Puzzling winter weather may not be caused by global warming.
While California is suffering from a drought, the Northeast is being attacked by snow. (Image Courtesy of Rich Pedroncelli /AP)
With California going through a severe drought, Washington having no snow, and the East Coast having blizzards, this year’s winter weather has puzzled climate scientists. Some scientists suspect that a warm blob of water that has been hovering around the West Coast for around 18 months is causing this bizarre weather. The blob of water is supposedly hundreds of miles wide, and has a temperature that is 12.6 degrees Celsius above the average. This large area of warmer water has also caused disturbances to marine life. However, some scientists are not convinced that warmer waters are the cause and thinks that the weather is being caused by global warming. The warming of the Arctic has disturbed the polar vortex, which in turn causes weird weather to occur.
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Yemen receives aid after airstrikes.
Red Cross lands in Sanaa, Yemen, the city being controlled by rebel forces. (Image Courtesy of Hani Mohammed / AP)
A Red Cross plane carrying badly needed aid to the rebel held city Sana’a arrived 11 April. Shiite Houthi Rebels and their allies in the military are facing off against a Saudi-led campaign for control over Sanaa. As tensions increase, casualties are also mounting up. Before the delivery, aid workers were struggling with rising casualties, and shrinking food and fuel supplies. The Red Cross delivery brought 35 tons of medical aid, generators, and emergency sanitation equipment. Other cities like Aden and areas like the southern Ibb province face a similar situation.
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Presidents of the USA and Cuba meet for the first time after 50 years.
For the first time in 50 years, the Presidents of Cuba (Raul Castro, left) and the USA (Barack Obama, right) meet. (Image Courtesy to Associated Press)
The Presidents of Cuba and the USA, Raul Castro and Barack Obama respectively, had a formal meeting on 11 April, the first between the two countries since 1959. Diplomatic relations between Cuba and the USA were severed when the Castro brothers, Fidel and Raul, toppled USA supported President Fulgencio Batista. After, the Castro brothers changed Cuba into a socialist state with close ties to the Soviet Union. Other world leaders, including the Brazilian president and the president of Argentina are pleased with the thawing relationship between the two countries. The symbolic meeting between the two presidents took place during the Summit of the Americas in Panama City and no decisions were made.
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Possible solution arises amid clash between privacy and security as data encryption spreads.
It is unlikely that legislation requiring tech firms to make their devices wiretap ready will be passed due to privacy concerns (image courtesy of Stockphotos)
For many months US Federal law enforcement agencies have been deadlocked on the controversial issue of technological privacy versus security. Should technology companies allow government access to encrypted data on smartphones and other digital devices? How should this be done without compromising the security of law-abiding customers? The head of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, has suggested a fragmented digital key that would open any locked device, but would require several pieces so no individual could use it alone.
Tech industry officials argue that law enforcement does not have a right to access communication between two people. Companies such as Apple and Google also offer phones with a unique digital key only usable by the owner, promoting consumer privacy. However, national security and criminal investigation evidence are also major concerns. The challenge is designing a completely secure system without unintentional vulnerabilities.
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Study shows link between dangerous radon gas levels in Pennsylvania buildings and fracking industry.
Similar radon readings have been found in Colorado where fracking is booming (image courtesy of westeastonpa.com)
A study published 9 April 2015 in the journal Environmental Health Perspective reported a correlation between unusually high levels of radon gas and an oil and gas production technique known as fracking. Radon is a colourless, odourless, radioactive gas that has been linked to lung cancer. Researchers measured 860 000 buildings from 1989 to 2013, finding residences closer to the fracking operations showed higher radon readings – 42% of which were higher than federal safe standards.
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