The Science of Floods

Most of us have studied the "water cycle", or "hydrological system", in school. Water circulates from clouds to the soil to streams to rivers to the oceans and then returns to the clouds. When that system backs-up there is a flood.
A number of factors can contribute to that imbalance, including:

* heavy, intense rainfall
* run-off from a deep snow cover
* over-saturated soil, when the ground can't hold anymore water.
* frozen soil
* high river, stream or reservoir levels caused by unusually large amounts of rain
* ice jams in rivers
* urbanization, or lots of buildings and parking lots

However, human activity that changes the surface of the Earth also effects the water cycle, and can cause floods. Buildings, parking lots and roads, replace grass and dirt with concrete. Under normal circumstances, soil acts like a sponge and soaks up a fair portion of rainwater. But in crowded towns and cities, rainwater flows into storm sewers and drainage ditches, and, at times, overloads them. An urban area can be flooded by an amount of rainfall that would have had no impact in a rural area.

Past gives clue to climate impact

A rapid rise in global temperature 55 million years ago caused major disruption to ocean currents, new research shows.Scientists found that the disruption took 140,000 years to reverse.

Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists say the phenomenon may be important for understanding the impact of present day climate warming.

Recent research suggests north Atlantic currents which bring heat to northern Europe may be weakening.

Past gives clue to climate impact

2005 officially our hottest year in Australia

LAST year was Australia's hottest on record, new figures show.

The Bureau of Meteorology annual climate summary shows 2005 was more than one degree warmer than the average temperature between 1961 and 1990, the world standard used to track temperature change.

The figures, released today, have forced the Federal Government to defend its action on climate change and global warming.

Townsville Bulletin: 2005 officially our hottest year [ 04jan06 ]

Earth From Above

Hi, have you ever heard about the Earth From Above project? It's an amazing photographic project which has over 500,000 photos have been taken in some 100 countries (Africa, Asia, North America, South America, Europe, and Oceania & The Antarctic). You can read the accompanying captions, each of them written by an expert on sustainable development. The light they shed on individual photographs reveals their essences and their worth.

Look at the place, where we live on our mother earth, a heritage both beautiful and fragile that we must all endeavor to preserve.

Environment - The Ozone Layer

Although ozone (O3) is present in small concentrations throughout the atmosphere, most ozone (about 90%) exists in the stratosphere, in a layer between 10 and 50km above the surface of the earth. This ozone layer performs the essential task of filtering out most of the sun's biologically harmful ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation. Concentrations of ozone in the atmosphere vary naturally according to temperature, weather, latitude and altitude. Furthermore, aerosols and other particles ejected by natural events such as volcanic eruptions can have measurable impacts on ozone levels.

In 1985, scientists identified a thinning of the ozone layer over the Antarctic during the spring months which became known as the "ozone hole". The scientific evidence shows that human-made chemicals are responsible for the creation of the Antarctic ozone hole and are also likely to play a role in global ozone losses. Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) have been used in many products which take advantage of their physical properties (e.g. chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been used as aerosol propellants and refrigerants).

Man Claims His Cat Called 911

A north Columbus man falls from his wheelchair, and he says his cat called for help.

50-year-old Gary Rusheisen says while moving from the wheelchair to his bed he slipped and fell right between the two. Then ten minutes later he heard a knock at his door, it was a Columbus police officer.

Man Claims His Cat Called 911