Nevado del Ruiz - 25th anniversary of eruption

Although the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz (or Mount Ruiz) on November 13, 1985, was relatively small, the ensuing mudslides caused by melting ice and snow resulted in the the death of 23,000 people and the destruction of the town of Armero. Most of the residents would have survived had they moved to higher ground. This eruption brought attention to the fact that growing numbers of people live within the danger zones of the world's volcanoes.

Nevado del Ruiz Volcano is located approximately 140 kilometers to the northwest of Colombia’s capital, Bogotá. Covering over 200 square kilometers, Nevado del Ruiz is a large stratovolcano built from successive layers of lava, ash, and pyroclastic flow deposits. The volcano is fed by magma generated above the boundary between the subducting Nazca and overriding South American tectonic plates. The historical record of eruptions at the volcano extends back to 1570, but the most damaging eruption in recent times took place in 1985.

To mark this anniversary, the LRC has put together a display. The following links also provide you with more information about the 1985 eruption and devasting lahar plus information about the volcano and eruptions throughout its history.

BBCNEWS On this Day
How Volcanoes Work (Nevado del Ruiz
Earth Observatory
Nevado del Ruiz eruption history.
Nevado del Ruiz Eruption and Lahar 1985 (USGS)

Mapping future Global water stress

An extremely interesting article about the future of water available to nature and humans.

"About 80% of the world's population lives in areas where the fresh water supply is not secure, according to a new global analysis.

Researchers compiled a composite index of "water threats" that includes issues such as scarcity and pollution.

The most severe threat category encompasses 3.4 billion people.

Writing in the journal Nature, they say that in western countries, conserving water for people through reservoirs and dams works for people, but not nature.

They urge developing countries not to follow the same path.

"What we're able to outline is a planet-wide pattern of threat”
Charles Vorosmarty, City College of New York.

Instead, they say governments should work to invest in water management strategies that combine infrastructure with "natural" options such as safeguarding watersheds, wetlands and flood plains.

for more on the story go to BBC Environment

Gulf oil leak: Biggest ever, but how bad?

Following release of the US government's latest estimate, the Deepwater Horizon disaster is confirmed as the biggest ever accidental release of oil into the oceans.

It exceeds the 1979 Ixtoc I leak - also in the Gulf of Mexico. It's comfortably bigger than tanker releases such as the Torrey Canyon and Amoco Cadiz, and 20 times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill with which it is often compared.

Now that BP finally appears to have the flow under control, an important question - perhaps the most important of all - is being asked: it may have been the biggest, but was it the worst?

BBCNews and environment continues the debate and for more information on the BP Oil Spillage visit this excellent site dealing with all aspects of the impact of the oil spill.

2010: International Year of Biodiversity

The UN has launched the International Year of Biodiversity, warning that the ongoing loss of species around the world is affecting human well-being.
Eight years ago, governments pledged to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, but the pledge will not be met.
Richard Black(Environment correspondent, BBC News website) reports further on the BBC Environment website

Our Climate in Chaos - an illustrated talk by Dr Tom Rippeth

On Thursday 5th November 2009, Dr Tom Rippeth will be giving an illustrated talk at Yale College Grove Park at 1.30pm.

The talk will include insight about the climate change we are seeing, and particularly some of Tom's work in the High Arctic. His visit to Yale coincides with a road trip of a number of meetings ahead of the December's UN Summit on Climate Change, to help people understand the problems we face with climate change, and the likely action which the UN Summit will call.

Tom Rippeth is a leading Welsh Climate Scientist and is a Reader in Oceanography and climate at the Bangor University's world renown School of Ocean Sciences. Tom is a visiting scientist at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, Liverpool. He has published 50 papers in top international science journals and been invited to speak at many top Oceanography and Climate conferences in the UK and the USA. Tom has a PhD in Physical Oceanography and is a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society.

You can read more about Tom's science here

Bangor Scientist's Global Warming Warning

Planet Earth

Warmer Sea slows new Arctic ice

Bangor Scientists head for the North Pole

'Scary' UK climate ad faces probe

A £6m government ad warning about climate change is to be investigated by watchdogs over claims it is misleading and too "scary" for children.
The Advertising Standards Authority has received 357 complaints about the Department of Energy and Climate Change's "bedtime stories" ad.
The ad aims to make adults feel guilty about the impact their carbon emissions are having on their children's future.
It is being used to promote DECC's Act on CO2 carbon reduction initiative.
The minute-long ad, which launched on 9 October, features a father telling his daughter a bedtime story about "a very very strange" world with "horrible consequences" for children.
It then goes on to show streets and houses underwater, with cartoon animals and people drowning and a jagged-tooth monster in the sky, representing global warming.

What do you think? For more on this article go to BBCNews

Deadly tsunami in Pacific Islands

A tsunami triggered by a strong quake in the South Pacific has killed at least 65 people in Samoa and more than 20 in American Samoa, say reports.

The Samoan authorities say at least another 145 people have been injured and whole villages destroyed.

American Samoa's delegate to the US Congress said thousands of people had been left homeless in the territory.

An 8.3-magnitude quake struck at 1748 GMT, generating 15ft (4.5m) waves in some areas of the islands.

The Samoa islands comprise two separate entities - the nation of Samoa and American Samoa, a US territory - with a total population of about 250,000 people.

A tsunami warning was initially issued for the wider region but cancelled a few hours later.

The general manager of Samoa's National Health Service told the BBC that 65 people had died and 145 people were injured.

President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in American Samoa, enabling federal funding to made available to help victims.

For more information visit BBC News or Yahoo! News