Stories tagged natural disaster
Pandas on the move: Earthquake damage relocates reserve in China
Here's a link to the latest development of the China earthquake's impact on the Wolong Panda Reserve. It sounds like damage is so severe there that authorities will be looking to relocate the facility. One panda is still missing several weeks after the quake. And here are links to previous Buzz posts on the panda/earthquake problem.
Tags : Tropical storm Arthur, 1st of hurricane season, hits Yucatan
The storm formed one day before the official start of the season June 1, hitting land near the Mexican port city of Chetumal and Belize's Corozal city. Yahoo News
Not very newsworthy except that my name is Arthur, too.
Here are some of the latest developments on the China earthquake. One of three missing pandas returned on its own to the Wolong Reserve near the quake's epicenter. Also, residents of the area have been sleeping outdoors due to the risk of aftershocks in the area. More than a week after the quake, things are hardly getting back to normal.
More on the earthquake/panda connection: They sensed it coming
Did the pandas at the Woolong reserve in China, right near the epicenter of this week's Chinese earthquake, sense things were going to happen before they did? This video of British tourists on the scene at the time of the quake seems to say so. Of course, you never can trust a panda, can you. Maybe they're the ones who caused the earthquake.
An aftershock measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale caused landslides and other damage in the same areas devastated by the earthquake four days ago. At last report, some 4.8 million people were homeless, and more than 22,000 people died. Blocked roads and other damage to infrastructure have made it hard for rescuers and other aid to reach the hardest-hit cities and villages. China has asked the US for satellite images that might help locate victims and identify damaged infrastructure. And Western experts are watching carefully for any signs that China's nuclear weapons facilities, which are concentrated in the earthquake zone, have been damaged.
More Buzz stories about the earthquake:
"7.8 earthquake in Sichuan, China"
"Chinese panda habitat in jeopardy after earthquake"
Homeless?: A preserve where rare pandas live and breed was at the epicenter of the strong earthquake that hit China yesterday.Courtesy SheilalauAlong with the devestating human toll, yesterday's earthquake in China could be devestating to the small breeding panda population in that country. The primary wildlife reserve for pandas to live in the wild is extremely close to the epicenter of the earthquake. National Geographic as full details of the situation at this link. More Science Buzz links to the earthquake can be found here.
UPDATE MAY 14: Panda people, you can breath easier again. All is well with the 86 pandas at the nature reserve at the heart of the Chinese earthquake. Electricty is still out at the preserve, but the pandas are fine.
UPDATE MAY 19: Information from the Wolong Reserve continues to be in flux. Now there are reports that five people were killed at the site and three pandas are missing. You can get full details here.
Tornado chasing: Tornado chasers in Attica, Kansas, captured a tornado passing by their equipment.Courtesy Center for Severe Weather ResearchWith the forces of nature kicking up violently all over the globe in recent days –– an earthquake in China, typhoon in Myanmar and volcano eruption in Chile – getting somewhat overlooked is the rash of tornadoes already this season in the United States.
A total of 98 people have died from damage caused by tornadoes in the U.S. already this year, making it the deadliest tornado season since 1998, with a lot more months of twister action to come. This year already ranks as the seventh most deadly tornado season since records began being kept in 1950.
What’s giving with all of this? As our TV meteorologists always like to remind us, it’s due to the jet stream.
That movement of air at high altitudes has been ideal for tornadoes this year, mixing warm, wet air from the Gulf of Mexico with colder-than-normal air from the Great Lakes region. Here's a cool interactive graphic that shows how tornadoes brew up.
Traditionally, May is the peak month for tornadoes in the southern U.S. while July is the prime time for twisters in the north.
Earthquake in Sichuan, ChinaCourtesy U.S. Geological Survey
Toll from China quake estimated at 3,000 to 5,000
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck central China, but sent thousands of people rushing out of buildings and into the streets hundreds of miles away in Beijing and Shanghai.
The powerful earthquake trapped nearly 900 students in central China on Monday after their school collapsed and at least 107 people were killed across several provinces, state media reported.Yahoo News
New media allows instant news broadcasting
Blogs and a text message like tool called Twitter allowed the blogosphere to witness first person reports in real time (click examples below)
The Myanmar coast on April 15Courtesy NASASatellite images from NASA of the Burma (or Myanmar) coastline show some pretty amazing pre- and post-cyclone images. It's now thought that the death toll from tropical cyclone Nargis could eventually exceed 100,000.
The Myanmar coast on May 5: pictures taken by NASA's Terra satellite.Courtesy NASA
Chevy v. Tornado: It is a car smashed by a tornado. But neither the car nor the tornado from the video link in this post.Courtesy Orfield Photography (via Flickr)Totally sweet video of a tornado smashing up some cars. The best is the two cars that get lifted and smashed together. Though I will say it looks like it missed the nearby Honda Element. Too bad.
