• Rare earth mine in Bayan Obo in the Nei Mongol Autonomous Region

    The vast majority of the rare earths on the market—96 percent—come from China. About half come from Bayan Obo (41 ° 47’N, 109 ° 55’E), the mine shown above in the Nei Mongol Autonomous Region. Such an intensive mining operation has a definite impact on the

  • Activity at Popocatépetl – Satellite imagery

    Located about 40 miles (70 km) southeast of Mexico City, Popocatépetl is one of Mexico’s most active volcanoes. Popocatépetl has been erupting since January 2005, with near constant venting from fumaroles punctuated by minor steam, gas, and ash emissions.Activity

  • Bangladesh facing water crisis

    Dhaka, Bangladesh capital requires 2.2 billion litres a day, but can only produce 1.9 to 2 billion, the city’s Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) reported. WASA runs 600 deep tube wells in the city to extract water, and there are also 2,000 private tube

  • Dust seen over Russia

    In late April 2012, dust mingled with clouds over the eastern Russian Federation. The dust likely originated along the border between China and Mongolia and followed a counter-clockwise arc into eastern Russia. Fires along the China-Mongolia border may also have

  • Deadly flooding in Colombia due the seasonal rains

    Over the past several weeks, heavy seasonal rain caused major flooding throughout much of Colombia. Heavy rainfall in recent weeks have caused major flooding of the nearby . The resulting floods of Bogota and Chic0 rivers have affected more than 2,000 families in

  • Tokyo faces 70% chance of severe quake in next 4 years

    If a mega-quake struck Tokyo, more than 9,600 people would die with nearly 150,000 injured and large parts of the Japanese capital leveled to the ground according to recent simulation by Tokyo Metropolitan Government. If a smaller 7.3-magnitude quake struck the