Seven killed in Bangladesh lightning strikes

Seven people were killed and 10 others injured on Friday in two lightning strikes in Bangladesh's Delduar sub-district of Tangail district, 92 km northwest of capital Dhaka. Rafiqul Islam Khan, chairman of Laohati Union Parishad, the bottom tier to the local government bodies in Bangladesh, said they heard peals of thunderbolt at about 2:00 p.m. local time. "A group of people, who were harvesting Boro paddy (winter paddy)at a field during the time, were hit by the lightning and six of them died on the spot," he was quoted as saying by website of leading English newspaper The Daily Star, and adding that 10 others were also injured. The injured were sent to different hospitals in the district.

A group of people harvesting Boro paddy (winter paddy) in a field at the time were hit by the lightning and six of them died on the spot," he was quoted as saying on the website of leading English newspaper, The Daily Star, which added that 10 others were also injured and sent to different hospitals in the district.

In another lightning incident, one villager from another village in the same sub-district also died while he was harvesting Boro paddy in a field.

Lightning is very common at this time of the year, particularly in rural Bangladesh, a flat, low lying river delta country, as climatic tumult clashes with the change from the dry season to the rainy summer season.

Sea Levels Might Rise More than Expected Due to Global Warming - Study

All the global warming that is happening in the ongoing century might end up raising sea levels much more than earlier expected over the coming centuries, according to a study that examined what had happened at a time when "Neanderthals roamed Europe". Study researchers have warned that unless drastic and effective measures are taken to curb the global warming that is going on, the sea level could rise so much as to submerge nearly a third of Florida, Southern Manhattan and almost all of Bangladesh and Netherlands. An expert, while appreciating the effort and findings of the study, was quick to warn that such predictions can never be made with prediction. 

Thee study has been released as "Probabilistic Assessment of Sea Level during the Last Interglacial Stage", and looks at extensive data collected about "geological sea level indicators for a period about 125,000 years ago". "Despite the uncertainties inherent in such a study, these findings should send a strong message to the governments negotiating in Copenhagen that the time to avoid disastrous outcomes may run out sooner than expected", said Professor Michael Oppenheimer, of Princeton University. Source:topnews.us/