News About The Oceans of Earth 09-NOV-09 en-us Beirut, Lebanon (UPI) Nov 6, 2009 - U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said the Middle East is "in a challenging situation" and would need stability to achieve development, emphasizing the need to fight climate change to help avoid the next major conflict in the embattled region: "Water War."]]> Tokyo (AFP) Nov 7, 2009 - The leaders of Japan and Southeast Asia's five Mekong River nations wrapped up a summit Saturday at which Tokyo pledged more than 5.5 billion dollars in loans and grants and vowed deeper ties.]]> Portland, Ore. (UPI) Nov 7, 2009 - Federally protected Steller sea lions ate more salmon on average than in years past at Bonneville Dam in the Columbia River, biologists in Oregon say.]]> Paris (AFP) Nov 4, 2009 - Great Whites may be loners, but the ocean's most feared predators also hang out together between Mexico and Hawaii at a deep sea watering hole known as the "White Shark Cafe," a study released Wednesday reveals.]]> Taipei (AFP) Nov 3, 2009 - Coral reefs off Taiwan will need up to 100 years to recover from Typhoon Morakot, which lashed the island in early August killing more than 600 people, a scientist said Tuesday.]]> Beijing (UPI) Nov 3, 2009 - As the water level in the reservoir on the Yangtze River approaches its final height of 175 meters, criticism of China's Three Gorges Dam continues. ]]> Beijing (AFP) Nov 3, 2009 - Officials in China have called for special laws to halt pollution of the nation's thousands of lakes, which are drying up at a rate of about 20 per year, state media reported.]]> Corvallis OR (SPX) Nov 03, 2009 - Although declining streamflows and half-full reservoirs have gotten most of the attention in water conflicts around the United States, some of the worst battles of the next century may be over groundwater, experts say - a critical resource often taken for granted until it begins to run out.]]> Sanaa, Yemen (UPI) Oct 29, 2009 - Sanaa may be the first capital city in the world to run out of water. If that happens, it will be a signpost to the conflicts over shrinking resources that scientists and sociologists see coming in the decades ahead. ]]> Riverside CA (SPX) Oct 30, 2009 - Scientists widely accept that around 2.4 billion years ago, the Earth's atmosphere underwent a dramatic change when oxygen levels rose sharply. Called the "Great Oxidation Event" (GOE), the oxygen spike marks an important milestone in Earth's history, the transformation from an oxygen-poor atmosphere to an oxygen-rich one paving the way for complex life to develop on the planet.]]>