| May 7, 2006 | -
Chinese
scientists said that the glaciers of the Tibetan plateau were evaporating. "The melting glaciers," said Dong Guangrong, "will ultimately trigger more droughts, expand desertification, and increase sand storms." One such storm recently dumped over 300,000 tons of dust in Beijing; technicians cleaned away some of the dust by firing seven rocket shells filled with silver iodide into the air to produce four-tenths of an inch of rainfall.
| Source 1:
The Independent
Source 2:
China View
|
| September 1, 2005 | - Up to twelve more tropical storms were expected through November.
| Source:
Common Dreams
|
| August 26, 2005 | -
Hurricane Katrina killed 11 people in Florida, and more than a million homes and businesses lost power. Katrina then crossed over the Gulf of Mexico and went ashore east of New Orleans, becoming a Category 5 storm along the way. "PERSONS . . . PETS . . . AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS," said the National Weather Service, "WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK . . . WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS." The hurricane eventually weakened to a tropical storm; winds tore off parts of the roof of the Superdome, where thousands of poor people sought shelter, and at least 55 people were killed in Mississippi.
| Source 1:
AP
Source 2:
The Roanoke Times
|
| July 29, 2005 | - Officials in Senegal, concerned about the encroaching desert, were considering a proposal to plant a three-mile-wide, 4,375-mile-long wall of trees.
| Source:
Reuters
|
| July 28, 2005 | - The Boy Scout National Jamboree was held at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. The Senate passed the Support Our Scouts Act of 2005, guaranteeing the Boy Scouts the right to use federal land whether the organization discriminates against atheists and gays or not. The Senate also noted that holding the Jamboree on a military base gave U.S. soldiers the opportunity to practice the “preparation, logistics, and leadership” needed in combat. At the Jamboree four scout leaders were electrocuted while setting up a tent, and three hundred people were treated for heat-related symptoms. In California, a scoutmaster and a thirteen-year-old scout were killed by lightning.
| Source 1:
CNN.com
Source 2:
SWNebr.net
Source 3:
WBOC16
Source 4:
Thomas.loc.gov
|
| July 25, 2005 | - A massive dust cloud thousands of miles across was heading from the Sahara Desert toward the United States.
| Source:
CNN.com
|
| July 18, 2005 | - It was hurricane season.
| Source:
PR Newswire
|
| July 9, 2005 | -
Hurricane Dennis killed thirty-two people in the Caribbean.
| Source:
Reuters
|
| October 8, 2004 | - Weather experts said that the United States experienced a record number of tornadoes in August and September.
| Source:
New York Times
|
| September 25, 2004 | - Armed gangs rioted in Haiti outside a food distribution center in Gonaives, which was largely destroyed by tropical storm Jeanne.
| Source:
Newsday
|
| September 3, 2004 | - Millions of people in Florida were evacuated because of Hurricane Frances.
| Source:
Agence France-Presse
|
| August 20, 2004 | -
Dust storms were on the increase.
| Source:
New Scientist
|
| August 19, 2004 | - Twenty-seven inmates of the county jail in Clearwater, Florida, who were released so that they could flee Hurricane Charley were still at large; 256 inmates were let out of jail but most returned in four days as instructed.
| Source:
WTSP Tampa
|
| August 18, 2004 | - The European Environment Agency said that winters on the continent could disappear by 2080.
| Source:
Reuters
|
| August 14, 2004 | -
Hurricane Charley killed 13 people in Florida and caused an estimated $20 billion worth of damage.
| Source:
Reuters, New York Times
|
| January 5, 2004 | -
Afghanistan's loya jirga approved a new constitution; the country will be known henceforth as the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and no law will be made contrary to Islamic belief. "There is rain coming," said Sebaghatullah Mojadeddi, the council chairman, "and flowers are coming from my body."
| Source:
New York Times
|
| December 29, 2003 | - The FBI issued a national alert to watch out for people carrying almanacs, because almanacs, which contain all kinds of useful information, could be used by terrorists.
| Source:
Associated Press
|
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