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Flooding in Burma
Extent of Flooding in Burma
May 17 | Earth Observatory

Mapping the extent of flooding during a cyclone or other tropical storm is very difficult because cloud cover obscures the view of the earth from space. Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed a method of assembling data for improved mapping of inundated areas.

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China aftershocks
China Earthquake Aftershock Trends
May 15 | Geology.com

This image is a USGS plot of epicenters of the main shock and the after shocks for the Sichuan, China earthquake. The spread of epicenters along the fault is an indication of the tremendous strain accumulated prior to rupture.

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Hurricane Katrina
Photos: World’s Deadliest Storms
May 15 | MSNBC

View a photo slideshow of some of the world’s most destructive storms since 1970. Included are: Cyclone Nargis, Cyclone Sidr, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Mitch, Tropical Storm Thelma, Super Typhoon Nina, and the Bhola Cyclone, among others.

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China
Zipingku Dam: Cracks Discovered After China’s Earthquake
May 14 | Sky News

Dangerous cracks have been discovered in he Zipingku Dam, located about five kilometers upstream from the earthquake damaged community of Dujiangyan.

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China Map
China Earthquake: News, Videos, Photos, Maps
May 14 | Geology.com

Information on the Eastern Sichuan, China magnitude 7.9 earthquake from USGS, newspapers and online news sources.

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Cyclone Nargis
Cyclone Nargis - Updated News Items
May 13 | Geology.com

The impact of this cyclone is being compared to Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 tsunami. The flow of aid is still very slow into the country and journalists live in fear.

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Typhoon Rammasun
Typhoon Rammasun
May 13 | Earth Observatory

Typhoon Rammasun, was a Category 4 super typhoon moving northeast over the Philippine Sea when this image was captured on May 11. It is predicted to lose strength and dissipate without striking land; however, the heavy rains can still cause flooding and landslides.

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Earthquake
China Earthquake: Thousands of Aftershocks
May 13 | Channel NewsAsia

Aftershocks continued to occur in western China through Tuesday, May 13, when a magnitude 5.9 tremor shook Sichuan’s capital of Chengdu at 3:10 PM local time. Almost 2,000 aftershocks have occurred in the earthquake-prone area since Monday, and are hindering rescue efforts.

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earthquake
China Earthquake Kills 10,000
May 12 | MSNBC NEWS

The 7.9 magnitude earthquake early today in China is thought to have killed an estimated 10,000 people. It destroyed small towns north of Sichuan’s provincial capital of Chengdu. It was felt as far away as Vietnam.

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China
China Earthquake: Magnitude 7.8 Strikes Eastern Sichuan
May 12 | USGS

A major earthquake struck western China today, at 2:28 PM local time. There are early reports of damage and casualties…

School Collapse
Three Gorges Dam Not Damaged

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Cyclone Nargis
Cyclone Nargis: News, Images, Summary
May 12 | Geology.com

A collection of images, maps and summary information related to Cyclone Nargis that struck Myanmar (Burma) on May 2, 2008.

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Vietnam
Vietnam is Building a $6 Billion Oil Refinery
May 12 | AFP News

Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation, PetroVietnam, a state-run oil company, is partnering with Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Company and Kuwait Petroleum International to build a $6 Billion refinery in Thanh Hoa Province, about 125 miles south of Hanoi.

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Russia Could Determine the Price of Oil
May 10 | MSN Money

Russia has a greater ability to determine the course of oil prices than Exxon or Saudi Arabia. Their struggling banking system and run-away inflation will determine their ability and desire to produce oil.

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myanmar-cyclone-rainfall.jpg
Cyclone Nargis Track Map and Rainfall Totals
May 8 | Earth Observatory

Earth Observatory has a track map for Cyclone Nargis that shows its location and intensity between April 28 and May 4. A color overlay shows rainfall totals from the storm. As of May 7, 2008, the number of people killed was estimated at more than 22,000, according to news reports citing the Myanmar government, with twice that many people still missing and feared dead.

Satellite Images of Cyclone Nargis Flooding

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Myanmar cyclone
Myanmar Cyclone Death Toll Tops 100,000
May 7 | MSNBC

Millions of people in Myanmar are waiting for aid to arrive. The cyclone that hit last weekend washed a 15-foot high storm surge onto the coastline that drowned thousands and swept away the homes of a million.

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japan earthquake
Japan Earthquake: Magnitude 6.8 off East Coast of Honshu
May 7 | USGS Earthquake Hazards Program

A large earthquake occurred off the east coast of Honshu, Japan. USGS reports a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 and their shakemap estimates intensity VII effects in areas of the coastline near the epicenter. It occurred at 1:45 local time and was preceded by smaller earthquakes.

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Beijing China Map
Clean Air for the Beijing Olympics
May 7 | GEOTIMES

Beijing, China has a long-standing reputation for air that is thick with pollution and haze. In the past few years they claim to have spent about $17 billion trying to clean it up. A GEOTIMES article takes a look at the problem and the progress.

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copper
China to Build Peru’s Largest Smelting Plant
May 7 | AFP News

China is investing a lot more in South America. Aluminum Corporation of China is spending $2.15 billion on the Toromocho Copper Project. This site has an estimated 1.526 millon tons in copper reserves and will host a new smelter to yield 250,000 tons per year.

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Cyclone Nargis
Myanmar Cyclone Death Toll Hits 10,000
May 6 | MSNBC.com

Tropical Cyclone Nargis has killed 10,000 people in Myanmar and the count is expect to rise much higher. Many people are blaming the government for failing to issue warnings and to quickly accept offers of aid from other countries.

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Cyclone Nargis
Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis Report and Pictures
May 4 | CNN

Hundreds of people are feared dead after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar (Burma) this weekend. A state of emergency has been declared for three cities (Yangon, Irrawaddy, Pegu) and two states (Karen and Mon).

Pictures of Cyclone Nargis aftermath at CNN

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Ganges River
MSU Research on Ganges River Pollution
May 3 | Montana State University

Montana State University researchers have identified numerous types of pollution in the Ganges River of India. Their work has been reported to the Indian Supreme Court in support of renewed efforts to clean up the river.

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Cyclone Nargis
Tropical Cyclone Nargis
May 1 | Earth Observatory

Tropical Storm Nargis formed into a cyclone on April 27th in the Bay of Bengal. It is now moving towards Myanmar (Burma) where it is expected to make landfall between May 2nd and May 3rd. Cyclone season in the North Indian Ocean runs from April through December. There are an average of five named storms per year with only two becoming full tropical cyclones.

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Crops in India
Record Crops in India
April 30 | Earth Observatory

“At the end of March, India’s spring crops were ripening in advance of harvest in April. With the harvest in the spring of 2008, the country’s rice and corn production were set to reach record levels according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory release.

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praying mantis
Praying Mantis Found Fossilized in Amber
April 29 | National Geographic News

An 87-million-year-old praying mantis was found in Japan, preserved in amber. The specimen dates back to the Cretaceous period. Worldwide, only six other mantis specimens from this time period are known to exist - but this particular mantis has some unique characteristics.

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Japan
Japan Explores the Nankai Trough
April 22 | BBC

Scientists in Japan have begun work on an extensive project that aims to predict earthquakes and tsunamis. They have drilled into the fault zone of the Nankai Trough and retrieved cores of sea floor, which are being used to map stress lines along the subduction zone. Their findings could be applied to similar areas, such as the Sunda Trench, which was the origin of the massive Indonesian tsunami in 2004.

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Sand Fountain
Sand Fountain in Saudi Arabia
April 22 | Muxlim.tv

A short (91 seconds) video of what appears to be a sand fountain near Al-Ahsae City in eastern Saudi Arabia. The sand was being lifted about 9 meters into the air. Submitted by Dr. Ajaz Karim.

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Caspian Sea Haze
Haze Over the Caspian Sea
April 20 | Earth Observatory

This image shows the plume of haze curving over the water’s surface. Underneath the plume, much of the water appears blue-green, thanks to the Sea’s shallow northern depths. To the south the sea is a dark blue.

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Typhoon Neoguri
Typhoon Neoguri
April 18 | Earth Observatory

Earth Observatory has a few images of Typhoon Neoguri which is currently moving over Vietnam. This image shows rainfall patterns of this first typhoon of the 2008 season in the western Pacific Ocean.

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Tracking Pollution from China To North America
April 14 | NASA

Tracking China's Pollution
In a new NASA study, researchers taking advantage of improvements in satellite sensor capabilities, offer the first measurement-based estimate of the amount of pollution from East Asian forest fires, urban exhaust, and industrial production that makes its way to western North America. (NASA Image)

Related stories.
India
Climate Change Will Have Biggest Impact on Developing Countries
April 14 | Strategic Risk

In 2007, worldwide losses from natural disasters was about $82 billion. The pattern of future damage is expected to disproportionately hit developing countries such as India.

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Taklimakan Desert
Taklimakan Desert Dust Storm
April 10 | Earth Observatory

Earth Observatory has a satellite image of a dust storm in the Taklimakan Desert. It shows beige plumes near the desert’s edge, especially in the southwest. Most of the white areas in this image are snowcaps on the nearby mountains.

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Indonesia
First Lungless Frog Discovered in Indonesia
April 9 | National Geographic News

On the island of Borneo, Indonesia, biologists have discovered that a rare frog species breathes entirely through its skin. This adaptation is likely in response to the frog’s habitat of rapidly flowing cold water, which holds more dissolved oxygen than warm water. It is the first frog ever discovered with this evolutionary trait.

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Reformed Poachers Help Save Rare Birds
April 8 | MSNBC

Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake is home to a number of rare water birds. In the late 1990s, rampant poaching had threatened their colonies with extinction. Since then, a conservation project has been implemented to convert poachers into park rangers…and has met with surprising results.

Related stories.
earthquake
Big Tokyo Quake Would Cause Human Gridlock
April 6 | Terra Daily

If a large earthquake hit Tokyo and everyone left their buildings it would result in six humans per square meter on the street. That’s just the start of the problem.

Related stories.
Philippines
Mt. Diwalwal (Philippines) Landslide Threat
April 2 | GMA News

The Philippines office of Mines and Geosciences recommends relocation of many residents on the flank of Mt. Diwalwal after finding large fissures in the ground. Mining activity is being blamed.

Related stories.
philippines.gif
Liquefaction Hazard in Rizal, Philippines
April 2 | Manila Standard Today

Over 50,000 squatter families have taken refuge on a waste dump in the Philippines that has been placed as fill along the shoreline of Laguna de Bay. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology says that this area has a very high risk of liquefaction. Earthquakes shake this area frequently.

Related stories.
dust eastern Mediterranean
Dust over the Eastern Mediterranean
March 29 | Earth Observatory

Earth Observatory has an interesting satellite image of Saharan dust blowing northward over the Mediterranean Sea then turning east and blowing over the Black Sea. It is surprising how the plume stays intact all the way to the Black Sea, even with a direction change.

Related stories.
USGS
Pakistan Declines USGS Help With Mapping and Survey
March 29 | GIS Development

The United States Geological Survey and the United States Naval Research Laboratory offered to help Pakistan with research and mapping. The offer was declined because it might be a security risk.

Related stories.
Japan
Fossil Found of World’s Oldest Herbivorous Lizard
March 28 | National Geographic News

A 130-million-year-old fossil found in Japan is thought to be the world’s oldest fully herbivorous lizard. The fossil raises questions of whether flowering plants existed at this time in history, which is millions of years sooner than when these plants are thought to have appeared.

Related stories.
Yellow River Ice Dam
Broken Ice Dam Forces 13,000 From Homes in China
March 27 | Earth Observatory

Cold weather in China caused one of the heaviest ice accumulations in decades to form on the Yellow River. An ice dam broke last week and an enormous flood of water and ice swept down the channel. About 13,000 people were evacuated.

Related stories.

Google Earth
Free High Resolution Satellite Images - Google Earth
Promotion | Geology.com
Google Earth is a free download that will allow you to view recent satellite images of Earth in 3D. Worldwide coverage. Fly over landscapes and cities, or zoom in on your house! This is the same program used by national news networks to give you great satellite images. Free download.


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