Link established between Aussie bushfires and Indian Ocean conditions

October 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has suggested that there may be plenty of oxygen available in the global ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa to support life, in fact, a hundred times more oxygen than previously estimated. The global ocean on Europa contains about twice the liquid water of all the Earth's oceans combined.

September 18th, 2009 LONDON - Scientists at a new interdisciplinary research group in Austria are working to uncover how life might evolve with "exotic" biochemistry and solvents, such as sulfuric acid instead of water. The research group for Alternative Solvents as a Basis for Life Supporting Zones in (Exo-) Planetary Systems was established by the University of Vienna.

September 7th, 2009 CHENNAI - Some time between Sep 20 and 25, India will launch a specialised satellite to watch over the Indian Ocean, an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said Monday. Oceansat 2 will be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) into a sun-synchronous orbit 720 km above the earth, the official said on phone from ISRO's launch centre at Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), 70 km from here.

August 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A scientist of Indian origin from Purdue University, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, has determined in a new research that tropical storms endure over wet land, and fizzle when conditions are dry. More than 30 years of monsoon data from India showed that ground moisture where the storms make landfall is a major indicator of what the storm will do from there.

August 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have found that the large-scale autumn bloom of microscopic marine algae known as phytoplankton in the southwest Indian Ocean was driven by diatoms in 2005, not by nitrogen-fixing blue-green algae. The observations were made by researchers based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS), during a 2005 hydrographic survey south and east of Madagascar while aboard the royal research ship RRS Discovery.

August 10th, 2009 USGS: huge earthquake hits in Indian OceanWASHINGTON —U.S. officials on Monday reported that a huge 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck in the Indian Ocean and issued a regional tsunami watch for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh that was lifted later.

August 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that seasonal winds might drive current variability in the northern Indian Ocean. The research was carried out by J.

July 26th, 2009 ADDIS ABABA - A long-expected fibre-optic cable linking southern and eastern Africa to global telecommunications networks via India and Europe has gone live with high expectations it will lower the cost of telecommunications in Africa. Its switch-on date was delayed for a month after threats by Somali pirates along the Indian Ocean route from India to Kenya disrupted cable installation plans.

July 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that the ocean current shutdown may take place more slowly and gradually than previously suggested. The research, based on the longest experiment of its type ever run on a "general circulation model" that simulated the Earth's climate for 21,000 years back to the height of the last Ice Age, shows that major changes in these important ocean current systems can occur, but they may take place more slowly and gradually than had been suggested.

July 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An analysis by scientists has suggested that the Arctic was an enclosed freshwater lake until about 38 million years ago, when tectonic activity caused it to undergo a transition to an ocean. Recent studies have suggested that beginning about 44 million years ago the Arctic underwent a transition from lake to ocean conditions.

June 8th, 2009 Forecasters say El Nino may be developingWASHINGTON — A new El Nino could be approaching. Sea-surface temperatures have been warming in the tropical Pacific Ocean, suggesting the potential for the development of the El Nino climate phenomenon this summer, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

March 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Russell Crowe could soon be showcasing his musical talents, for the actor is in talks to do a film where he might be required to hit the high notes. The 'Gladiator' star has revealed that he's currently looking at a script for a new musical in which he may have to belt out a tune, just like fellow Aussie stars, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

March 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Reduced presence of airborne dust and volcanic emissions over the past 30 years are linked with recent Atlantic Ocean warming and has a link to increasing number of hurricanes, according to a new study. For example, the ocean temperature difference between 1994, a quiet hurricane year, and 2005's record-breaking year of storms, was just one degree Fahrenheit.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has shown that the shells of microscopic animals in the ocean are becoming thinner thanks to the ocean's increasing absorption of carbon dioxide. As carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels has accumulated in the atmosphere, some of it has been absorbed by the ocean.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New data has emerged that provides evidence in support of the hypothesis that the Agulhas Current, in the southern hemisphere, may stabilise or destabilise climate in Europe. The data was presented by scientist Martinez-Mendez, in her PhD thesis titled "Surface and Deep Circulation off South Africa: Agulhas Leakage Influence on the Meridional Overturning Circulation During the Last 345 kyr".