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US attends Hiroshima ceremony after 65 years, still no apology

Fri, 06/08/2010 - 22:39 by Deepika Garg

It has been 65 years since the United States crippled the Japanese city of Hiroshima with atomic attacks, and brought in an era of nuclear terror. For the first time since then, American representatives were sent to Japan to attend a ceremony to commemorate the atomic bombing of the city.

Six teens drowned in Louisiana river confirmed dead

Tue, 03/08/2010 - 16:33 by Natalie James

Six adolescents from at least two families have drowned in the Red River in the northwestern area of Louisiana, according to several published reports. A seventh teen has been rescued, the tabloids say, citing fire officials in Shreveport, La.

BP using dispersants disproportionately in Gulf to clean the oil spill

Sun, 01/08/2010 - 09:53 by Priyanka

Several media reports this week reported that as per federal documents BP has till date used the controversial dispersant (whose use Obama administration recently restricted to only “rare cases”) generously to clean oil spill from the Gulf of Mexico.

Antarctic ice melt: 10 percent of sea rise

Tue, 22/06/2010 - 23:03 by Inderjit Singh

Cambridge -- New research led by the British Antarctic Survey shows West Antarctica's ice melt currently contributes nearly 10 percent of the global sea level rise.

An international team of researchers -- including scientists from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in New York and the Britain's National Oceanography Center -- identified the antarctic's Pine Island Glacier as a major source of the ice melt.

Officials said the project is part of a series of investigations to better understand the impact of melting antarctic ice on sea level.

Hurricane forecast becomes more extreme

Mon, 21/06/2010 - 22:28 by Inderjit Singh

State College -- The 2010 hurricane season may be more intense than previously predicted and will probably impact the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, AccuWeather.com said Monday.

Chief Hurricane Meteorologist Joe Bastardi said he has revised his original forecast from 16-18 tropical storms to 18-21, with at least eight impacts and six hurricanes. He said at least two or three of those hurricanes will have major landfalls.

Only in five years during 160 years of record keeping have 18 or more storms formed during a season, he said.

"The hurricane season should have several hits on the U.S. coast from July through September, mainly in the southeast and gulf," Bastardi said.

Missing teenaged solo sailor found alive after frantic overnight hunt

Fri, 11/06/2010 - 13:44 by Jamie Anderson

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) upped the ante on search operations to hunt for the 16-year-old California girl, Abby Sunderland, who activated two distress signals last night.

Estonia to join eurozone next year

Thu, 13/05/2010 - 23:01 by Inderjit Singh

Brussels -- The European Commission said Thursday Estonia was cleared to become the 17th nation to join the eurozone.

Concurrently, the commission denied entrance to the troubled currency zone to Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary Poland, Romania and Sweden, the EUobserver reported Thursday.

Global markets have been hit hard in recent months on concerns eurozone members, most notably Greece, could default on their public debts. As the crisis escalated, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund made $957 billion in loans available to debt-burdened EU countries, while preparing to loan Greece an additional $143 billion.

China Airlines flight diverted after explosives threat

Sun, 02/05/2010 - 17:34 by Jaspreet Virk

In an incident which occurred Saturday, a Taiwan's China Airlines flight bound for eastern Chinese city of Shanghai from the Taiwanese capital of Taipei was diverted after a passenger claimed that his luggage had explosives.

Controlled burning planned to check oil spill

Wed, 28/04/2010 - 20:55 by Jamie Anderson

In a bid to control the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which can safely be categorized as one of the worst in U.S. history, the U.S. Coast Guard is contemplating burning off portions of affected areas.

Thirty states to observe Earth Hour

Fri, 26/03/2010 - 21:08 by Inderjit Singh

Washington -- Thirty U.S. states have agreed to darken public buildings for an hour Saturday to draw attention to global warming, officials said.

The states, up from eight last year, plan to darken governors' mansions and other buildings and monuments as part of Earth Hour, the World Wildlife Fund's call to action on climate change.

"It reflects the conviction of people around the world that climate change is real, and we need to do something about it," said Carter Roberts, head of the fund.

El Nino may affect West Coast fisheries

Mon, 08/03/2010 - 22:25 by Inderjit Singh

La Jolla -- U.S. scientists say better satellite tracking shows the El Nino affecting the northern Pacific Ocean is reducing marine life and the number of seabirds.

Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography say a stronger-than-normal northward movement of warm water up the Southern California coast, along with a high sea-level in January and low abundances of plankton and pelagic fish, all are conditions consistent with El Nino.

Chilean quake shifts Earth's axis, shortens days

Wed, 03/03/2010 - 12:39 by Jaspreet Virk

The earthquake that struck Chile was certainly less deadly than the one that hit Haiti. But the Chilean tremors were so powerful that they have shifted Earth’s axis and shortened the days.