New Delhi, A tropical storm Maliksi could strengthen into a typhoon while moving north and northwest of Japan. The storm would not make a landfall but could send high waves to the east coast and outer bands of the storm could bring periods of heavy rain along the coast. The rain could be stronger in the afternoon and evening.

A tropical low could build up as a storm in the South China Sea to bring significant showers over nearby Luzon but would not make landfall in Philippines. The system is expected to move across Vietnam later this week.

However, typical tropical rains and thunderstorms are likely over Philippines through Indonesia. A fairly weak cold front through northern China may bring light to moderate rain from North Korea through northern China.

New Delhi, An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale hits the northeastern states at 12.30 am on Wednesday. The moderate intensity tremors were felt across the northeastern states in Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh and the epicenter was reported to be at Rangapara in Sonitpur district in central Assam. No loss of life, injury or any damage to property was reported as of now.

This is the second earthquake felt in last twenty four hours in the Indian Himalayan region. Earlier, two light intensity earthquakes measuring 4.5 and 4.9 on the Richter in a time span of 5 hours hit the Western Himalayan region in Himachal Pradesh. The second quake in Himachal Pradesh happened at 2.05 pm. The epicenter of both these tremors was reported at the border region of three districts Chamba, Lahaul and Spiti. Frequent earthquakes indicate some plate-tectonic movements are taking place beneath the Lesser Himalayas.

New Delhi, An earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale felt across several parts of Himachal Pradesh at 9.15 am.  The epicenter of the light intensity earthquake was on the border of three districts Chamba, Lahaul and Spiti. No loss of life or damage to property was reported. The seismic activity was felt for some seconds and residents of the affected area came out of their houses after they felt the tremors.

New Delhi, An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale strikes off eastern coastal Japan on early Tuesday. The epicenter of the earthquake was about 96 kilometers east-northeast of Miyako and 550 kilometers north-northeast of Tokyo. No Tsunami warning was issued by The Japan Meteorological Agency or by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The tremors followed by another 5.1 magnitude earthquake in the same region after half an hour.

This tremor was about the same distance from Tokyo as the first and about 107 kilometers east of Miyako, which was among the areas devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Just over a year and a half earlier, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake has triggered a huge tsunami off Japan, resulting in thousands of deaths and the world's worst nuclear crisis in a quarter century.

New Delhi, The satellite measurements of the sea surface temperatures have emerged as a clear evidence of the major changes  taking place in Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The changes have enormous impact on the future management of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) as well as for its marine protected areas.

The satellite data collected since 1985 found that most of the areas of the Great Barrier Reef in term of the sea surface temperature are changing significantly and the most affected of them is the southern part of the reef.

The high water temperatures increase the risk of coral bleaching. Across the whole reef, the water temperatures are increasing by an average of 0.2 of a degree in the last twenty five years but the increase is significantly more in some areas. For instance, the water off Rockhampton has warmed by about half a degree over a quarter of a century.

These changes are also altering the seasonal pattern of water temperature at particular places along the reef. As a result, in some areas summer is coming earlier and lasting longer and in other areas, both the summers and the winters are warmer compared to the past, thus affecting the sea life.

New Delhi, Global warming and extreme weather will join hands to create devastating food price shocks around the world in coming decades. According to an estimate by Oxfam, due to climate change and other factors, the price of corn could increase to a staggering 500% by 2030. The agency had previously warned that corn would see a 177% rise in price by 2030. But the further modeling of the impact of warming-driven extreme weather shocks forced Oxfam to revise its earlier conclusion.

The new report, Extreme Weather, Extreme Prices by Oxfam highlights how extreme weather events such as drought and floods could drive up food prices in the future. In its new release, Oxfam explains that the food prices spike will get worse as extreme weather caused by climate change devastates food production.

Here are some of the other highlights of the Oxfam new release:

• Even under a conservative scenario, another US drought in 2030 could raise the price of maize by as much as 140 per cent over and above the average price of food in 2030, which is already likely to be double today’s prices.
• Drought and flooding in southern Africa could increase the consumer price of maize and other coarse grains by as much as 120 per cent. Price spikes of this magnitude today would mean the cost of a 25kg bag of corn meal – a staple which feeds poor families across Africa for about two weeks – would rocket from around $18 to $40.
• A nationwide drought in India and extensive flooding across South East Asia could see the world market price of rice increase by 25 per cent. This could see domestic spikes of up to 43 per cent on top of the longer term price rises in rice importing countries of such as Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

Such price spikes would be a massive blow to the world’s poorest who today spend up to 75 per cent of their income on food according to the new release.