destroy U.S. Beaches

Breaking Earth News

USA

A new study of the potential sand losses to North Carolina beaches reports that a 1-foot rise in sea level in the next 25 to 75 years (which is at the lower end of the range predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) would cause the coast to move inland by 2,000 to 10,000 feet and could cost an estimated $223 million in lost recreational value by 2080 to beach-goers in that state alone.
Predicting exactly how much beaches will shrink is impossible because beach erosion rates are highly variable, even between points that are only a few miles apart. The make-up of each beach's sand, the absence or presence of jetties and other man-made structures meant to retain sand, and offshore topography (which influences wave formation), all affect erosion rates.
But even with all the uncertainty, scientists say the future of our beloved sandy havens doesn’t look good.

Catch a falling star

Sri Lanka

Photo: Remains of the meteoroid.

June 10 - The strange objects that lit the night skies on June 10 have now been confirmed as meteors. “This is the FIRST TIME THAT METEORS OF SUCH MAGNITUDE HAVE FALLEN IN SRI LANKA.” The shockwaves and vibrations have been heard throughout the country, from Galle to Puttalam. A Senior Consultant believes that two large meteoroids entered the atmosphere, the larger one splitting into two and the smaller one into about 25 fragments. The loud explosions were some of the particles exploding, probably about 50 to 100 km above the ground. The PECULIARITY of this incident is that there was very little trace of the meteoroids even where extensive damage occurred, such as in Dehiwala. The meteoroid was travelling at such high momentum that all the particles must have dissolved or vaporised by the heat on impact. Residents of Andiambalama say that they had noticed UNUSUAL movement of the stars for about two weeks continually prior to the falling of the meteor. “We saw many shooting stars, the children started gathering at about 8 p.m. every night just to watch this." In Kovinna, Andiambalama, at 9.05 p.m. on the 10th, a woman had noticed something unusual in the western sky. A bright light, almost as large as the full moon, appeared to be moving towards her in a wide arc. Alarmed by thoughts of terrorist air attacks, she called out to her neighbour. Together they watched fearfully as the glowing object drew closer, landed on the roof and vanished completely. A few minutes later the air vibrated with a loud explosion. The next day they discovered that parts of the asbestos sheets on the roof were charred and cracked. A few pieces of rock and sand were scattered around the damaged area. Similar incidents were reported around the country that night. Several people in areas such as Puttalam, Maho and Bingiriya also noted the appearance of the bright light in the sky as well as the loud explosion. In Kimbulapitiya a woman watched a flaming object land on a house and heard the booming sounds soon afterwards. In Campbell Place, Dehiwala, the roofs of two buildings were damaged, and a loud noise was heard. “24 asbestos sheets were broken.”

In Photos: Devastating Landslide in South China

South China

June 21, 2007

A Chinese farmer stands among the ruins of his house after a landslide in Zhenxiong, South China's Yunnan Province, June 20, 2007. Hundreds of families were evacuated to safe places after the landslide destroyed their houses on Monday, Xinhua news agency said. More Photos

Mystery deepens over disappearing lake in Patagonia

This lake in Chile's Magallanes region was the size of 10 football fields before it mysteriously disappeared

Chile, S.A.

June 21, 2007

A lake in southern Chile has mysteriously disappeared, prompting speculation the ground has simply opened up and swallowed it whole.
The lake was situated in the Magallanes region in Patagonia and fed by water, mostly from melting glaciers.
It had a surface area of between four and five hectares (10-12 acres) - about the size of 10 soccer pitches.

Summer's first heat wave strains Greece's national electricity grid

Greece
June 20, 2007

Fears of power cuts rose Wednesday as the summer's first heat wave was set to push demand for electricity to record levels, officials said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, nationwide electrical demand was at 9,240 megawatts. Daily demand by early next week is expected to peak above 10,000 megawatts _ higher than the all-time single-day record of 9,961 megawatts recorded Aug. 21, 2006.Brief blackouts hit parts of Athens on Monday and the northern city of Thessaloniki on Tuesday, and power officials said further localized cuts would be unavoidable.

Temperatures in Athens reached 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday. By the weekend some parts of the mainland could reach 42 C (107.6 F), meteorologists said, peaking at 43 C (109.4 F) by Monday.Meteorologists said the conditions were worsened by southerly winds from the Sahara.

Video Presentation: The Eruption of Mount St. Helens

Pacific Northwest, USA
June 19, 2007

Click on the Arrow Until the Video Begins

Hawaii volcano imperils flora, fauna

Click on the Image Above to Enlarge


Hawaii, USA


June 21, 2007
The Associated Press
HONOLULU — A third large crack has formed on Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, park officials said Wednesday, and a forest that is home to rare plants and species could be in danger.
The fissure, spotted in an area a few miles southeast of Kilauea's summit, is near two others discovered since hundreds of small earthquakes were recorded in the area Sunday, suggesting that magma, or underground lava, was shifting beneath the surface.
The fissure was spewing steam, but was not oozing lava like the others did. Heat from the fissures could spark a fire, scientists said.

The area is home to honeycreeper birds, happy-face spiders and damselflies. There are also native trees and ferns found nowhere else in the state.
"This is a real vital part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It's a vital habitat," Gale said.
Scientists also detected hazardous sulfur dioxide concentrations near Kilauea's summit, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory.

RELATED NEWS

Tornado Skirts Arkansas Town

Arkansas, USA

June 21, 2007

Photos by Kaia Larsen

A tornado with 100 mph winds rattled through the area northwest of Van Buren at around noon Wednesday, displacing about 20 families and leaving damaged homes, broken windows, downed trees and power lines and a handful of grateful-but-nervous residents in its wake.A spokesman with the National Weather Service said preliminary analysis indicates the storm was a category EF-1, resulting in winds of about 100 mph. The NWS spokesman said the tornado cut a swath about 300 yards wide as it rolled across the hills just off Arkansas 59 North. He had no immediate information on its length. The storm was on the ground for about a minute, according to the NWS.

Fleeting storm drops rain, hail

Minnesota, USA

Photo: PHOTO CREDIT: Times photo by Jane Laskey, jlaskey@stcloudtime

Golf ball-sized hail fell Wednesday afternoon in Sartell.

June 21, 2007

A small, fast-moving storm dropped large hail and heavy rain Wednesday evening across Central Minnesota, sparking a series of weather warnings and causing some damage.
Vehicles, glass doors and vinyl siding were damaged by golf ball-sized hail in Sartell.

The storm seemed to come out of nowhere, showing up on radar minutes before heavy rains fell in the area. Hail fell in several areas.
In Chisago County, softball-sized hailstones broke windows, punched 3-inch holes into siding and ruined vehicles.

Freak winter is Europe's warmest for 700 years

NewScientist.com news service

June 20, 2007

Last autumn-winter season was Europe's WARMEST FOR MORE THAN 700 YEARS. The last time Europeans saw temperatures similar to those of the autumn and winter of 2006-07, they were eating strawberries at Christmas in 1289. European climate measurements and temperature records stretch back several hundred years to 1659. Estimating historical temperatures beyond then involves scrutinising contemporary documents and diaries. Separately the temperatures experienced during autumn 2006 and winter 2007 are likely to have been the warmest in 500 years. But the sequential combination of two such warm seasons is a still RARER event – probably the first since 1289. In that year, people in western and central Europe wrote accounts of what they viewed as EXTREMELY UNUSUAL events. "Documents report for instance that strawberries were eaten at Christmas, and the [vineyards] produced leaves, stock and even blossoms in the middle of January, and in Vienna fruit trees were flowering like in May. This was really extreme, so maybe it can be compared to today in western and central Europe." Similar UNUSUAL events have also been noticed in this recent warm period. For instance, hazel trees and snowdrops in Germany blossomed a full 30 days earlier than at any time in the last 50 years in spring 2007. And in 2006, horse chestnut trees in Switzerland blossomed twice instead of their usual once. "This is really an EXCEPTIONALLY RARE event." The 1289 temperatures may have been caused by a large volcanic eruption in the tropics. The warm autumn and winter in 2006-07 were due to warm air moving up from the Atlantic off the coast of North Africa.

Flood situation in Assam is very grim

Guwahati,India

June 20 (IANS)
Army and paramilitary troops have been put on standby in Assam as flash floods triggered by monsoon rains have displaced thousands of people. 'The overall flood situation is grim with all the rivers and their tributaries in full spate. We have asked the army and other security and civil agencies to be on standby to rescue marooned villagers as and when required." More than 20,000 people were displaced overnight in parts of eastern and southern Assam. 'About 170,000 people from 200 villages have been hit by the floods so far in five districts with a total land area of 7,000 hectares affected in the first wave of floods that began last week.' The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger level in at least 12 places in Assam, and still rising. The 2,906 km long Brahmaputra is one of Asia's largest rivers that traverses its first stretch of 1,625 km in China's Tibet region, the next 918 km in India and the remaining 363 km through neighbouring Bangladesh before converging with the Bay of Bengal. Every year, floods leave a trail of destruction, washing away villages, submerging paddy fields and drowning livestock, besides causing loss of human life and property. The monsoon was scattered in Assam last year thereby sparing millions of people from the ravaging floods.

Torrential Rains/ Floods

AUSTRALIA - Camden has already experienced its WETTEST JUNE IN 16 YEARS with 185.6 millimetres of rain recorded up to Monday, with more rain expected in the next week. 186.2mm of rain fell on Camden in June 1975. "This is a huge turnaround from June last year when only 50.6mm of rain was recorded in Camden for the entire month of June. In fact Camden could well be on target to record its highest annual rainfall in more than seven years with the total for the year to date already at 593mm and we are not even halfway through the year. The highest annual rainfall recorded in Camden over the past seven years was 669mm in 2005." Camden also experienced its COLDEST DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE in seven years last Thursday when the thermometer hit a daily high of 12.4 degrees. It dropped to minus 0.6 degrees at the day's coldest point.

Another 19 millimetres of rain has fallen across Mount Isa, in north-west Queensland, in the past 24 hours, bringing the RECORD TOTAL FOR THE MONTH to more than 100mm. The temperature has also plummeted to its LOWEST LEVEL IN 42 YEARS. Photo Above: Bridge closed: Macquarie Grove Bridge was littered with debris after it was flooded when the Nepean River rose more than 4.9 metres above normal levels on the weekend. The bridge was under more than a metre of water at one stage, and closed to traffic from Saturday to Sunday morning.

MALDIVES - Flooding has struck every inhabited island in the country’s northern-most atoll of Haa Alif, and several other islands in the north of the country. No loss of life or serious injury has been report but homes on several islands have been flooded out. Didhoo, the capital of Haa Aliff, is worst effected with at least seven homes flooded and two still submerged. Several people have been made homeless and the island’s water supply has been salinated. In Kulhudhuffushi, the capital of Haa Daal a large section of the harbour has been washed away. Flooding was first reported on Monday and intensified on Tuesday. The Maldives has been battered by wind and rain for over a week and there was no sign of improvement in the weather. Flood waters were reported in every inhabited island in Haa Alif on Monday. On Tuesday flooding was also confirmed in several Haa Daal islands. Miadhu reports over thirty islands have been effected, with flooding also reported in Raa and Shaviyani. Last month up to a hundred islands were flooded, mainly in the south, and the country is still assessing damage from those floods. Unlike in the May floods, this time resorts have been effected too. The flooding is not yet on the scale of early May, which was the worst flooding in the country’s history apart from the 2004 tsunami. But the situation could yet get worse. The MET Office is unable to provide medium or long range forecasts, but they say conditions will not improve for the next twenty four hours.

Cyclone stays at sea

Breaking Earth News

Australia

Photo: Wild storm: Massive waves pound the coal carrier Pasha Bulker at Nobbys Beach in Newcastle. Picture: Liam Driver

WIND gusted to 100km/h as 10m waves, pushed ashore by a cyclonic depression, pounded the NSW coast yesterday.But a forecast cyclone failed to eventuate, the worst of the depression centering about 50km out to sea and losing its cyclonic strength 10-20km off shore.

Fears of cyclonic wind and torrential rain sparked widespread alerts on Tuesday from the South Coast to the Hunter Valley, with residents warned to "batten down the hatches" for a category two cyclone.

Now the south suffers the wrath of tidal waves

Breaking Earth News

Malaysia

As the people of Penang cleaned up after a freak storm on Tuesday, residents at this fishing village felt the wrath of tidal waves across a one-kilometre stretch of coastline yesterday. The strong winds began at 10pm and broke into a storm at midnight. The villagers, who earn their living as traditional fishermen, had barely recovered their losses after the last floods and now had to put up with another disaster. One of the victims had depleted her savings rebuilding her kitchen after it was washed away in floods in December last year. Since wood is expensive, she made do with recycled wooden planks, taking three months to reconstruct the cubicle-sized kitchen and replace the gas stove, crockery and utensils. In the blink of an eye, her kitchen was gone once again. She was one of 30 families of Kampung Orang Asli Pontian Besar, who escaped by the skin of their teeth when the waves pummelled their homes. Her house was on stilts facing the Straits of Malacca. A decade ago their houses were not built on stilts and the village was bordered by mangrove swamps. In the past eight years, erosion has caused the entire swamp to disappear and only late last year the Drainage and Irrigation Department built a barrier to curb the erosion. "Without the swamp, our houses are directly facing the sea and there is nothing to protect us." The tidal wave struck during low-tide, which was a STRANGE PHENOMENON. "It was unexpected."

Drought Leaves over 1Million Short of Drinking Water

China

June 20, 2007

The worst summer drought to hit Northeast China's Liaoning Province in 30 years has left more than one million people short of drinking water, the provincial government has said.

Nearly all its 14 cities have been affected by the drought, though the situation is more serious in the northwestern and central-southern parts of the province where 88 small and medium-sized reservoirs have dried up, the provincial flood prevention and drought control headquarters said yesterday.

The drought has affected 1.27 million people, 473,800 head of cattle and 1.4 million hectares of cropland, it said.

The government has managed to transport water from humid areas in the eastern part of the province, but so far only 88,500 of the affected population have gained access to water ferried in by water wagons.

The provincial government has sent more than 500,000 workers to fight the drought, by digging extra wells and sending water wagons to the worst-hit areas. 20, 2007

Search for missing after New York floods

New York, USA

June 20, 2007

ROSCOE, N.Y. — At least two people were missing after flash floods in the southern edge of the Catskill Mountains.
Six to eight inches of rain fell in two hours late Tuesday night, sending flood waters surging and washing out roads. Roscoe's fire chief Steve Chesney told the Times Herald-Record of Middletown that several houses "were pushed around" by floodwaters. The downpour came as a series of storms tore through New York state on Tuesday, killing at least one person and leaving more than 3,000 electricity customers still without power Wednesday.

Activity of Kamchatka's erupting volcano continues growing

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, June 20 (Itar-Tass) - Kamchatka Peninsula's Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano that has been erupting since February 15 has shown signs of growing activity, sources at the regional affiliation of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences said.
About 00:00 hours local time Wednesday /11:00 hours GMT Tuesday/, the Klyuchevskaya Sopka ejected a spout of ash to the altitude of 9,000 or so meters. The spouting could not be observed visually, as the crater of Eurasia's largest active volcano is coated in dense clouds, but data from satellites confirmed that a trail of the spout spread 80 kilometers westwards at the altitude of about 7,000 meters.
Also, the fallout of ash precipitation was registered in the town of Kozyrevsk located 45 kilometers away from Klyuchevskaya Sopka.
Surveyors have registered 124 seismic events near the volcano since Tuesday morning, including volcanic tremor of up to 83.9 mkm per second.

Volcano
Hazardous Sulfur Dioxide Concentrations Measured at Kilauea Volcano
HVO scientists measured concentrations greater than 10 ppm in a broad area adjacent to Halema‘uma‘u crater. Sulfur Dioxide gas is persistently emitted at Kîlauea's summit. Typical concentrations are generally negligible except for areas downwind of Halema‘uma‘u crater, where they can get up to 2.5 ppm (parts-per-million) in narrow zones.
When sulfur dioxide concentrations greater than 1 ppm (equal to 1,000 parts per billion) are measured at the Jaggar museum or at the Kîlauea Visitor's Center, the buildings are closed and employees and visitors are advised to relocate to areas with cleaner air. See http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/parks/havoso2alert/havoalert.cfm .

Earth/Mankind in Imminent Peril from Climate Change, scientists warn

19 June 2007
LONDON - A group of US scientists have warned that a UN panel on climate change underestimated the scale of sea-level increases this century resulting from global warming, The Independent reported on Tuesday.
The six scientists cautioned that the Earth is in “imminent peril” in a 29-page article published in the July 15 issue of the ”Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A.”
“Recent greenhouse gas emissions place the Earth perilously close to dramatic climate change that could run out of control, with great dangers for humans and other creatures,” wrote the group led by James Hansen, the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
They predict in their paper, “Climate change and trace gases” that sea levels may rise by several metres by 2100, according to The Independent.
That compares to a forecast from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published in a February report that predicts sea levels increasing between 18 and 59 centimetres.
The other scientists involved in the paper were Makiko Sato, Pushker Kharecha and Gary Russell, also of the Goddard Institute, David Lea of the University of California at Santa Barbara and Mark Siddall of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in New York.

Flood warning as downpours forecast

United Kingdom

June 19, 2007

Thunderstorms and torrential downpours are expected across many parts of the UK.
Heavy rain will also bring the possibility of flash flooding, according to MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association.
The bad weather is most likely to hit areas away from coastal areas, especially in northern England, the Midlands and central Wales.
Forecaster Rachel Vince said thundery showers were expected to hit in southern England, Wales and the Midlands.
Persistent and heavy rain is also likely to move across Northern Ireland, northern England and the south of Scotland.

Rainy season may set record as latest ever

Breaking Earth News

Japan

The rainy season may set a record as the latest ever. Ever since weather officials announced the start of the Kanto region's rainy season last Thursday, people have been scratching their heads as they look up at blue skies. Central Tokyo had not seen any rainfall from Friday morning to Tuesday evening. Elsewhere in the region, the sun has stubbornly stayed out, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to consider revising the starting date. Officials said the unexpected spell of fine weather was due to a seasonal rain front that has remained inactive. But the front is expected to be active later this week, bringing some rain to the region. The latest start of the season so far was June 22, recorded in 1967.

BMG warns of high tidal wave in Arafuru waters

Breaking Earth News

JAKARTA (Antara): The Geophysics and Meteorology (BMG) warned Tuesday that high tidal wave would hit Arafuru waters, eastern Indonesia on Thursday and Friday.
"The tidal wave could reach three to four meters high," Arif Triyono of BMG Tanjung Perak, Surabaya said Tuesday.
Different pressure between northern Australia and eastern Indonesia was likely to cause the high tidal wave in Arafuru waters, he added.

FREAK WAVES/ HIGH TIDES

SOUTH AFRICA - The Red Bull Big Wave Africa 2007 surfing contest was postponed on Monday, the 18th. Some waves were solid 20 to 25-foot sets, but they were far from ideal for running the event. "It was really difficult out there. It was definitely the right decision not to go with the event. The waves were big, but WEIRD and coming from all directions." Tuesday morning (19 June) dawned with a marked drop in swell, to almost half the size of Monday, and the competition was called off again, in order to wait for the next storm.

Tensions rise as drought worsens, threatens to spread

Chicago Tribune

Jun. 18, 2007
ATLANTA - North and South Carolina are fighting over a river. In Tennessee, springs are drying up, jeopardizing production of Jack Daniels whiskey. The mayor of Los Angeles is asking residents to take shorter showers. And in Georgia, the governor is praying for rain.More than a third of the United States is in the grip of a menacing drought that threatens to spread before the summer ends.While much of the West has experienced drought conditions for close to a decade, the latest system is centered over Alabama and extends to much of the Southeast, heavily affecting Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, North and South Carolina and Virginia as well as parts of Arkansas and West Virginia

Climate change behind Darfur killing

Africa
June 18, 2007
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the slaughter in Darfur was triggered by global climate change and that more such conflicts may be on the horizon, in an article published Saturday.

News Source: Earth Frenzy Radio

Distributed by Skywatch-Media News

NowPublic

Severe Storms Flood Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Honduras, C.A.

June 17, 2007

In Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras, on Thursday, in a few minutes, the sky turned cloudy all of a sudden and it started to rain. Initially it did not seem like a big deal, but after a few minutes it turned into a very intense thunderstorm. The lightning blasts struck at the city and caused power outages in many places. In one hour of intense rain, many neighborhoods around the city began to flood as the streams overflowed. Tegucigalpa, being a city of many hills, was subject to water currents that quickly grew out of control as they went downhill. Several cars were almost totally covered by water and people had to be rescued. There were reports of a fallen wall of a school, and reports of houses being flooded and evacuated in several neighborhoods. The most damaged neighborhoods were the poor ones. By the end of the weekend, five people were reported dead as a result of these floods. Flash storms such as the ones on Thursday are QUITE UNUSUAL, even though floods which include deaths happen every once in a while. The lightning strikes on Thursday were AMONG THE LOUDEST HEARD. Honduras's weather has taken an UNUSUAL turn throughout the last couple of years. Before,Tegucigalpa was never too hot. However, there has definitely been an increase in the temperature in this city in the last four years. Today, in 2007, the temperature is in the 80's and the hot weather sometimes rises to uncomfortable levels.

Related News

New Zealand

The rain that pelted Taranaki on May 23 could have been the HEAVIEST EVER RECORDED IN THE REGION. "The intensity of that rainfall was ABSOLUTELY FREAKISH. The rainfall recordings up in the Wawhakaiho River were the HIGHEST EVER - and it all literally happened in half an hour. Not only that, but we think that the rainfall intensities up in the Kaitake and Pouakai ranges were even greater. It must have been a REALLY FREAK EVENT." The big, but short - four hour - rain storm caused severe localised flooding between Inglewood and Okato. "There were localised areas of very intense rainfall which produced extremely high, and in some cases UNPRECEDENTED, discharges. There was one report of 50mm of rainfall being recorded in 30 minutes." Major erosion damage was also caused. Archives May 23

Extensive Damage After Extreme Weather Hits Netherlands

Netherlands

June, 2007

The exceptionally heavy rain on Thursday night has caused damage around the country, with the Drenthe town of Hoogeveen particularly badly hit.
A spokesman for the national weather bureau (KNMI) said that ‘extremely heavy rain’ was generally defined as 160 mm per hour; Hoogeveen experienced 280 mm per hour. Two people were hurt and the council has set up a crisis team to inventarise the full extent of the damage locally.
South Holland province was also badly affected, with the fire service called out to 250 incidents, mainly flooded streets, tunnels, houses and cellars.

State bracing for worst storm

Stay indoors ... Severe storms are expected to hit the east coast tonight with the SES warning residents to brace themselves for 125km/h winds.

Roads closed after icy blast Weather updates

Breaking Earth News

Australia

Cyclone Alert

Emergency crews stand ready as residents of New South Wales coastal areas brace for what threatened to be the most dangerous of three major storms to hit the state this month. Cyclonic winds up to 125km/h and huge waves are forecast to batter the coastline from tonight and into tomorrow, starting at Moruya in the state's south and moving north. Forecasters warned of cyclone-strength winds whipped up by an intense low pressure system. The state already faces huge damage costs. "Estimates are that the damage bill will ultimately top $1 billion, larger than either the (1999) Sydney hailstorm or the (1989) Newcastle earthquake." The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service also announced the 24-hour closure of popular areas within national parks in the Blue Mountains area, west of Sydney. Following the rescue of backpacking campers during the earlier storms, bushwalkers have been advised to postpone all back-country travel until conditions improve. NSW Maritime was urging boat owners to secure their boats and stay off the water from later today. The dumping rain and violent storms were further evidence of a developing and hopefully drought-busting La Nina, a weather expert said.

Saskatoon soaked after record-breaking rainfall

Breaking Earth News

Canada

Photo: Dawn Bennett had 20 centimetres of water in the basement of her Dundonald Village home on MondayPhotograph by : Greg Pender, The StarPhoenix View More Photos

RECORD-BREAKING RAINFALL - REGINA -- Intense rain that pummelled Saskatoon and central Saskatchewan on Sunday and early Monday filled basements, strained sewer systems, washed out roads and left some farmers' fields impassable.

"It was very, very windy. Overnight, the wind was unbelievable. I know a lot of people were quite nervous about trees and that. We've got tree limbs that have fallen and debris all over the streets but it doesn't look like there was any large amount of damage," said administrator Shelley Funk, who said she had been contacted by nine homeowners with flooded basements.

Residents living near Calgary have been placed on notice after tributaries of the Bow River surged with as much as 70 millimetres of rain over the weekend. The deluge of rain across southern Alberta is BREAKING DECADES-OLD PRECIPITATION RECORDS. Springbank, northwest of Calgary, recorded a whopping 38 millimetres of rainfall over an 18-hour period by 6 p.m. Sunday night. The total BEAT THE PREVIOUS 110-YEAR-OLD RECORD of 29.5 millimetres set back in 1897. Calgary has already seen 149.2 millimetres of rain so far this June, which is normally the city's wettest month. "The normal for the entire month is 79.8 millimetres."

Flood Devastation Hits Texas Towns

Breaking Earth News
Photo: A firefighter walks through a pile of rubble caused by flood waters in Haltom City, Texas, June 18, 2007. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)

GAINESVILLE, Texas---- Torrential overnight rainfall flooded a handful of North Texas towns Monday, killing at least five people and stranding residents and their pets on the roofs of their homes. In Haltom City, a four-year girl died when waters swept her from her mother's arms. Forecasters estimate that at least 20 centimeters of rain fell in some areas. At times, the downpour was estimated at over two centimeters every 15 minutes.
Hardest hit were the towns of Sherman and Gainesville near the Oklahoma border. Most of the downtown area in Gainesville was flooded. Residents and rescuers navigated the waters in boats and jet skis to head to safety.

RELATED VIDEO
CLICK THE ARROW BUTTON UNTIL VIDEO BEGINS

Flash floods, landslides hit SW China

CHENGDU, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain since Saturday have left eight people dead,64 injured and more than three million people affected in and around Dazhou City, in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a local official said on Monday.

Photo: A man tries to climb to a floodgate to unlock the valve to sluice in Zijin County of south China's Guangdong Province on Saturday.

Landslides

Flash floods kill 22 in Pakistan

Flash flooding caused by torrential rain and thunderstorms struck several villages in mountainous north-western Pakistan, leaving at least 22 people dead

Kilauea quakes may herald lava breakout, scientists say

Click the Image to Enlarge
Hawaii, USA

June 18, 2007

HILO, Hawai'i — Hundreds of small earthquakes that suggest magma is on the move under the surface of Kilauea Volcano sent scientists and national park officials scrambling yesterday, and prompted the rare closure of most of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.
Eleven campers and some livestock were evacuated from portions of the park as rangers monitored the unusual earthquake activity for signs of a shift in the ongoing Kilauea eruption.
Scientists said the tremors could be followed by a new surface breakout of lava.

Live panorama webcam of Pu`u `O`o vents, Kilauea Volcano.

Try the New Multi-Media Homepage

Skywatch-Media Newsletter

June 15, 2007

Skywatch-Media News has created a new multi-media home page powered by Google for your personal use. To view this page click here

Use this page to access your important services and content - email, calendar, news, weather and more - all in a single place. Personalize the look and layout of your start page, in just seconds

In addition, your can access earth news and get updates from the Great Red Comet, Earth Frenzy Radio, the Newsletter and much more without ever having to leave the page.

If you would like to access this nifty home page for your own use, simply send an email to Skywatch-Media News in care of Steve468@skywatch-media.info and be sure to include your first and last name as well as a username. A temporary password will then be sent to your email address. You can then access the homepage using this password and then set up your page for your own personal use.

To Read More Visit the Newsletter Archives

The Great Red Comet
Issue 69, Volume 7
©2007, Skywatch-Media. All Rights Reserved

Nowhere to go and no way to get there as the June monsoon causes chaos

Great Britain
June, 2007

No Let Up as Rain Pummels the British Isles

Torrential rain caused severe flooding across many parts of Britain. Thousands of people were affected as homes, workplaces and schools were evacuated.
Trains were cancelled and motorists were stranded when railway lines and roads were submerged, causing rush-hour chaos.
The worst-affected areas were the Midlands, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland. The Environment Agency issued 42 flood warnings, including three severe ones — the most serious category, which indicates extreme danger to life and property — for Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. The Met Office said that the wet weather would continue into the beginning of next week,

Shivering Temperatures in Tasmania

Breaking Earth News

Australia

TASMANIA shivered this morning with Hobart recording its coldest temperature in 12 years.
Snow also fell in Grove, about 30km south of Hobart, today as the mercury there plunged to -5C.
The temperature dropped to just below freezing in Hobart this morning, the lowest since June 6, 1995, when the minimum recorded was -1C.
Bushy Park in the Derwent Valley, in the state's south east, also recorded its lowest temperature for 35 years since June 1972 with -6C.
The lowest temperature recorded was -8.8C at Liawenee in central Tasmania.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said the cold snap was caused by high pressure systems in the Great Australian Bight and a trough in the southern Tasman Sea.

Bangladesh faces unusual monsoon, fears flooding

Breaking Earth News

Bangladesh
Flood-prone Bangladesh is bracing for an UNUSUAL and unpredictable monsoon this year, with environment experts and officials blaming global warming, melting Himalayan glaciers, silted rivers and unplanned roads. Floods caused by days of torrential rain, described by weather officials as UNUSUALLY HEAVY and devastating, inundated at least a dozen out of Bangladesh’s 64 administrative districts. All major rivers including those flowing from the Himalayas through India have passed danger levels, flooding many villages and eroding vast tracts of land, leaving thousands homeless. In the northern district of Bogra, hundreds of mud-walled houses collapsed. Although the monsoon officially began only on June 7, already at least 30 people have been killed across the country in flooding which has damaged crops awaiting harvest and washed away dozens of fish farms. More floods, which experts predict could hit again around mid-July, would damage the country’s prime agriculture sector. Weathermen said they felt the weather was behaving strangely, especially during the monsoon which lasts until mid-September. “Now people often suffer more from months of waterlogging because the floods cannot recede quickly.” “The impact of unusual weather often hits our agricultural output.” Environment experts have warned that rising sea waters could mean that up to 11 percent of low-lying Bangladesh, home to more than 140mn people, could be permanently under water within 50 years, making millions homeless.

RELATED VIDEO

Floods rip through Fort Worth suburb

Breaking Earth News

HALTOM CITY, Texas - Heavy rain caused rapidly rising floodwaters at two mobile home parks before daybreak Monday, forcing families to their rooftops and dragging away a 4-year-old girl, authorities said.

The waters unleashed by an overnight storm flooded about 100 mobile homes along a flood-prone creek in Haltom City, washing many from their foundations, emergency officials said.

The pre-dawn flood in this Fort Worth suburb left confusion as neighbors gathered in children from other families fleeing the flood, making it hard to account for all, he said.

Related Video

Update: Swarm of small quakes rocks Big Island

Hawaii, USA
More than 260 small earthquakes shook the upper East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano beginning early this morning, prompting officials to close off most of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park as a precaution to protect visitors.
Scientists from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory have been monitoring the situation closely since the swarm of earthquakes began around 2:15 a.m. As of 4:30 a.m., nearby residents felt the rumble with 10 of the earthquakes reaching a magnitude greater than 3.
“We’re on alert,” said Mardie Lane, park ranger for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. “This is definitely something new and intriguing. We’re all just watching.”

Lightning and torrential rain lashes Germany

Germany
Jun 16, 2007
Hamburg, Snowploughs were needed to clear hail in Munich and a Berlin museum was flooded when lightning and torrential rain lashed Germany during the night, emergency officials said Saturday morning. Elsewhere in the capital, main roads were swamped when drains choked. In Bavaria state, high winds ripped roofs off 10 houses and toppled trees, while the hail was so heavy that Autobahn 8, one of the main freeways near Munich, was closed because it was too slippery. Emergency services called out ploughs that are on stand-by in winter-time to clear snow. A tornado hit the northern state of Lower Saxony, damaging tiled roofs and ripping up trees.

Scientists watching series of small Kilauea quakes

Breaking Earth News

Hawaii, USA

A swarm of more than 70 shallow, relatively small earthquakes jolted the upper East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano this morning, prompting the National Park Service to evacuate tourists and campers on the chance that the quakes might signal a dramatic, unexpected change in the ongoing eruption.
Jim Kauahikaua, scientist-in-charge of the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said the earthquake swarm began at 2:15 a.m., and said there had been small earthquakes about every minute or starting at about 6 a.m.
"It looks like the rift has expanded a bit, possibly to accommodate magma, and the earthquakes are accompanying that process," Kauahikaua said. "It's kind of going on for a long time, but we're keeping an eye on it." An intrusion of lava into new underground cavities in the volcano could cause the magma to escape to the surface at a new, unexpected area of Kilauea, Kauahikau said.

Floods in China Kill 128

China

June 16, 2007

China has seen 128 people killed and 24 missing in floods by June 15 this year, the Office of the State Flood Control and Draught Relief Headquarters said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, China's north is experiencing severe drought, according to the office.

A total of 22.72 million people and 1.22 million hectares of crops had been affected by the floods by June 15 this year, which inflicted a direct economic loss of 8.92 billion yuan (1.17 billion U.S. dollars), according statistics from the office.

In the first half of June alone, 63 people were killed. Economic loss of 6.55 billion yuan was incurred as 14.24 million people and 717,000 hectares of crops were affected by the floods.

Meanwhile, the widespread and prolonged drought has left 10.91 million Chinese short of drinking water by June 14 this year.

The drought has hit 165 million mu (about 11 million hectares) of arable land and 120 million mu (about 8 million hectares) of crops in most parts of northern China and some parts of the southwestern Chongqing, Sichuan and Yunnan.

Freak flash floods hit UK

United Kingdom

June 16, 2007

FREAK floods have caused chaos around the country after huge overnight downpours hit Britain.
Intense thunderstorms wreaked havoc across parts of Britain, as floods blocked roads and train lines, left factory workers trapped, shut schools and prompted hundreds of calls to the emergency services.

View Slideshow

Venice whirlwind injures 25, blows out Pearl Jam gig

Italy,

June 15, 2007

VENICE (Reuters) - A whirlwind hit Venice on Friday, injuring about 25 people and forcing the cancellation of a festival headlined by rock band Pearl Jam was to have played, police and fire services said.
The whirlwind hit late in the afternoon, bringing down sound towers and girders on the stage for the Heineken Jammin' Festival as well as trees in the surrounding park. Several vehicles were overturned by the strong winds.
The damage forced the cancellation of the festival, organizer Roberto De Luca told local media.

Snow falling in central Sweden

Sweden

June 15, 2007

It might be only one week to Midsummer, but nobody seems to have told mother nature. Snow has returned to parts of central Sweden, with five centimetres falling in some places.The snowfall came in the mountainous Härjedalen area of northern Dalarna. A meteorologist from weather service SMHI told Svenska Dagbladet that snow was unusual at this time of year, usually falling roughly once every ten years. The snow follows weeks of warm summer weather, but a low pressure area caused a turn in conditions. Temperatures are expected to rise again tomorrow, reaching 15 to 18 degrees,

Floods warnings after heavy rain

Great Britain

June 14, 2007

Homes across Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire have been hit by floods after torrential rain overnight.

Sandbags were used in some cases and at one property near Mold, water reached a level of a foot (0.3m).
The Fire Service said more flash floods may be possible following a severe weather warning from the Met Office.

Floods Cause Traffic Chaos in Widespread Flooding Across Northern Ireland

Reduced greenhouse gas emissions required to avoid dangerous increases in heat stress

Breaking Earth News

Purdue University

Image: This image represents intensification of dangerous heat stress in the 21st century. The color contours show the expected intensification of dangerous heat index days given accelerating increases in greenhouse gas concentrations. Credit: Purdue University image/Diffenbaugh Laboratory

A study led by a Purdue University researcher projects a 200 percent to 500 percent increase in the number of dangerously hot days in the Mediterranean by the end of the 21st century if the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions continues. The study found France would be subjected to the largest projected increase of high-temperature extremes.

Update:Powerful earthquake shook Guatemala

Guatemala, C.A.

June 14, 2007

A powerful earthquake that shook Guatemala and parts of El Salvador caused traffic chaos in Guatemala City, damaged some houses and generated landslides outside the capital.

The quake struck at 1:29 p.m. local time (1929 GMT) and was centered 70 miles (115 kilometers) southwest of Guatemala City off the Pacific coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Guatemala's seismology institute said the quake lasted 49 seconds.
In Guatemala City, people fled buildings into the streets, throwing traffic into chaos in the sprawling city.
"It rattled a lot of nerves," said Benedicto Giron, spokesman for the National Disaster Reduction Center.

Worst floods in two decades devastate coast

Breaking Earth News
South Africa

The worst floods in more than 20 years caused damage of at least R85-million over a wide swathe of the Cape west coast and left hundreds of people in need of blankets and food.
Municipal officials from Malmesbury to Vredendal are still counting the cost of the floods that swept the region after a week of storms dumped nearly 300mm of rain on the region.
The citrus and wheat crops, which are critical to the lifeblood of the province, had been severely affected by the floods.

Related News
KENYA: Risk of disease as thousands hit by floods
NAIROBI, 11 June 2007 (IRIN) - The number of people affected by flooding caused by heavy rainfall in Kenya's Indian Ocean Coastal region has risen to 23,000, the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) said, expressing concern that diseases could break out in some areas where sanitation facilities have been destroyed.

Climate Change

Tornado damages hundreds of homes in central Vietnam

Breaking Earth News

HANOI, Vietnam (AP): A strong tornado struck several villages in central Vietnam, killing two people and damaging hundreds of homes, an official said Friday.
The tornado hit Trieu Son district in Thanh Hoa province Wednesday, collapsing or stripping roofs from nearly 500 houses. It also knocked down electric poles and thousands of trees, district official Le Xuan Duong said.

Last year, natural disasters in Vietnam killed at least 500 people, injured nearly 3,000, and caused nearly US$1.17 billion (euro860 million) in damage.

The case of the disappearing Great Lake

A sandbar rises above water level in a channel between the coal loading dock and grain elevators along St. Louis Bay in Superior, Wis. Lake Superior has 3 quadrillion gallons of water -- enough to submerge North and South America in a foot of water. By Julia Cheng, AP

Skywatch-Media Special Report


Michigan, USA

June 14, 2007

Lake Superior, the world's largest freshwater lake, has DROPPED TO ITS LOWEST LEVEL IN 81 YEARS. The water is 20 inches below average and a foot lower than just a year ago. The dropping levels have had serious environmental and economic consequences. Wetlands have dried up. Power plants run at half capacity. Cargo ships carry partial loads. Boaters struggle to find a place to dock. The changes can be seen all along the 2,800-mile shore of Lake Superior, the coldest and deepest of the Great Lakes. The water has receded, sometimes 50 feet or more, from its normal shoreline. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are at low levels, as well, although not quite as extreme. The average water temperature of Lake Superior has risen 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1979. The Edison Sault Electric power plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, will operate at less than 50% capacity this year because its water flows have been slashed as a result of the low lake levels. That pushed the company to buy high-cost power elsewhere and increase rates. Large beds of wild rice that grow in the wetlands have gone dry. Everyone is waiting for the water to rise. "It seemed normal last October. Then it dropped and never came back."

Related Video

Drought hits Maui, worsens on Big Island

Hawaii, USA
June 13, 2007

State of Emergency Declared

The Maui Department of Water Supply has declared a drought in Upcountry Maui, imposing mandatory water restrictions, while dry conditions are getting worse on the Big Island. Maui officials Tuesday imposed 10 percent water restrictions on nonagricultural users in many areas, but gave farmers 30 days grace. "Low inflows to the surface water treatment facilities are earlier than normal and could signal a long, dry summer." On the Big Island, where similar conditions have gone on for a lot longer, farmers aren't so lucky. "Nonirrigated crops, those dependent on natural rainfall, were in fair to poor condition. And livestock operations were being stressed by the low moisture levels." The Hawaii County Mayor declared a state of emergency a week ago due to the continuing dry weather.

Burning down the South

The wildfires that have swept through the Okefenokee this year are the largest in the lower 48 states in nearly a century. Do they portend a hotter future?

Georgia, USA

June 13, 2007

The wildfires that have swept through the Okefenokee this year are the LARGEST IN THE LOWER 48 STATES OF THE U.S. IN NEARLY A CENTURY, since 1918. The state sees an average of 8,000 forest and brush fires a year, but the vast majority are doused before they can burn an acre. The typical wildfire can be contained by a single ranger armed with a fire plow. But not the fire that started April 16. High winds toppled a tree into a power line, fanning the resulting sparks to ignite nearby brush left dry by the lack of rain. The same winds then urged the flames deep into the surrounding longleaf and loblolly pine forests. The air itself was arid, with no hint of the humidity that usually accompanies the beginning of the oppressive South Georgia summer. The fire raged through 18,000 acres in its first day – roughly 26 square miles. Two months later, the fire has consumed more than 600,000 acres on both sides of the Georgia/Florida border, including most of the Okefenokee and tens of thousands of acres of commercial pine forests. Commonly referred to as a swamp, the Okefenokee is technically a bog, because its moisture comes from rainwater rather than a spring or river. When there's meager rainfall, as in recent months, the water table drops, drying out the peaty, compostlike soil. After the bog catches fire, it usually continues to burn for a year, spreading underground until all available fuel has been depleted. As global warming continues, the semipermanent high-pressure weather cells covering the planet are expected to expand, with much of the rainfall occurring at the edges of those cells, leaving their cores drier. Since, during summer months, the Southeast is at the center of such a cell – called the Bermuda high – Georgia will gradually, and perhaps irreversibly, lose rainfall to the Northeast and Canada. As the state becomes hotter and drier, wildfires will become more frequent and more intense.

Cold Temps Prompt Freeze Warning

Oregon, USA

June 12, 2007
BEND, Ore. - The National Weather Service in Pendleton warned that cold and dry air was set to move over Deschutes County Tuesday morning.
Officials expected it to cause low temperatures to fall to near or below 32 degrees over much of the county, especially during the hours just before and after sunrise.
Central Oregon cities affected include Bend, La Pine, Prineville and Redmond. The freeze warning remained in effect until 8 a.m.
The warning means sub-freezing temperatures are imminent or highly likely. Those with agricultural interests in the warned areas are advised to harvest or protect tender vegetation.

Unusual Storms Approach From Northeast

USA

June, 2007

Look outside carefully, and you'll see those puffy cumulus clouds moving from the northeast, a very unusual direction for this time of year. The circulation around a persistent low pressure area off the Atlantic coast, along with its cold air aloft, has promoted the development of a widespread area of thunderstorms, some severe, over southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware this afternoon. These storms have been moving "backwards" (southwesterly) into northeastern Maryland

Weather Observations

PENNSYLVANIA - Weather forecasters say the storm moving through the area on Tuesday, June 12, was UNUSUAL in at least one way - direction. The storm came courtesy of weather moving in from the northeast. Typically severe summer weather comes from the south or west. “That was the odd thing." Usually when a low pressure moves in from the northeast, as happened Tuesday, the temperature isn't warm enough to cause thunderstorms. But Tuesday was hot in eastern and central Pennsylvania and the storms stretched from Scranton to Philadelphia and as far west as Johnstown. “It's just UNUSUAL for storms to travel east to west

Effects of drought on area becoming more evident

Alabama, USA

Photo: Without rain, the dying grass in this dairy farmer’s pastures cannot provide enough nutrients for his animals. Jimmy Hugh White, president of the Talladega County Farmers Federation, may have to sell some of his livestock because of the severe drought.

June 12, 2007

As drought conditions in the area continue to worsen, the effects are becoming increasingly more evident.

The U.S. Drought Mitigation Center has upgraded 20 north Alabama counties, including St. Clair, from a D-3 to a D-4 level, giving North Alabama the highest drought rating in the nation.

As a result, the Alabama Forest Commission placed Talladega, St. Clair and 31 other North and Central Alabama counties under a Drought Emergency

Storms Produce 4 Twisters, Dump Heavy Rain On State

Breaking Storm News
Oklahoma, USA
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Severe thunderstorms dropped heavy rain across western Oklahoma early Thursday after producing at least four small tornadoes in northwestern Oklahoma Wednesday night.
More than 2,200 Oklahoma Gas & Electric customers were without power after lightning disrupted the electrical transmission system. The bulk of the outage was in north Oklahoma City, said OG&E spokesman Brian Alford.

Related Video

Orange Earthquake and Tsunami Alert in Guatemala

June 13, 2007
6.9 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Offshore Guatemala.Location 13.628°N, 90.732°W. Depth 64.8 km (40.3 miles). Region OFFSHORE GUATEMALA. Distances 115 km (70 miles) SSW of GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala. 135 km (85 miles) WSW of Santa Ana, El Salvador.

Kenya Calls For Urgent Action To Save Receding Lake Victoria

Kenya, Africa
June 11, 2007
NAIROBI (AFP) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Monday called for urgent action to save Lake Victoria, the world's second largest fresh water lake which is facing decline in water levels due to human activities.

Millions suffer as China storms kill at least 23

Photo: A villager transports goods on a bridge after a flood hit Yao'an county of Lianzhou, south China's Guangdong province.Photo / Reuters

BEIJING - Rain storms and floods have killed at least 23 people across southern China in recent days and made thousands homeless, Xinhua news agency said today.
"Millions of people are suffering," it said.
Storms killed seven people and left four missing in the southern province of Guizhou on Friday and Saturday. Nearly 20,000 hectares of cropland were flooded and 3,000 houses destroyed, Xinhua said.
In Guangdong province, bordering Hong Kong, heavy rain triggered landslides killing three people and destroying 788 houses and about 1,120 hectares of cropland, Xinhua said.
Storms cut off a railway link between Meizhou and Shantou in Guangdong leaving about 1,100 passengers stranded on Friday.
In neighbouring Guangxi, two people were killed in torrential rain that destroyed 610 homes, Xinhua said, citing flood control authorities.
In Guangxi, high school students sitting all-important university entrance exams on Thursday and Friday had to be evacuated as heavy rain submerged their classrooms, Xinhua said.
Storms also broke 29 reservoirs, 362 embankments, 165 roads and forced 59 factories to suspend production, Xinhua quoted Chen Rundong, deputy head of the regional flood control office, as saying

Pakistan heat wave kills 110

Pakistan

At least 63 more people died on Sunday from the effects of Pakistan's RECORD-BREAKING HEAT WAVE, bringing the weekend death toll to 110. The mercury rose as high as 52 degrees in south-west parts of the country as the hot spell entered its fourth day, also setting a 78-year record in the city of Lahore in the central Punjab province. Hundreds of people were also hospitalised with sunstroke, and meteorologists predicted the heat wave will last at least three more days.

Heat

ALABAMA -USA- the National Weather Service says that, "since Katrina came and left, for some reason we've had like a blocking pattern over us which has kept the weather systems away. It's kept us dryer than normal. It's also made us a little warmer than normal and that hasn't changed, so it's, it's VERY UNUSUAL." They are half a year behind in rainfall. Normal rainfall would be about 66 inches a year, since January 2006, they are 32 to 33 inches below that. View Video Report

Australia Starts Clean-Up, 1,000 Stranded After Storm

Australia

June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Residents in the Australian city of Newcastle and surrounding towns are cleaning up today after the worst floods in 36 years caused emergency services to evacuate 15,000 residents. About 1,000 people remain isolated.
The Hunter River, located 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Sydney, rose to 70 centimeters below its peak overflow level, according to the State Emergency Services Web site. Newcastle is the second-largest city in New South Wales, Australia's most- populous state.
``It will be days before the flood waters subside and the clean-up starts today,'' SES spokesman Steve Delaney said in an interview from Metford, a Hunter valley town. ``This is where the hard work begins.''
Flooding was caused by the most severe storm to hit the state since July 2005, which raged for four days and left nine people dead. The Hunter River rose as high as 10.7 meters (35 feet), according to the Web site.
Gale-force winds lashed New South Wales' coastline, causing ocean swells as high as 18 meters and leading a coal ship to run aground. The storm was created by low pressure systems converging off the state's mid-north coast. About 34,000 homes remain without power, Sky News reported today on its Web site.

Related Video

A Drought for the Ages

Skywatch-Media Newsletter

June 12, 2007

Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental USA. And it's spreading.

To Read More Visit the Newsletter Archives

The Great Red Comet
Issue 68, Volume 7
©2007, Skywatch-Media. All Rights Reserved

Arab States to Face Acute Water Shortage

(MENAFN - Arab News) DUBAI, 24 May 2007 — Arab states would face a water deficit of 100 to 133 billion cubic meters per year by 2030 and it is going to be the biggest economic, social and environmental challenge facing the Arab nations, warned Dr. Saeed Al-Kindi, UAE minister of environment and water, while addressing the opening session of a workshop titled "Integrated Water Resources Management" at Dusit Dubai. Photo: Water shortage in Damascus

Related News

NIGERIA - Acute water shortage has hit most parts of Kano state in the last four days with youths and the aged seen on the streets of Kano searching for water. Water vendors have raised the cost of a jerry can by over 400% from N20 per can to about N80 in places where the water could be found. The situation is coming at the worst time, when many wells have dried up due to the biting dry season. The scarcity arose from burst pipes due to excessive pressure they experienced during pumping. New pumping machines acquired and currently in use were too powerful for the pipes, thereby causing damage to the two major pipelines used for water distribution.

BARBADOS - Water shortage woes afflicting residents of St. Thomas are also tapping into businesses in that parish and surrounding areas. "The very dry spell and heavy demand have resulted in severe shortages being experienced at the three sources which feed this reservoir – Warleigh, Lodge Hill and Applewaites. There is definitely evidence of dropping water levels at some well sources." It also listed water outages to Welches, Redman's Village, Bagatelle, Arthur Seat, Sharon, Cane Garden, Melrose, Edgehill Heights and surrounding areas because of an empty Shop Hill Reservoir. Water levels were also low at the Lodge Hill, Golden Ridge and Castle Grant reservoirs. The affected reservoirs will require some time for water levels to rise and resume normal service to the affected areas.

Water shortage looms large over Asia

Washington, June 08:

At a time when the Bush administration is coming under a lot of criticism at home and abroad for its policies on global warming and climate change a new State Department Report has warned that Asia is heading for fresh water crisis due to the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas. Himalayas are sources of fresh water supplies to major rivers of Asia. The report submitted to the Congress said that reduced fresh water availability in Asia could affect more than one billion people by the mid-century. It has focussed on safe water and sanitation strategy in developing countries. "Increased floods and changes in coastal water temperatures could result in greater morbidity and mortality due to diarrhoeal disease" the report has further warned. The point made by the State department report is that globally by 2020 between 75 and 250 million people are expected to be under "water stress" due to long-term climate shifts and population growth.

Hundreds Dead in South Asia Heatwave

NEW DELHI, June 12 (Reuters) - More than two dozen people have died over the last 24 hours in a heatwave that has baked northern India, officials and media reports said on Tuesday, taking the death toll over the last one week to more than 100.
The scalding temperatures have also hit large parts of neighbouring Pakistan, killing at least 50 people by Monday.
Most of the dead were homeless people, the elderly and those compelled to work outdoors, hit by sunstroke and dehydration.

Related Video

Monsoons inundate Bangladesh; mudslides, floods, lightning kill over 100

June 11, 2007

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh: The heaviest monsoon rains in years have hammered Bangladesh in recent days, triggering mudslides, floods and lightning strikes that have left at least 108 people dead and scores more missing, officials said Tuesday.
The annual monsoon rains have spread across Bangladesh in the past few days, and the rains — the heaviest recorded in seven years — have also inundated parts of the capital, Dhaka, and other regions of the country.
Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 150 million people, is buffeted by floods that kill hundreds of people every year and often displace millions.
At least 97 perished in the hilly port city Chittagong, city official Nur Sulaiman said. Army rescuers pulled at least 28 bodies from the debris, and two more from a nearby pond, he said. Another 67 bodies were recovered on Monday.
Lightning strikes killed 11 people Monday in the neighboring districts of Cox's Bazar, Noakhali and Brahmmanbaria, the Flood and Disaster Management Ministry said.

Denver's Latest Spring Freeze Followed By 90-Degree Heat

Colorado, USA

June 11, 2007

Temps Swing 60 Degrees In 2 Days

DENVER -- Residents of Colorado's Front Range awoke Friday morning to frost-covered windshields as temperatures dropped to the lowest readings in over 50 years.
Just one day later they were at local pools enjoying temperatures in the mid-80s.
The temperature at Denver International Airport fell to 31 degrees at 5:44 a.m. Friday, setting a new record low for the date.

The previous record for June 8 was 37 degrees, last set in 1974.
In addition to the new record low, the sub-freezing temperatures also became the latest freeze on record for the city of Denver and the second-coldest June temperature ever recorded.
The previous date of latest freeze on record was June 2, 1951.
Temperatures in Denver have only dropped below freezing two other times during the month of June; 32 degrees on June 1, 1919 and 30 degrees on June 2, 1951.

Floodwaters follow savage Australian storm

Australia
Photo: Aerial view of a flood-hit area in Maitland, norht of Sydney. Floodwaters engulfed homes and farms and swept through areas north of Sydney while disaster workers began a massive clean-up following deadly storms which battered Australia's east coast.(AFP/Anoek De Groot)

June 11, 2007
MAITLAND, Australia (AFP) - Floodwaters engulfed homes and farms and swept through areas north of Sydney on Monday while disaster workers began a massive clean-up following deadly storms which battered Australia's east coast.
New South Wales state premier Morris Iemma said the level of destruction around Maitland, some 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Sydney in the Hunter Valley, was heartbreaking.
"It's unbelievable, the amount of water. It's almost as if the entire valley is covered in water," he said after flying over the region.
Prime Minister John Howard said the water, dumped on Sydney and regions to the north during several days of severe storms starting Friday, had rendered the area almost unrecognisable from the air.
"It is a vivid illustration to me, as it has been to other people, just how savage the storms have been," he said.
Violent storms lashed Sydney and Newcastle and the Central Coast to the north over the weekend, cutting power to tens of thousands of homes, disrupting train and ferry services and leaving nine people dead.

QUAKE CLUSTER AND “TORNADO” AFFECT SOUTHERN CHILE

Chile. S.A.
June 10, 2007
Mother Nature made her presence known in southern Chile this past weekend, when wacky weather ruined homes in Region VIII and a cluster of quakes rattled already uneasy residents in Region XI.
Early Saturday morning, five homes in the Region VIII town of Lota suffered serious damage after being struck by what residents there described as a “tornado.” Though meteorologists have been unable to confirm whether the area was in fact struck by a tornado – a very rare thing in this part of the world – authorities did clock wind gusts of between 50-70 kilometers-per-hour. The intense storm, which also produced hail, left 20 people homeless.
Several hours later, residents in the Region XI towns of Puerto Aysén and Puerto Chacabuco experienced a startling six tremblers in the span of just 30 minutes. Though all noticeable – registering between three and four on the Mercalli Scale – the quakes did not cause any significant damage.
The Saturday morning barrage was certainly nothing new for area residents, who have endured numerous quakes in recent months. The most devastating took place on April 21, when 10 people died after a 6.2-magnitude quake struck the area, causing landslides and a subsequent mini-tsunami in the Aysén Fjord (ST, April 23).
Scientists believe the prolonged period of seismic activity is likely being caused by a subterranean magma flow – originated at a point directly below the Fjord. The magma, which is pressuring a subterranean tectonic plate, could eventually push its way to the surface and form a relatively small volcanic cone on the floor of the Fjord, according to experts

66 Die in China Flooding, Landslides

China
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a man tries to climb to a floodgate to unlock the valve to sluice in Zijin County of south China's Guangdong Province, Saturday, June 9, 2007.

June 11, 2007
BEIJING — Landslides and flooding unleashed by heavy rains have killed at least 66 people in China and left nearly 600,000 homeless, a state news agency reported Monday.
The highest death toll was in southeastern Guangdong province, where 18 people were killed and four were missing since the rains started Thursday, the Xinhua News Agency said. More than 72,000 people were evacuated from their homes.
The populous province is the heart of China's export-driven light manufacturing industries, but there was no word of any damage to factories or shipping facilities.
Deaths and damage were reported throughout southern China and the northwest. Torrential rains, mudslides and floods have also hit Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces, where at least 48 people died, Xinhua said.

Skywatch-Media Update

From the Editor's Desk
June 12, 2007

Hello to Everyone. I'm back from my glorious trip to the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. What a wonderful and beautiful part of the world it is! This region along with the upper midwest will be pivitol to the survival of mankind as the world continues to progress into climate change and a shifting of the poles. Mass migration will follow along these routes as millions will eventually be forced to leave the sun belt and the Southwest due to drastic storms, drought and sea level rise in the years ahead.

I know you have been missing your daily updates as there is so much to report on these days and so little time.

I'm glad to be back to providing your daily dose of earth news.

Steve Shaman