Earth Stories of the decade

Washington, January 1: An article in Discovery News has outlined the top 10 earth stories of the decade.

The number 10 story is the soaring oil prices in 2008, when the sale of gas-guzzling SUVs and other fuel-inefficient vehicles plummeted in the United States in the face of expensive oil.

Huge amounts of money were funneled into alternative fuels and politicians rediscovered a verve for "energy security."

At number 9 is the story that the waters human beings and other animals depend on is getting demonstrably richer in estrogen-mimicking drugs, as well as BPA, flame retardants, phthalates, atrazine and many other chemicals.

The number 8 story is that the list of animals that are showing signs of evolving has been growing, providing a ray of hope that perhaps some species may adapt to and survive such challenges as climate change.

For example, invasive cane toads in Australia were found to have evolved longer legs at the beginning of their invasion.

At number 7 is the story that this decade has seen some species pushed over and others pulled back from the brink of extinction, while others are going invasive in new ranges.

The number 6 story is the Sichuan earthquake in China on May 12, 2008, which resulted in the destruction of both life and property.he 7.9-magnitude event was the strongest quake to rock China since the 8.5 Richter Magnitude Chayu event 58 years earlier.

The science of the quake and its thousands of aftershocks is still underway.

At number 5 is the great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake of 2004, which resulted in the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami that spread from Indonesia to the shores of East Africa.

The magnitude 9.1 temblor and the massive tsunamis that followed claimed close to a quarter of a million lives, making it one of the worst natural disasters in human history.

At number 4 is the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record in 2005, which saw hurricanes like Katrina, Rita and Wilma, probably a result of the warming ocean temperatures.

The number 3 story is that new scourges from the animal world have been steadily slipping into humans and beginning fresh attacks, most notably in 2009 with H1N1, or "swine Flu', but also with Avian Flu, SARS, and Monkey Pox.

At number 2 is the story that human activities have made oceans of the world more acidic, endangering marine ecosystems worldwide.The number one story is that this past decade was the warmest on record, with glaciers melting much faster than ever expected.

credits: ANI