Related articles:

EarthWeek: A diary of the planet EarthWeek: A diary of the planet EarthWeek: A diary of the planet EarthWeek: A diary of the planet EarthWeek: A diary of the planet EarthWeek: A diary of the planet EarthWeek: A diary of the planet EarthWeek: A diary of the planet EarthWeek: A diary of the planet EarthWeek: A diary of the planet

General
VALLEY PROTECTIVE SERVICES
SECURITY OFFICERS Health Care
Sonora Behavorial Health
Executive Assistant Trades/Construction
innovative manufacturing
CNC LATHE SETUP Technical
Unitek USA
Satellite Installers Trades/Construction
Mechanical Systems, Inc
Plumbing/Piping Superintendent Education
CESAR CHAVEZ SCHOOL NETWORK
K-12 MUSIC PROGRAM DIRECTOR General
Maintenance Technician

A rabbit population explosion on a remote island midway between Australia and Antarctica has a leading environmental group warning that the infestation threatens the World Heritage listed site.

The World Wildlife Fund said a recent survey of Macquarie Island found that rats and mice also threaten endangered penguins and albatrosses on the sub-Antarctic territory.

The Australian state of Tasmania manages the island, and WWF is calling on it to immediately begin eradication efforts, such as the use of rabbit-hunting dogs and baiting.

The rabbits were introduced by sealers in the 1870s and had until recently been kept in check by cats. Growing numbers of the animals have now destroyed all the vegetation that holds the land together, causing dangerous landslides, according to WWF. It said much of the damage has only happened over the past few years.

Overfishing by most of the world's island nations is likely to cause their sole source of protein to disappear within decades if it continues unchecked, according to a research team. Co-author and marine biologist Isabelle Cote of Canada's Simon Fraser University wrote in the journal Current Biology that catches in 49 countries, from the Philippines to the Bahamas, are on average about 64 percent above sustainable levels.

She warned that coral reef fisheries have already collapsed in nine of those countries. Cote said more collapses are inevitable unless something can be done to reduce fishing and to reduce the demand for fish. "But for millions of people living on these islands, there are no alternatives to fisheries," Cote wrote.

The Japanese coast guard said an underwater volcano was observed erupting around Minami Iwojima island in the western Pacific. The crew of a fishing boat said it saw changes in water color as well as volcanic smoke over a 3-mile stretch of open water.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency said it believes the activity is likely to be coming from a volcano called Fukutoku Okanoba. Following an eruption of that volcano in 1986, an island about 2,000 feet in diameter and 50 feet in height briefly emerged before being eroded to below sea level by ocean waves.

Australia's prime minister warned that if significant drought-breaking rains don't fall soon over parched areas in the east of the country, farmers will be denied water for irrigation so cities will have adequate supplies.

John Howard's warning came just before climate experts said a key index used to predict seasonal rainfall had fallen to a five-month low.

Analysis of changes in air pressure across the South Pacific points to below-normal rainfall as the country moves into the winter growing season.

Central parts of Canada's Saskatchewan province were hit by the region's worst flooding in 30 years. A state of emergency was declared in 16 communities as authorities struggled to minimize damage by floodwaters to roads and bridges.

Rising waters forced more than 600 people to be evacuated from the Red Earth First Nation, about 170 miles northeast of Saskatoon.

At least three people were swept to their deaths and seven others were missing after a 6.2 magnitude quake in southern Chile triggered a landslide that produced a 12-foot wave in a narrow fjord.

The seismic event was the strongest of hundreds of quakes that have been felt in the area since Jan. 22. Scientists said they believe the quake swarm is related to the formation of a new undersea volcano.

● Earth movements were also felt in the northern and southern Philippines, Java, southern Japan, metropolitan Los Angeles and south-central Alaska.

Robins that live in noisy urban areas sing at night because they are more likely to be heard, according to a new report published in Biology Letters. Researchers at northern England's Sheffield University wrote that they found solid evidence that the birds have modified their behavior to adapt to modern city life. Dr. Richard Fuller and his team said their research contradicts earlier beliefs that city birds sing at night because bright lights confuse their concept of night and day.

"The birds appear to be singing at night to avoid competition with high noise levels caused by our cities during the day," Fuller said. "Noise levels were 10 times higher in places where birds were singing at night."

But Fuller said the adapted behavior is not without drawbacks for the bird, one of the earliest birds to join in the timeless dawn chorus. He warned that birds are more likely to tire themselves out with all their overnight singing.