Glacial RetreatNorth America’s largest glacier is melting...

Glacial Retreat

North America’s largest glacier is melting rapidly, and scientists say that global warming linked to the use of fossil fuels is the probably cause. Greenpeace said the Bering Glacier in Alaska has shrunk by up to 7.4 miles in length during the past century.

Typhoon

Typhoon Rosie’s 80-mph winds killed at least two people on land in southern Japan, as huge waves were sent smashing into the country’s coastal seawalls. A 26-foot wave killed three crew members of a fishing trawler off western Japan. The storm later drenched parts of Korea before doubling back and passing again over parts of Japan.

Wildfires

Hurricane-force winds and extremely dry conditions in southern France sparked large wildfires in pine forests and brushland around Mediterranean port of Marseilles. Winds gusting to 90 mph helped spread the blazes through more than 5,000 acres to the north of the city, forcing 1,000 people from their homes.

Extremely dry weather and near-record high temperatures around the Russian city of St. Petersburg were responsible for more than 75 forest fires.

New Volcano

Australian scientists announced the finding of a new volcano on one of the country’s sub-Antarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean. Located on remote McDonald Island, it’s the first volcano to be discovered in the Southern Hemisphere in at least 100 years.

Stork Invasion

Hundreds of storks have set up home in the Spanish city of Malpartida de Caceras, building half-ton nests on rooftops. The birds have built 38 nests on the roof of the city’s 16th century church, and some have nested on residential TV aerials, blacking out reception. Since storks became a protected species, the population has quadrupled to approximately 16,000 in Spain during the past decade. A reduction in farming and the use of pesticides around Malpartida may have caused the birds to return to the city in such numbers.

Earthquakes

Powerful aftershocks of the July 9 Venezuela earthquake rumbled through the country’s Sucre state. The strongest seismic echo registered a magnitude of 4.0 but caused no further damage or injuries.

Earth movements were also felt in central coastal Chile, Costa Rica, Indonesia’s North Moluccas province, northern India, Scotland, Southern California, central Alaska and eastern parts of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Sino Drought

A severe drought and heat wave in eastern China’s Shandong province has killed 200 people and forced factories to close. It has left cities with water shortages and aused more than $1.2 billion in economic losses. Three inches of rain have fallen since June 1, the lowest amount recorded since 1916.

Additional sources: U.S. Climate Analysis Center, U.S. Earthquake Information Center and the World Meteorological Organization.