SCIENCE FILE: An exploration of issues and trends affecting science, medicine and the environment.

Floods

Torrential rains across Southeast Asia ruined an estimated 70% of Laos’ rice fields and killed at least 62 people in northern Thailand. Downstream residents of Bangkok braced as the swollen Chao Phraya River threatened to burst its banks. Relief workers in northern India warned of an outbreak of waterborne diseases as monsoon floodwaters began to recede. At the height of the week’s inundations, as many as 600 people drowned in torrents that swamped Delhi and lapped at the northern walls of famed Taj Mahal monument in Agra. At least 6,000 Hondurans were washed out of their homes by severe flooding in the Valle de Sula.

Dengue Epidemic

Cases of dengue fever have begun to increase rapidly across Latin America in recent months, mainly due to a resurgence of the aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the disease. From Mexico and the Caribbean to the jungles of Venezuela, hospitals have reported a growing number of infected patients. The World Health Organization recommends that a massive eradication effort be launched in the affected areas, using pesticide foggers and by treating waterways and lakes that are infected with larvae.

Earthquakes

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake centered in Mexico’s Guerrero state rolled across the southern half of the country. At least four people were killed. Earth movements were felt in southern and central Japan, southwest Siberia, Indonesia’s Irian Jaya province, western Montana and southern parts of the Bay Area.

Drought

The states of New York and New Jersey imposed emergency measures to save water as the northeastern United States was further parched by a drought that has dried up rivers and streams. Little rain has fallen over the region during a summer that followed a winter and early spring of dramatically little snowfall. Some parts of Argentina have gone 120 days without rain, and huge crop losses are feared during the next growing season. An agricultural emergency was declared in Chubut province.

Tropical Storms

Hurricane Marilyn jolted the U.S. Virgin Islands and parts of Puerto Rico, destroying homes and ripping up trees. As many as 11 people were reported dead. Earlier, Marilyn had brought high winds and storm-surge tides to the southern Windward Islands. Hurricane Luis fizzled over the cool waters of the North Atlantic shortly after it lashed Newfoundland with heavy rains that washed out roads and claimed at least one life. Hurricane Ismael passed over the open waters off western Mexico, and typhoon Oscar buffeted the Mariana Islands.

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Additional sources: Japan Meteorological Agency, Meteo France, U.S. Climate Analysis Center, U.S. Earthquake Information Center and the World Meteorological Organization.

Copyright 1995 Chronicle Features