Washington: There could be a brief time this summer when there is no ice on the North Pole, said a U.S. scientist, blaming global warming that has melted the Arctic ice sheet over decades. "We could have no ice at the North Pole at the end of this summer,' Mark Serreze, a scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, told AFP. "And the reason here is that the North Pole area right now is covered with very thin ice and this ice we call first year ice, the ice that tends to melt out in the summer.'

The prospect of designating the Arctic region

Author and environmentalist Lester R. Brown tells Nandini Nairour civilisation is at risk Run off Lester Brown (bottom) warns against melting icebergs He might bring doom's day prophecies with him. But he offers solutions as well. Environmentalist Lester R. Brown was in the Capital's Taj Mahal hotel recently for the launch of the Hindi version of his book, "Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilisation' (W.W Norton & Company).

One person was killed and nine others, including five foreign tourists, were injured when a part of the Gaumukh glacier moved and hit these persons near Gaumukh last evening. A team of the Uttarkashi police, forest personnel and rescue workers today reached the spot and carried the injured back to Bhojwasa for treatment. According to Uttarkashi SP Nilesh Anand Bharne, part of the Gaumukh glacier fell on tourists in the area killing a sadhu and injuring four American and one British tourists. Two tourists from West Bengal were also injured.

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Houston, May 15 Climatic changes induced by humans have affected the flora and fauna, along with the physical environment of the world at a much faster pace than previously thought, scientists have said. A new NASA-led study, noting changes in the physical system, such as glaciers shrinking, permafrost melting and lakes and rivers warming, has linked physical and biological impacts since 1970 with increase in temperatures during that period.