SPOT 7 satellite launched
Paris, France (SPX) Dec 03, 2014 -
SPOT 7, the Earth-observation satellite designed and built by Airbus Defence and Space, has been launched, making its high-resolution imagery available to all users. Together with SPOT 6, Pleiades 1A and 1B, TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X, SPOT 7 makes Airbus Defence and Space the first operator in the world to offer customers a full palette of Earth-imaging data spanning multiple resolution and spectr ...
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Silicon Valley clears out homeless 'Jungle' camp
San Jose, United States (AFP) Dec 05, 2014 -
Authorities began dismantling a notorious homeless camp Thursday known as "The Jungle" in the heart of California's affluent Silicon Valley, where skyrocketing rents have forced hundreds onto the streets.
Municipal workers in white overalls and face masks moved into the camp along a creek in San Jose where some 300 people live in tents and other makeshift lodging.
"It is a disgrace," sai ...
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Localized climate change contributed to ancient southwest depopulation
Pullman WA (SPX) Dec 05, 2014 -
Washington State University researchers have detailed the role of localized climate change in one of the great mysteries of North American archaeology: the depopulation of southwest Colorado by ancestral Pueblo people in the late 1200s. In the process, they address one of the mysteries of modern-day climate change: How will humans react?
Writing in Nature Communications, WSU archaeologist ...
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On solid ground
Paris (ESA) Dec 04, 2014 -
Lovers of architecture and history can rest easy: the stability of historical buildings can now be monitored in real time by a new technique with its roots in space. In the past, if you feared the land beneath your house or road might be shifting, the only method was to install measuring devices, and wait - often for months - to find out.
Today, landowners can determine whether or not they ...
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Millions evacuate as typhoon bears down on Philippines
Tacloban, Philippines (AFP) Dec 05, 2014 -
Millions of people in the Philippines began seeking shelter in churches, schools and other makeshift evacuation centres on Friday as a monster typhoon bore down on the disaster-weary nation.
The storm, which would be the strongest to hit the Southeast Asian archipelago this year, is expected to impact more than half the nation including communities devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan last yea ...
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El Nino's 'remote control' on hurricanes in the Northeastern Pacific
Manoa HI (SPX) Dec 05, 2014 -
El Nino, the abnormal warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, is a well-studied tropical climate phenomenon that occurs every few years. It has major impacts on society and Earth's climate - inducing intense droughts and floods in multiple regions of the globe.
Further, scientists have observed that El Nino greatly influences the yearly variations of tropical cyclones (a ...
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India says will not be bulldozed at climate talks
New Delhi (AFP) Dec 04, 2014 -
India, the world's third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, said Thursday it is committed to tackling global warming but vowed to protect its interests at the latest round of UN climate talks in Lima.
"We will walk with confidence with our own aggressive actions on climate change," India's environment minister Prakash Javadekar told Indian television network NDTV on the eve of his departure for ...
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