By Stephanie Pappas25 March 2011 According to just over half of Americans, God is in control of everything that happens on Earth. But slightly fewer are willing to blame an omnipotent power for natural disasters such as Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. A new poll finds that 56 percent of Americans agree or mostly agree that […]
Caption by Mike Carlowicz, with background from Alan BuisMarch 26, 2011 According to a new NASA-funded satellite study, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing mass at an accelerating pace and are overtaking ice loss from mountain glaciers and ice caps to become the dominant contributor to global sea level rise. The graph above […]
An unexpected side-effect of the flooding in parts of Pakistan has been that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters. Because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water has taken so long to recede, many trees have become cocooned in spiders webs. People […]
By Helvy Shaanika 25 March 2011 OSHAKATI – “The 2011 floods situation can probably take us back 1,000 years because no one is able to measure up or compare the effect,” said the Mayor of Oshakati, Ben Kuutumbeni Kathindi. Kathindi was referring to the flood situation, which many have described as the worst of its […]
By Mujeeb Ur Rehman, VOA NewsMarch 23, 2011Washington, D.C. – In Pakistan, rebuilding efforts are still underway from last year’s devastating floods that submerged one-fifth of the country and displaced some 20 million people. Mujeeb Ur Rehman, reporter for VOA’s Pashto-language Deewa radio service, recently traveled to northwest Pakistan to check on the status of […]
By Thin Lei Win; editing by Katie Nguyen24 Mar 2011 BANGKOK (AlertNet) – Pakistan’s reconstruction following the worst floods in recorded history will take a minimum of three to five years, the head of the country’s disaster management body said, adding that more money should have been poured into maintaining dikes and dams. Massive flooding […]
Arctic sea ice extent appeared to reach its maximum extent for the year on March 7, marking the beginning of the melt season. This year’s maximum tied for the lowest in the satellite record. NSIDC will release a detailed analysis of 2010 to 2011 winter sea ice conditions during the second week of April. Overview […]
Documenting the end of multicellular life on Earth requires a somewhat obsessive personality, which Desdemona has in spades. But the good people of the RSOE EDIS Climate Change Monitoring Service have gone far, far beyond the level of effort Des would ever expend, compiling a huge database of disasters in near-realtime. The latest mishaps are […]
Caption by Holli Riebeek23 March 2011 With an average temperature of 24 degrees Celsius (76 degrees Fahrenheit) in the month of February, the Mexican state of Sinaloa is a popular winter vacation spot. It is also ideal for winter crops. A sizable portion of Mexico’s corn is grown in Sinaloa, and much of that is […]
18 March 2011 (AP) – Wheat prices rose Friday after Russia cut its forecast for this year’s harvest, renewing concerns that global supplies will tighten. Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said the forecast called for 84 million to 85 million tons of wheat to be harvested this year, compared to an earlier estimate of 85 […]
