Earth ChangesS


Oscar

Propaganda Alert! Bundle Up, It's Global Warming

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© Chris Hondros/Getty ImagesFed up with all this BS? A traveler waits with her bags for check in to a flight at Terminal 4, JFK airport, as levels of snow not seen since two centuries ago fall on northern hemisphere
The earth continues to get warmer, yet it's feeling a lot colder outside. Over the past few weeks, subzero temperatures in Poland claimed 66 lives; snow arrived in Seattle well before the winter solstice, and fell heavily enough in Minneapolis to make the roof of the Metrodome collapse; and last week blizzards closed Europe's busiest airports in London and Frankfurt for days, stranding holiday travelers. The snow and record cold have invaded the Eastern United States, with more bad weather predicted.

All of this cold was met with perfect comic timing by the release of a World Meteorological Organization report showing that 2010 will probably be among the three warmest years on record, and 2001 through 2010 the warmest decade on record.

Comment: Based on what data? NOAA and NASA satellite data:

US Official: Satellite Failure Means Decade of Global Warming Data Doubtful

How can we reconcile this? The not-so-obvious short answer is that the overall warming of the atmosphere is actually creating cold-weather extremes. Last winter, too, was exceptionally snowy and cold across the Eastern United States and Eurasia, as were seven of the previous nine winters.

Comment: No Mr Corporate Spokesman, the reality is, we're freezing because the greed of your buddies at BP tipped the scales, broke the Loop Current, and sent the Jet Stream into a tailspin.


Fish

Is the Gulf Stream Failing? Plummeting water temperatures endanger sea creatures along US Atlantic coast

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© Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesA man walks through blowing snow with his dogs along a beach following a snow storm on December 27, 2010 in Westport, Connecticut. Much of the northeast of the United States is experiencing a major winter storm with blizzard conditions and over a foot of snow expected from Washington, D.C. to New York City.
Thousands of dead starfish that littered a beach near Charleston last weekend are the first signs of what might become a disastrous winter for coastal sea life. They died because water was chilled to a lethal temperature by frigid weather earlier this month.

With coastal waters already hovering near critical lows, biologists worry there might be a mass die-off of shrimp, sea trout and red drum as the season turns cold again.

William Gay, owner of Port Royal Seafood, said he has heard Beaufort crab trappers talk about dead shrimp showing up in their crab pots, but said the cold water hasn't yet affected his business.

S.C. Department of Natural Resources biologists also heard reports of stunned red drum and sea trout.

Though Beaufort County is only about 50 miles south of the starfish die-off, water temperatures have been a bit warmer, and the extra warmth has helped.

"It still gets a lot colder there than it does here," said Larry Toomer, owner of Bluffton Oyster Co. "I don't see any signs that would say it's damaged anything or killed anything so far."

Igloo

US: Atlanta's First White Christmas Since 1882

This is Atlanta's first white Christmas since the Chester Arthur administration. Still believe in Global Warming?


Cloud Lightning

'Snowicane' Paralyzes New York City, Boston as Mammoth Blizzard Rages Through US Northeast

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© AccuWeather.com Facebook fan Scott M.It's like a storm surge only with snow in Bradley Beach, NJ courtesy of "Snowicane II." Mon. Dec., 27, 2010.
A powerful winter storm slammed the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston on Sunday. Through today, the blizzard will bring travel to a standstill along the coastline of northern New England as well.

The storm unleashed around a foot of snow and howling winds in cities and towns from Philadelphia through New York City to Boston as it advanced northward offshore Sunday and Sunday night.

So far New Jersey has been hit with the heaviest snow. As of the storm's conclusion, 31.0 inches of snow buried Jackson, and 31.8 inches of snow have fallen in Elizabeth. Unofficial snowfall measurements of 34 and 35 inches at Brick in the morning would be a New Jersey state record.

Weather Matrix founder Jesse Ferrell has the latest on the amazing storm totals in his blog.

Cloud Lightning

US: 400 Spend Frigid Night on A Train in New York City Nightmare

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© Christopher Mullen/AP PhotoSubway riders are seen on a car of an subway train that was stranded for eight hours near John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Monday, Dec. 27, 2010.
It took hours for Christopher Mullen to get off a plane from sunny Cancun and on to a half-empty subway car, his only way home. It would be another eight hours and more - a night spent huddled under a thin blanket on the frigid, grungy car - before he could get off the A train.

His feet soaked to the bone, with no food, water and hardly any heat, Mullen and 400 others lived through a New York nightmare on an elevated subway track, one of hundreds of stories of hardship caused by the crushing snowstorm that dropped more than 2 feet of snow on the Northeast.

By the time they got on the subway shortly before 1 a.m. Monday near Kennedy Airport, Mullen and his girlfriend were well into their ordeal battling the blizzard of December 2010.

Their flight landed two hours late. With snow whirling around the terminal, the airport train was down. There were no taxis. Wearing just a light spring jacket, Mullen stood in the snow and attempted to dig his car out from long-term parking. The only result: feet and legs that were soaking wet.

When the couple - their diving gear and luggage in tow - boarded the A train more than six hours after clearing Customs, it seemed that they were finally on their way. But the subway got only one stop before it was forced to a halt at an open-air station platform in a forlorn corner of Queens near the airport and Jamaica Bay. Later, NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said the cause was snow drifts piled on the outside tracks and thick layers of ice on the electrified third rail.

Igloo

Ireland: Alert as Glacier-Like Ice Flow Threatens Bridge in Donegal

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© Irish IndependentDreenan Bridge across the River Finn in Co. Donegal
Donegal County Council engineers were last night keeping a round-the-clock watch on a bridge over concerns that it could be damaged by a large ice flow.

Since the thaw began on St Stephen's night, large chunks of broken ice and debris have been building up at Dreenan Bridge which crosses the River Finn outside the towns of Ballybofey and Stranorlar.

All day yesterday, hundreds of curious passers-by stopped at the location to video and take photos of the glacier-like ice flow under the multi-million euro bridge which was opened just four years ago.

Senior council engineer Vincent Lynn was concerned rising water levels could cause the ice to build up against the deck of the bridge, resulting in structural damage.

"This is very interesting phenomenon resulting from a rapid thaw, the likes of which I have never seen in my life," Mr Lynn said.

Igloo

SOTT Focus: A Glimpse of the Day After Tomorrow in New York

A reader of SOTT.net sent us these photos of the aftermath of the recent blizzard in New York City. With records being broken all across the northern hemisphere, particularly in Europe and the US, it looks like SOTT's prediction that we are entering an Ice Age is coming true. Of course, the denialists will tell us that we have confused weather for climate, but when these same people confuse the War on Terror for the War Against the People, it is clear just who is really confused.

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© Sott.net

Question

Florida: Sinkhole Opens up in Venus Backyard

Florida Sinkhole
© Ryan Pelham, Highlands TodayA sinkhole approximately 140 feet wide opened up on Luis and Orpha Hernandez's property on Alphonso Lane in Venus on Thursday afternoon. Luis was standing on the area of the sinkhole when he felt the ground rumble, and within five minutes, a sinkhole approximately 100 feet wide had opened. By Friday afternoon, several feet of water had accumulated in the bottom of the sinkhole.
Owner ran to escape falling sand.

About 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Luis Hernandez felt the soil trembling beneath his feet.

"He had to run that way," said his wife, Orpha, pointing to the east behind their three-bedroom mobile home.

He heard air coming up, "Whooo, whooo, whooo," Orpha approximated the noise, as if underground air was rushing to the surface.

Luis knows because he looked at the clock on his phone - in just five minutes, a 100-foot wide sinkhole opened in the sand, gulping pots with palm trees and ligustrum hedges and catley guava.

By Friday, they'd rescued all the nursery plants from the one-acre plot, moving them to the adjoining nine acres. But the hole had swelled 20 feet wider, and at 4 p.m. Friday, the circular mouth was an estimated 140 feet across.

Sherlock

New England, US: Twist in bat disease mystery

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© Unknown
There's a new twist in the mysterious case of a disease that's killing thousands of bats in New England.

Bats living in several old military bunkers in New Hampshire are not being affected by white nose syndrome. Scientists hope to monitor temperature and humidity levels to try and determine why the bats seem to be immune.

Cloud Lightning

New York hard hit as winter storm slams northeast

A blizzard pummeled the northeastern United States on Monday, dumping up to 29 inches (74 cm) of snow, disrupting air, rail and bus travel and forcing motorists to deal with blowing snow and icy roads at the end of the busy Christmas weekend.

New York City, eastern New Jersey and western Long Island were the hardest hit by the storm, which blew up the Atlantic Coast on Sunday night and continued up to the Monday morning commute, unleashing powerful winds and grounding cities to a halt.

Trade on the New York Stock Exchange was expected to take place as normal. "Everything is business as usual," an NYSE spokeswoman said.

New York's three major airports were shut overnight after at least 2,000 flights were canceled on Sunday, and not due to reopen until 4 p.m. (2100 GMT).

Thousands were stranded in the airports. At Philadelphia International Airport, some 1,200 stuck passengers were given pillows, blankets, water, juice and diapers from the airport's assistance program, a spokeswoman said.