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| October 17, 2013 |
 Japan rescuers search mudslide for typhoon survivors Oshima, Japan (AFP) Oct 17, 2013 - Rescuers in Japan picked through mud and splintered houses Thursday after a typhoon that killed at least 19 people, as hopes faded for dozens not seen since a landslide engulfed their homes. Hundreds of police, firefighters and troops searched through the night in an area where buildings were swallowed when a mountainside collapsed. Typhoon Wipha, dubbed the strongest in a decade, never ... more |  |
 Australia wildfires destroy homes, darken Sydney skies Sydney (AFP) Oct 17, 2013 - Hundreds of homes are feared to have been destroyed by intense wildfires that tore across southeastern Australia in ferocious wind conditions Thursday, darkening Sydney's skies with smoke and ash, firefighters said. Five major blazes were burning across the state of New South Wales, fanned by high, erratic winds in unseasonably warm 34 degree Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) weather, as infernos in t ... more |  |
Hopeless search as Philippine quake death toll hits 151 Loon, Philippines (AFP) Oct 16, 2013 - Survivors of a huge earthquake that killed more than 150 people in the Philippines rummaged hopelessly Wednesday through ruins for friends and relatives, as rescue workers struggled to reach isolated communities. The 7.1-magnitude earthquake smashed the central island of Bohol on Tuesday morning, ripping apart bridges, tearing down centuries-old churches and triggering landslides that engulf ... more |  |
 'Toxic bomb' ticks on Maldives rubbish island Male, Maldives (AFP) Oct 17, 2013 - Descending by plane into the Maldives offers a panoramic view of azure seas and coral-fringed islands, but as the tarmac nears, billowing smoke in the middle distance reveals an environmental calamity. Thilafushi Island, a half-hour boat trip from the capital, is surrounded by the same crystal clear waters and white sand that have made the Indian Ocean archipelago a honeymoon destination for ... more |  |
 US Supreme Court to hear greenhouse gas cases Washington (AFP) Oct 16, 2013 - The US Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to take on six cases related to federal regulation of greenhouse gasses, mostly brought by industry and commerce groups. The court announced it was combining six lawsuits from plaintiffs in the chemical and oil industries, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the state of Texas, each protesting carbon-emission regulations put in place by the Environmental Prote ... more |  |
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 Help at hand to relocate threatened species Sydney (AFP) Oct 17, 2013 - Australian and New Zealand scientists Thursday said they have devised the "first rigorous framework" on deciding whether to relocate endangered animals threatened with extinction by climate change. The researchers said it was designed to quantify whether the benefit of moving a vulnerable species outweighed the ecological cost. With rapidly changing climatic conditions around the world, ... more |  |
 Pacific man bids to become first climate change refugee Wellington (AFP) Oct 17, 2013 - A Pacific islander is seeking recognition as the world's first climate change refugee in New Zealand as rising seas threaten his low-lying homeland, the man's lawyer said Thursday. Ioane Teitiota, 37, launched an appeal this week against a decision by New Zealand immigration authorities to refuse him refugee status and deport him to Kiribati in the central Pacific, lawyer Michael Kitt said. ... more |  |
 China's rich get richer despite slowing economy: Forbes Shanghai (AFP) Oct 16, 2013 - China's 400 richest people became $150 billion wealthier this year, Forbes magazine said Wednesday, despite a slowdown in the world's second largest economy. The vast increase - an average of almost $400 million each - highlights the growing inequality between the Communist country's superrich and the millions who still live in poverty. "The rich are getting richer," Forbes Shanghai bu ... more |  |
 Nobel laureates call on Putin to drop piracy charges against Greenpeace Moscow (AFP) Oct 17, 2013 - Eleven Nobel Peace Prize winners have called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to ensure that "excessive charges of piracy" laid against 30 Greenpeace activists are dropped, Greenpeace said on Thursday. "We are writing to ask you to do all you can to ensure that the excessive charges of piracy against the 28 Greenpeace activists, freelance photographer and freelance videographer are droppe ... more |  |
Australia, US put heat on Russia over Antarctic sanctuaries Sydney (AFP) Oct 16, 2013 - Nations led by Australia and the United States stepped up pressure on Russia Wednesday for a swift agreement to create vast Antarctic marine sanctuaries. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), comprising 24 nations plus the European Union, meet in Australia next week with Russia seen as key to protecting large swathes of the wilderness area. At ... more |  |
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Outrage over $2.5 bn projects to mark Mao birth Beijing (AFP) Oct 17, 2013 - More than $2.5 billion is being poured into the hometown of Communist China's founding father Mao Zedong for projects marking the 120th anniversary of his birth, local media reported, prompting outrage Thursday. Mao, who led the Communist Party to victory in China's civil war, was born in Shaoshan, in the central province of Hunan, on December 26, 1893. Xiangtan city, which includes Shao ... more |  |
Tibetan poet gives voice to dead protesters in new book Paris (AFP) Oct 17, 2013 - A blogger, a taxi driver, a Communist Party official and a Buddhist monk. All of them Tibetan, and all of them driven to the desperate step of setting themselves on fire in protest at Chinese rule. These and dozens of others are the subject of a new booklet written by Tsering Woeser, a famous Tibetan poet, essayist and fierce critic of the Chinese government's rule over the sprawling Himalay ... more |  |
 Paraguay removes 22 military commanders Asuncion (AFP) Oct 16, 2013 - Paraguay's President Horacio Cartes launched a dramatic overhaul of the military replacing 22 commanders, including his army chief, officials said Wednesday. General Miguel Angel Christ Jacob was replaced by General Jorge Francisco Ramirez Gomez, state news agency IP said. There was no explanation given for the president's moves. But Cartes insisted there was no sacking or intrigue at pl ... more |  |
The tundra a dark horse in planet Earth's greenhouse gas budget Aarhus, Germany (SPX) Oct 16, 2013 - Vast areas on the Northern Hemisphere are covered by tundra. Here, dwarf shrubs, sedges, mosses etc. thrive on top of permafrost in areas where only the uppermost soil layer thaws during the short Arctic summer. New studies show that the tundra may become a source of CO2 in the future. Researcher Magnus Lund from Aarhus University explains: "The soil below the tundra contains very la ... more |  |
 Massive spruce beetle outbreak in Colorado tied to drought Boulder CO (SPX) Oct 16, 2013 - A new University of Colorado Boulder study indicates drought high in the northern Colorado mountains is the primary trigger of a massive spruce beetle outbreak that is tied to long-term changes in sea-surface temperatures from the Northern Atlantic Ocean, a trend that is expected to continue for decades. The new study is important because it shows that drought is a better predictor of spru ... more |  |
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Rising Sea Levels Threaten Everglades Freshwater Plants Coral Gables FL (SPX) Oct 16, 2013 - Just inland from the familiar salt-loving mangroves that line the Southern tip of the Florida Peninsula lie plant communities that depend on freshwater flowing south from Lake Okeechobee. These communities provide critical habitats to many wildlife species, and as salt water intrudes, it could spell problems for freshwater plants and animals alike. Satellite imagery over the southeas ... more |  |
Pulp friction cleans up 'Brockovich' chemical London, UK (SPX) Oct 16, 2013 - A byproduct of the manufacture of pulp using the sulfite process for making paper, sodium lignosulfonate, can be used to immobilize and soak up toxic chromium compounds from soil and water, according to research published in the International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development. Konstantin Volchek and Carl Brown of Environment Canada, and Dario Velicogna of Velicogna Consulta ... more |  |
 New theory of synapse formation in the brain Julich, Germany (SPX) Oct 16, 2013 - The human brain keeps changing throughout a person's lifetime. New connections are continually created while synapses that are no longer in use degenerate. To date, little is known about the mechanisms behind these processes. Julich neuroinformatician Dr. Markus Butz has now been able to ascribe the formation of new neural networks in the visual cortex to a simple homeostatic rule that is ... more |  |
The Longevity of Human Civilizations Moffett Field CA (SPX) Oct 16, 2013 - A question often asked by those involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is, "How long can advanced civilizations last?" The search for intelligent aliens is much less likely to succeed if cultures inevitably destroy themselves when they reach a certain level of technology. So the Drake Equation, which tries to estimate the possible number of intelligent alien civilization ... more |  |
'Stadium waves' could explain lull in global warming Atlanta GA (SPX) Oct 16, 2013 - One of the most controversial issues emerging from the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) is the failure of global climate models to predict a hiatus in warming of global surface temperatures since 1998. Several ideas have been put forward to explain this hiatus, including what the IPCC refers to as 'unpredictable climate variability' that is as ... more |  |
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