Indonesian supervolcano’s eruption caused decade of fatal winters 74,000 years ago

October 2nd, 2009 Obama extends condolences to Indonesian presidentWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has spoken with Indonesia's president to offer his condolences for the devastating earthquake that struck West Sumatra. The White House says Obama got through to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SOO'-see-loh BAM'-bang yoo-doo-YOH'-noh) on Friday morning after several unsuccessful tries to reach him since Wednesday's quake.

October 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have found that seismic forces have twisted an Italian supervolcano's interiors, giving scientists an unprecedented glimpse deep into the feature's explosive plumbing-and a better shot at deciphering when the next one might blow. The now fossilized supervolcano last erupted about 280 million years ago, leaving behind an 8-mile-wide (13-kilometer-wide) caldera, which was recently discovered in the Italian Alps' Sesia Valley.

September 21st, 2009 SYDNEY - A scientist has said that a volcanic eruption is "well overdue" in Australia from the past 3,000 years and there are hundreds of volcanoes that could cause trouble, from South Australia and Victoria through to Queensland. According to a report by Fairfax Digital Network, Melbourne geologist Bernie Joyce has made the warning.

September 21st, 2009 MELBOURNE - A significant volcano eruption in Australia is 'well overdue' and emergency authorities must better prepare themselves and the wider community to respond to it, the recipient of the prestigious Geological Society of Australia (Victoria Division) Selwyn Medal for 2009 has warned. Internationally-respected Melbourne geologist and Geological Society of Australia member, Associate Professor Bernie Joyce will receive the Selwyn Medal Thursday at the Geological Society of Australia's (Victoria Division) annual Selwyn Symposium 2009.

August 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists is all set to study an island in the process of rebirth after a volcanic eruption destroyed life on it recently. When Alaska's Kasatochi Volcano erupted on August 7, 2008, it virtually sterilized Kasatochi Island, covering the small Aleutian island with a layer of ash and other volcanic material several meters thick.

July 18th, 2009 Obama offers support to Indonesia's presidentWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has called Indonesia's leader to express support for the Indonesian government and people after suicide attacks at two hotels killed seven people. Obama spoke on Saturday with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SOO'-see-loh BAM'-bang yoo-doo-YOH'-noh).

July 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has discounted a theory which suggested that when a giant volcano on Sumatra blew its top 74,000 years ago, the Earth went into deep freeze, cooling the climate by at least 10 degrees Celsius. The volcano, named Toba, may have ejected 1000 times more rock and other material than Mount St.

July 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has determined that glaciers are the reason behind seismic activity and earthquakes in Iceland. The study was carried out by Kristin Jonsdottir, Roland Roberts, Veijo Pohjola, Bjorn Lund, Zaher Hossein Shomali, Ari Tryggvason, and Reynir Boovarsson from the Department of Earth Science, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

July 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has provided evidence for climate change as the cause of the mysterious decrease in the size of wild sheep on the Scottish island of Hirta. According to the researchers, due to climate change, survival conditions on Hirta are becoming less challenging, which means slower-growing, smaller sheep are more likely to survive the winters than they once were.

June 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study by researchers at the University of Georgia, US, has determined that global warming may mean dry autumns and winters that may lead to fewer tornadoes in the spring. The study pins down, possibly for the first time, how drought conditions in an area's fall and winter may affect tornado activity the following spring.

May 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at the University of Leeds in the UK have uncovered a previously unknown giant volcanic eruption that led to global mass extinction 260 million years ago. The eruption in the Emeishan province of south-west China unleashed around half a million cubic kilometers of lava, covering an area 5 times the size of Wales, and wiping out marine life around the world.

May 8th, 2009 Scientist says volcanic eruption in Congo imminentKINSHASA, Congo — Scientists found evidence of intense volcanic activity — including tremors, pools of lava and plumes of smoke — at two volcanoes near a major city in eastern Congo, and said some residents had fled for fear of an eruption. The volcanoes in the central African nation could be about to erupt, threatening Goma, which has a population of more than half a million people, scientists said Thursday.

March 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Redoubt Volcano in Alaska, has roared into activity overnight with a series of eruptions that blew ash as high as 9.5 miles (15 kilometers) into the sky, with scientists saying that more such explosions are due. According to a report in National Geographic News, the Redoubt Volcano eruption has already sparked earthquake swarms and mudflows, and more are expected-along with perhaps a new lava dome.

March 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A man, understood to be the pastor of the First Baptist Church in the US town of Maryville, Illinois, was shot dead Sunday by an assailant, local media reports said. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said the assailant walked into the Sunday service at the church and shot the Reverend Fred Winters, who died shortly afterwards at hospital.

January 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Big volcanic eruptions cooled the tropics over the past 450 years, an effect masked by rising global temperatures, says a new study. Scientists already agree that large eruptions have lowered temperatures at higher latitudes in recent centuries, because volcanic particles reflect sunlight back into space.