Roofs and pavements If 100 big cities in the world installed white, sloping roofs and changed their pavements to more reflective materials, say concrete in place of heat-absorbing asphalt-based asbestos, the global cooling effect would be massive. This would help reduce 44 gigatonnes of GHG emissions, says data released at California's Annual Climate Change Research Conference.
More to come The May 2008 earthquake in China's Sichuan province has created three major fault systems in the region, which has doubled the probabilities of strong earthquakes along these fault lines in coming years. Using computer simulation, geologists say the earthquakes can be of magnitude 6 or above.
Noise kills Rising levels of noise in oceans are posing a significant threat to the survival of marine mammals, a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare warns. Dolphins and whales produce noise of varying frequency for locating prey. Ships and seismic airguns used in oil and gas exploration generate sounds of interfering frequencies, blocking their communication, it says.
polar sink Melting ice in the northern pole could weaken the greenhouse effect, say researchers from Stanford University, usa. The changing sea surface temperature will lead to a phytoplankton bloom, which will act as a carbon sink.
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