20080516 Polar bears listed as US threatened species

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn WASHINGTON - Polar bears were listed on Wednesday as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act because their sea ice habitat is melting away. But the new protection was not accompanied by any proposals to address either climate change, which environmentalists say causes the deterioration of the bears' habitat, or drilling in the Arctic for the fossil fuels that spur the climate-warming greenhouse effect. Polar bears live only in the Arctic and depend on sea ice as a platform for hunting seals. The U.S. Geological Survey said two-thirds of the world's polar bears -- some 16,000 -- could be gone by 2050 if predictions about melting sea ice hold true. This is the first time climate change has been a factor in proposing a threatened status for any U.S. species, and was spurred on by environmentalists who claimed a limited victory in Kempthorne's announcement.

20080516 China quake death toll rises to 22,069

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn BEIJING  -- The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province rose to 22,069 nationwide as of 2 p.m. Friday, while 168,669 people were injured, according to the emergency response office of the State Council. A nurse and a soldier help a patient (C) to cross a bridge in the city of Beichuan, located around 150 km north of Chengdu, in Sichuan Province May 16, 2008.  [Agencies] Altogether 21,577 people were killed in Sichuan, close to 2,000 up from Thursday, and 159,006 injured. In its neighbouring regions, 364 were killed in Gansu, 109 in Shaanxi, 15 in Chongqing, 2 in Henan, one in Yunnan, and one in Hubei. The ministry is planning to arrange adoptions of quake orphans, with the number of homeless children increasing and more concerned organizations and individuals proposing for adoption. The orphans are currently taken care of by local governments.

20080516 Official worries over possible plague at Sichuan quake epicenter

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn YINGXIU TOWN, Sichuan -- Plague could break out in quake-hit areas if victims' bodies were not buried soon, a local official told Xinhua on Thursday. High temperatures would quicken the rotting of bodies, and plague would break out, he warned. Some bodies are put together on the ground in the town, and there is already bad smell in the air. He said some survivors have fetched water from a mountain spring, but it is unclear if the water is safe for drinking. On Thursday afternoon, Gao Qiang, deputy health minister, vowed that the central government aims to prevent the outbreak of large-scale epidemic. He said the bodies of the dead would be handled properly as soon as possible to prevent harmful bacteria from growing.

20080516 衛星圖揭山泥掩孤城 山體下滑 道路堵塞 河道被截

clipped from http://www.mingpaonews.com/20080516/gap1.htm 【明報專訊】救援部隊從四面八方開入四川省內近60個災情最嚴重鄉鎮，至昨午仍有逾20個無法全面進駐，包括總理溫家寶於周三早上曾嘗試進入失敗、距重災區北川縣城約兩公里的曲山鎮。中文大學太空與地球信息研究所透過分析最新衛星圖，揭示泥沙背後的一個個孤城面貌，當中有衛星圖片顯示，曲山鎮已被山泥吞噬，在鎮旁的湔江更出現最少3處堵塞，上游囤積河水，有可能引發山洪，威脅都江堰等下游災城。 救援部隊昨攀山涉水，沿水陸兩路進駐震央汶川縣等地，希望盡快進入所有重災鄉鎮，但部分較偏僻鄉鎮只有險要山路連接，地震引發的大型山泥傾瀉令多條道路堵塞，令這些山中鄉鎮與世隔絕。 「只緣身在此山中，不識廬山真面目」，中文大學太空與地球信息研究所所長林琿說，只有透過衛星圖片和微波遙感才能穿透雲層，從高空角度掌握四川災情全局。他表示，研究所與台灣大學及美國密西根大學中國數據中心，已編制出四川地震災害地理信息地圖，分析距離震央10至600公里的縣市人口分佈、傷亡情況等，在網上更新發布，協助當局研判災情。 研究所周三率先獲得首兩張由台灣福衛2號衛星拍得的北川縣曲山鎮現況，林琿把該圖片與去年7月地震前同一地點的衛星圖作比較分析，顯示原來翠綠山林出現大規模山體滑波，山坡充斥鬆散泥沙，大量山泥塌下曲山鎮中心。他推斷，大批平房已被泥沙淹沒，相信已造成嚴重傷亡，災情嚴峻。 他又發現，穿過曲山鎮的湔江最少有3段每段長1公里的河道被完全堵塞截斷。他憂慮，堵塞河道可能會出現「堰塞湖」現象。他指出，暫時從圖片未見到被堵河道的上游水位有上升之勢，若現場落大雨，或上游水庫有險情，河水會在堵塞之處囤積成湖，當壓力太大，河水會衝破「泥壩」引發洪水，威脅都江堰等下游災區。

20080515 中大太空與地球信息科學研究所

clipped from http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpr/pressrelease/080515.htm 2008年5月12日以四川汶川地區為中心的7.8級大地震造成嚴重的人命傷亡。香港中文大學（中大）太空與地球信息研究所啟動對「512」四川大地震的受災影響評估網站（http://www.iseis.cuhk.edu.hk/gb/special/sichuan.htm）。 目前，網站提供的信息包括： 1. 災害地區地理信息圖：包括距離震央十公里至六百公里各縣市人口分佈的狀況、各受災縣市總人口，以及最新傷亡人數等。 2. 災害地區遙感數據： 台灣福衛二號衛星2008年5月14日衛星圖像，從圖像看到滑坡、公路及房屋損毀情況

20080515 汶川餘震為何如此頻密

clipped from www.atchinese.com 中新社記者德永健報道，四川汶川地震災區十四日上午再次發生五點六級餘震，最新統計表明，迄今，當地餘震發生總數已經達到三千三百八十九次。對此，北京地質專家提醒，通過對汶川地震類型特點的分析，汶川地區的餘震料將持續一段時間，這將為救援工作帶來新的困難。 為什麼會有這麼多次的餘震？是否每一次地震都是同樣的情況？記者今天專門採訪了中國地質科學院地質力學所研究員鄧乃恭。 鄧乃恭指出，不同於一九七六年的唐山地震，汶川地震屬於“逆沖型”地震，該類地震由地層斷層的上部上移而引發，地震釋放能量的速度相對比較緩慢，能量難以一次性全部釋放，所需要的時間就會更長，因此預計汶川地區的餘震可能將持續一段時間。 十二日下午兩點二十八分發生的汶川地震與三十二年前發生的唐山地震同為七點八級，但鄧乃恭表示，汶川地震造成的死亡人數將肯定少於唐山地震二十四萬多人的死亡人數。 原因有四：一是汶川地震震中地區的居民數量要比唐山少；二是汶川地震震源要比唐山地震震源深一些。資料顯示，唐山地震震源深度為十二公里；三是汶川地震發生在下午，而唐山地震發生在人們睡得最熟的淩晨三點多，這使得當時很多人在睡夢中就被奪去了生命；第四，現在中國的救援設施與調動能力也大大強於從前。 鄧乃恭提醒，汶川地震與唐山地震在震後均持續下雨，但與地處平原的唐山有所不同，汶川屬於山區，連續的降雨很容易帶來山體滑坡、泥石流乃至衍生疾病、瘟疫等“次生災害”，致使目前停水停電、防疫能力異常脆弱的災區陷入“原生災害”與“次生災害”的連環困境之中，造成新的人員傷亡，這一點須被救援人員所警惕和預防。 來源：中國新聞網

20080515 Greenhouse gases highest for 800,000 years

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn Carbon dioxide and methane trapped in tiny bubbles of air in ancient ice down to 3,200 metres (10,500 ft) below the surface of Antarctica add 150,000 years of data to climate records stretching back 650,000 years from shallower ice drilling. "We can firmly say that today's concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane are 28 and 124 percent higher respectively than at any time during the last 800,000 years," Greenhouse gases are at higher levels in the atmosphere than at any time in at least 800,000 years, according to a study of Antarctic ice on Wednesday that extends evidence that mankind is disrupting the climate. The U.N. Climate Panel last year blamed human activities, led by burning of fossil fuels that release heat-trapping gases, for modern global warming that may disrupt water and food supplies with ever more droughts, floods and heatwaves.