Runaway melting
Arctic ice is melting even faster in summer than in the past. Jennifer Kay of the US National Center for Atmospheric Research and colleagues say this is because the Arctic’s shrinking ice sheets reflect less sunlight in summer, warming the surrounding meltwater, which melts the ice from below (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2008GL033451).
Bird flu shots
Japan will be the first country in the world to vaccinate against the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. Six thousand health workers will get the vaccine and the government has stockpiled 20 million doses in case of a major outbreak.…
