Earth ChangesS


Igloo

Snowstorm churns across U.S. Plains, Midwest

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A snowstorm forecast to bring up to half a foot of snow to the northern Plains and Midwest churned across North Dakota on Friday, while the eastern shore of Lake Erie was hit by more lake effect snow.

The heavy lake effect snow that shut down sections of the New York state Thruway on Thursday, stranding scores of motorists, had abated and the highway was open, a Thruway spokeswoman said. However, another three to five inches of lake effect snow will blanket sections of the snow belt around Buffalo, New York, the National Weather Service said.

Lake effect snow occurs when cold winds whip up storm clouds off warmer lake waters, and can dump heavy amounts of snow along the coastline.

Snow was falling across North Dakota and the Weather Service declared a winter storm warning in effect through Friday in southern Minnesota, southwest Wisconsin and northwest Iowa.

Bizarro Earth

New Zealand - Mystery Illness Hits Oyster Stocks

Sick Oysters
© ONE NewsJuvenile oysters or 'spat'.
Scientists are trying to determine the cause of a mystery illness hitting oyster stocks on North Island farms.

The disease, which kills juvenile oysters, or spat, has been found on farms in Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

A 20-strong MAF team is working around the clock, testing the DNA of dead spat for traces of lethal pathogens.

Over 500 tissue samples have been taken and MAF hopes to have an answer next week.

New Zealand exports millions of Pacific oysters to Asia and Australia, bringing in around $30 million each year.

Bizarro Earth

County Weather Expert Predicts a Mini-Ice Age by the Year 2020

Mini Ice Age
© This Is LincolnshireMini ice age.
Snow and ice gripping the county is nothing compared to the mini-ice age heading our way, according to a county astronomer.

Philip Norton, a member of Lincoln Astronomical Society, forecast the current harsh winter conditions way back in the 1980s.

He also correctly forecast the weather this time around and last winter.

But he says this is comparatively mild - with far harsher winters to come in the 2020s.

Mr Norton, a development engineer of Thirsk Drive, North Hykeham, bases his predictions on sunspot activity.

Sunspots are visible as dark spots on the surface of the sun, where the magnetic fields from within have risen and broken through its surface.

When there are lots of sunspots, there are fewer clouds on Earth.

If there is a lack of sunspot activity, the Earth gets cloudy, lowering temperatures.

Mr Norton said: "This winter is mild compared to those of the 2020s."

"The sunspot activity is roughly following a 400-year trend.

"I predicted the last sunspot cycle would be the most active for a long time and it was.

"This would be followed by a long, deep solar minimum. We are just getting out of this.

Better Earth

Whiteout across Britain as Cancun Climate Change Summit Discusses Global Warming!!!

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University of Dundee pic reveals extent of ice-covered UK

Looking out of my window at Musselburgh Harbour, just a few miles outside Edinburgh, I'm greeted by about 9″ of snow on the beach. The news 'programs' on all UK stations are headlining every broadcast with reports of heavy snow and temperatures as low as -26C in Scotland with -10C being the expected temperature in Edinburgh tonight and for the next few days the temperature is not expected to go above freezing, hovering somehwhere around -4C or -5C during the coming days.

NOT ONE news program has uttered the mantra of 'climate change' or 'global warming'. They have also never mentioned the Cancun Climate Change Summit currently taking place in the famous Mexican holiday resort which is advocating food rationing and relocation of vast quantities of people from supposedly self sufficient agricultural regions into already overcrowded cities to end their lives in squalour.

Bizarro Earth

UK: Weather a huge blow to economy

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© Press AssociationThe UK economy suffered a huge blow when millions of people could not get to work because of travel chaos caused by the snow

The UK economy has suffered a huge blow when millions of people could not get to work because of travel chaos caused by the snow, losing firms valuable business in the crucial run-up to Christmas.

An estimated two out of five staff were not able to go to work as train services ground to a halt and roads were impassable, with police in some areas advising people not to travel unless it was absolutely necessary.

A survey of almost 1,000 employers found 38% of workers could not get to their office on Thursday morning and a further 43% were late arriving.

A third of the firms questioned by employment law firm Peninsula said they will send their staff home early on Thursday if the bad weather persists.

Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula, said: "Snowfall was the major issue yesterday, but the big problem for businesses today is the icy conditions left behind. Public transport such as buses and trains have been hit with major cancellations making it almost impossible for some workers to get into work this morning."

Igloo

UK: Transport Inquiry Launched Amid Winter Chaos

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© Agence France-PresseGatwick airport is expected to remain shut until at least 6am on Friday
Travel networks were paralysed on Thursday as severe weather conditions affected roads, railways and airports while an urgent review of the country's transport systems got under way.

Britain's second busiest airport, London Gatwick, was closed for the second consecutive day due to the hostile weather conditions and is expected to remain shut until tomorrow morning.

Edinburgh Airport was also closed again this morning and was expecting to reopen at 4:00 pm this afternoon.

Hundreds of rail commuters spent a freezing night aboard an abandoned train and many other trains were cancelled in southeast England. Southern trains suspended its services today while Southeastern was running an emergency timetable.

About half of Eurostar train services between London and Paris, and London and Brussels, were cancelled today because of bad weather, a spokeswoman said.

On the roads, there were closures on the M20 in Kent due to hazardous driving conditions, while police in Essex, Sussex and Surrey advised people to make only essential or emergency trips.

Yesterday motoring organisation AA attended more than 11,300 incidents.

In Crawley, West Sussex, a motorcyclist was killed in a crash involving a lorry at 5:10 am, and a woman died after falling into a freezing lake at Pontefract racecourse, West Yorkshire.

The government today started an urgent review of how transport systems were performing amid criticism of Britain's preparedness for the icy conditions and a lack of communication to commuters.

Bizarro Earth

Ecuador Tungurahua volcano re-erupts

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© UnknownThe Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador
The volcano spewed molten rocks and large clouds of gas and ash near Banos, south of Quito, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The Tungurahua's volcanic activity follows last month's eruption, when a column of gas shot up seven kilometers into the sky.

No casualties have been recorded so far, but flight re-direction is being considered.

Tungurahua is located approximately 150 kilometers southeast of Ecuador's capital, Quito.

After a long period of peaceful resting, the volcano erupted in 1999, leading to the evacuation of about 250,000 people.

In 2006, Tungurahua underwent another major eruption, leading to the death of seven villagers. Yet another major eruption took place in 2008, leading to more evacuations. The next eruptions occurred in May and in November 2010.

Bizarro Earth

World is running out of places to catch wild fish, study finds

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© Randy Olson/National Geographic Stock
Global fisheries have expanded so rapidly over the past half-century that the world is running out of places to catch wild fish, according to a new study conducted by researchers in Canada, the United States and Australia.

The findings, published Thursday evening in the online journal PLoS ONE, are the first to examine how marine fisheries have expanded geographically over time. Looking at fleets' movements between 1950 and 2005, the five researchers charted how fishing has been expanding southward into less exploited seas at roughly one degree latitude each year in order to compensate for the fact that humans have depleted fish stocks closer to their shores in the Northern Hemisphere.

During that same period the world's fish catch increased fivefold from 19 million metric tons in 1950 to a peak of 90 million in the late 1980s, before declining to 87 million tons in 2005. It was 79.5 million tons in 2008, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the most recent year for which figures are available.

Daniel Pauly, a co-author who serves as principal investigator of the Sea Around Us Project at the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre, said the global seafood catch is now dropping "because there's essentially nowhere to go." The fact that fish catches rose for so many decades "looks like sustainability but it is actually expansion driven. That is frightening, because the accounting is coming now."

Bizarro Earth

Australia: Monster locust swarm from NSW heading for Victoria

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Millions of locusts forming part of the biggest swarm to threaten Victoria in decades is about to enter the state, placing farmers and motorists at risk. The swarm, 25 kilometres wide and at least one kilometre deep, was in the Hay and Conargo region of New South Wales yesterday afternoon and travelling south-west. With Echuca and Swan Hill less than 200 kilometres away it was expected they would start arriving there overnight or this morning.

State Controller for Locusts Russell McMurray said vegetables and pasture were most at risk and urged farmers to consult agronomists to ensure the best treatment for their property. But he warned that no treatment offered 100 per cent protection. Up to 2000 locusts can be found in a square metre on the ground and up to 100 in the air, but Mr McMurray said density varied and he estimated this swarm contained ''millions and millions''.

Motorists in the areas have also been warned to add insect-cleaning agent to windscreen washer systems and to consider attaching an insect screen to the external radiator air-inlet.

Better Earth

White-out UK: Satellite pic shows nation under blanket of snow & ice

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University of Dundee pic reveals extent of ice-covered UK
This striking satellite image shows the extent of the big freeze that is currently paralysing the UK.

The snow and ice almost completely covers the entire nation and the Met Office is warning of worse to come.

The University of Dundee Satellite Receiving Station captured the startling image at 11.45am today from the NASA satellite Terra.

The white-out that is affecting virtually the entire country is clearly visible.

The latest Met Office forecast confirms the snow and icy conditions have continued to cause widespread disruption across many parts of the UK as temperatures fell as low as -21.1 °C at Altnaharra in Scotland.

Met Office severe weather warnings are in force across Scotland, eastern England, East Anglia and the South East, where further snow is likely to fall.