Temperature
Extremes
High
temperature extreme:
Los Lomitas, Argentina, +108 degrees.
Low temperature extreme:
Niurba, Siberia -79 degrees.
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Spanish
Ibex Extinct
The
very last living Spanish ibex was found dead under a fallen tree
in Ordesa National Park in Spain on Jan. 6.
Forest rangers near the French border found the 13-year-old female
with her skull crushed. The animal was one of a subspecies of
Pyrenees mountain goats, Capra pyrenaica, known in Spain as “bucardo.”
Its population once spread across a broad area from the Sierra
de los Nieves to the French Pyrenees. The ibex was distinguished
by a very thick coat that was adapted to the cold mountain weather,
and horns much larger than those of other mountain goats. Although
the bucardo became a protected species in 1973, shrinking habitat
and poachers eroded its numbers until only the lone surviving
female remained.
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French
Reforestation
The
three million trees that were destroyed by record storms across
France last month will be replaced in an massive reforestation
program announced by the government.
The
storms’ hurricane-force winds destroyed the equivalent of 1,250,000
acres of woodland. Around Paris, half the city’s trees were uprooted,
including historic 200-year-old trees at the Palace of Versailles.
The plan will involve approximately 5,500 previously unemployed
workers to begin the arduous and dangerous first stage of the
process—clearing, cutting and shipping the damaged trees.
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Killing
Cold
At
least 100 people throughout Mexico have died as a result
of a bitter cold snap during the first two weeks of January.
The majority of fatalities have occurred in the northern deserts
of the country, especially in the border state of Chihuahua where
temperatures have plunged to as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
Many of the deaths have been caused by hypothermia, but a significant
number of fatalities have also been caused by faulty heaters.
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Record
Chinese Snowfall
At
least five people have been killed and four others injured in
snowslides in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region.
The
snowfall is the deepest in the lengthy history of the region.
Officials reported that 170 homes have been leveled and 2,000
head of livestock have been killed by the heavy snow that has
fallen since the New Year.
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Killer
Bees Attack School
More
than 20 students in Mexico were attacked by a swarm of Africanized
killer bees at their primary school in Acapulco.
The
victims were taken to the city’s general hospital for treatment
after the attack left five of the children in serious condition.
Officials at the Vicente Guerrero School, where the attack took
place, said that high levels of humidity in the aging structure
had attracted the aggressive bees to colonize there. Classes at
the school were suspended until the bees could be exterminated.
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Desert
Drought Ends
The
first measurable rain in 10 months fell on Dubai in the
United Arab Emirates, and meteorologists predicted that more showers
are likely.
Much of the Middle East has been in the grip of a drought and
traditional Muslim prayers for rain have been held in many cities.
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Tropical
Cyclones
Tropical
cyclone Iris formed over the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu
then lost force to the west of Fiji.
Cyclone
Babioila moved harmlessly over the open waters of the western
Indian Ocean.
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Earthquakes
At
least four people were injured and more than 400 homes were damaged
by a magnitude 5.1 temblor that struck northeast China’s
Liaoning province.
A
magnitude 6.4 quake in Chile’s Antofagasta desert region
knocked out power and cause minor damage.
Earth
movements were also felt in southern Mexico, Northern
California’s Wine Country, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia’s
Irian Jaya province, southern Iran, southeast Turkey,
southern Greece and western Austria.
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Bugged
to Death
The
worst Indonesian grass-hopper invasion since 1968 has devastated
vast areas of cropland in the province of West Kalimantan, driving
farmers into financial ruin and, in some cases, even suicide.
A farmer in the district of Jelai Huli reportedly took his life
after the voracious insects leveled almost three acres of his
crops in a single night. The swarms of crop-eating insects have
devoured massive amounts of grain and rice, triggering fears of
food shortages in the region. Environmentalists blame the plague
on the destruction of nearby rain forests that were habitat to
many birds, which are the grasshoppers’ natural enemies.
