Fighting floods

the Institute of Hydrology (ih), England, has developed a hydrological radar system which combines weather radar and rain gauges to estimate rainfall over river catchments in the past, as well as forecasts of future rain. Data is fed into the River Flow Forecasting System (rffs) which provides forecasts of possible river flooding across a region. The system can be applied to any river network. New models, relevant to a specific area can be easily added.

Sea strikes

AS A result of the Atlantic ocean pounding the beautiful island of Victoria in Lagos with eerie regularity, the coastline of the island has receded at the rate of five metres a year. Most residents, who belong to the upper-income strata, are planning to move out of the island to avoid staying for days in water-logged homes every time the ocean surges forward.

Pollution strikes

lightning could be primarily responsible for global warming, as it produces a quarter of the planet's concentration of nitrogen oxides (nox), according to a recent study conducted by Colin Price and his team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, us (New Scientist, Vol 153, No 2066).

Dead... naturally!

In the last two decades, the number of persons affected by disasters increased at the rate of six per cent per year, which corresponds to three times the annual population growth. There were nearly 600 natural catastrophes in 1995 which claimed about 20,000 lives, displaced millions and resulted in total financial losses of around US $180 billion (the figures for 1994 were 580 disasters, 10,000 deaths and loss of $65 billion). Out of the $180 billion, the Kobe earthquake alone caused a loss of US $96 billion.

Change in cycles

Disasters occur in cycles, suggests a recent study. A discovery by researchers at the National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad, lends force to their earlier finding that geological and biological calamities including climate changes, sea-level changes and mass extinctions operate cyclically. It has been found that dolomite rocks in deep sea undergo changes in cycles.

UNITED NATIONS

With the world perilously close to a global crisis in infectious diseases, the UN health body has chalked out a 20-point programme on how to prevent it. WHO has admitted that the promised slogan of "health for all by the year 2000" may not after all be met considering the onslaught of new diseases and the revival of old.

Tantrums of the "Christ Child"

MONTSERRAT

A sleeping giant is about to come to life at the British colony of Montserrat in Eastern Caribbean. Eruptions and emissions of ash from a volcano dormant for centuries have sent almost 1,000 people scurrying from their homes.

Insurance traumas

FINANCIAL planners in insurance companies across the world hold their breath as the world leaders squabble over new cuts in greenhouse gas emissions at the Berlin Climate Convention Summit. The phenomenon of global warming might seriously affect their future, says Richard Keeling of the Harvey Bowring Lloyd's Syndicate, London. The spiraling costs of covering for floods, earthquakes, rainstorms and other natural disasters might soon prove to be a backbreaking burden, he warns. Figures released by Munich Re,

Temblor trauma

THE January 17 earthquake near Kobe in western Japan exacted a grim toll: over 5,000 dead -- and climbing -- and more than 23,600 injured, about 280,000 homeless; heavy infrastructural damage like collapsed highways, railroads and buildings. Epicentred 20 km below the tiny island of Awajishima in the Seto inland sea, the earthquake's devastating impact was felt in the Hyogo and Osaka prefectures, too.