Smoke clouds the skies across northeastern China and southeastern Russia. The dry, windy weather of autumn created hazardous fire conditions in northeast China.Since wildfires have occurred frequently recently, the national forest fire prevention authorities issued
The rainforest of South America, also known as Amazonia, has been undergoing a continual and accelerated conversion process into farmlands (including pasture for livestock) since the early 1960s. This process has typically been achieved by clearing the forest using
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite passed over the central Asia on October 6, 2011 and captured this true-color image bellow. Dust is especially heavy in the valleys and low lying areas, while the skies over the
Nearly two dozen countries next Wednesday will take part in a full-scale test of the Indian Ocean’s tsunami alert system, using the 2004 Sumatra quake as the basis for the exercise. Exercise IOWAVE 11 will re-enact the seismic events of December 26, 2004, simulating a
Residents of Papamoa Beach are bracing for environmental tragedy after officials confirmed oil from the Rena container ship was forecast to hit the beach in coming days. The ship has been stuck on the Astrolabe reef, off the Tauranga coast, since becoming grounded
One of the most powerful aftershocks since a couple of months occurred at 07:34 PM (19:34), October 9 2011o. Early reports are mentioning a strong shaking 10 km north-east of Diamond Harbour. GEONET, New Zealand reports a magnitude (Richter) of 5.5 at a depth of 12
Thailand’s worst floods in more than half a century are threatening to swamp the capital, Bangkok, as early as next week after reaching a “crisis level,” Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said.At least 253 people have been killed as a result of the seasonal
When large reserves of oil were discovered under Yasuní national park, Ecuador offered the world a choice: give us money and we will not allow drilling. Now $60m must be found by December.Ecuador has earned $130bn from the oil found so far in its forests and it
Heavy rains have flooded 57 villages and triggered excessive high water levels in six reservoirs as of Friday in Haikou, the capital of south China’s island province of Hainan. Over 5,000 residents in the affected villages have been evacuated to schools and other
Unusually heavy monsoon rains inundated southern Pakistan in the summer of 2011, submerging fields and forcing residents from their homes. On September 29, 2011, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 5.44 million
