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Three cases of humans contracting Foot-and-mouth disease have been reported in Britain. The disease is extremely mild in people, with flu-like symptoms and blisters on the hands and inside the mouth. “There are a lot of symptomsthat can seem similar to foot-and-mouth and the case yesterday has obviously raised concerns,” said a public health official about one of the cases.

In the most bizarre case, a man working in a slaughter house accidentally swallowed fluid from a decomposing carcass, while slaughtering diseased animals. He was working on a rotting cattle carcass when it burst, sending fluid into his mouth.
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Finally, something good about global warming: it has reduced ozone depletion in the atmosphere.

The destruction of the ozone layer over the Northern Hemisphere has been less in recent years. This has been due to warmer temperatures, rather than a drop in ozone-depleting chemicals, UN experts say.

The depletion recorded since December was about “five percent less than the average pre-1980 levels,” according to the World Meteorological Organization. The largest ozone depletions were recorded in the mid-1990s.

Ozone is part of the earth’s protective layer that shields the planet and humans from harmful ultraviolet radiation which can cause skin cancer and destroy tiny plants at the beginning of the food chain.
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Pakistan has such a desperate drought that it is considering melting glaciers in order to get water. The government has asked the national weather office to look into the possibility of melting the glaciers in the northern mountains of the country.

“We have not yet completed our study, but we have now gathered that, yes, practically maybe, it can be done by spraying some black carbon on the snow, the glaciers,” says Qamar-Uz-Zaman Chaudhry, director general of themeteorological office. “They will absorb more radiation and the snow melt can be increased 10 or 15 percent.”
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The home of Tiger and Susie Michiels in Redding, California, was invaded last week when hundreds of soot-covered birds swooped down their chimney and into their living room.

“They really demolished the house,” said Tiger. “There’s soot over everything. The wife’s not too happy.”

Michiels was working in his office over the garage when he glanced outside the window and saw the family’s cat pawing excitedly at a closed window of the house, trying desperately to get inside. When he went over to investigate, he heard a roaring sound coming from the fireplace. “I thought the house was on fire,” he said.
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