Indian Ocean tsunami alert system to be tested on Oct 12

October 09, 2011

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

Rena's oil spill set to wash up on Papamoa beach, New Zealand

October 09, 2011

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

Aftershock rattles ChristChurch, New Zealand

October 09, 2011

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 Flood Waters Threaten Bangkok

October 09, 2011

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

Magnificient outburst of Draconid meteor shower

October 09, 2011

According to worldwide observers reporting to the International Meteor Organization, there was indeed an outburst of Draconid meteors on October 8th. Preliminary counts suggest a peak rate of 660 meteors per hour at 2010 UT (4:10 pm EDT).Most Draconids in the

Yasuni (Ecuador) - The world's last great wilderness threaten to become new oil extraction location

October 09, 2011

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

World's largest shark sanctuary declared at Marshall islands

October 09, 2011

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is now home to the world’s largest shark sanctuary. The Nitijela, the Marshallese parliament, unanimously passed legislation this week that ends commercial fishing of sharks in all 1,990,530 square kilometers (768,547 square