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Snowflake Cold

Spot gas prices in Europe skyrocket with temperatures fall


RT.com
Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:11 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo / Viktor Drachev
Cold weather in Europe has caused this season's record-high spot prices for gas, crossing the $400 mark. But even this does not make stable but higher long-term contract prices more attractive to European customers.

Over the weekend extreme weather has swept across Europe from the UK to Spain, claiming lives and causing flight cancelations and power outages. The freezing temperatures have forced Europe to consume more gas prompting the spot price to reach $406 per 1000 cubic meter. Gas at Britain's National Balancing Point traded at $398.7 last week which was 8.5% higher than in first week of January.

However, Russia's Gazprom, which in 2011 provided 32% of total gas supplies to Europe, will not benefit much from the rise. Only 20% of Gazprom's gas exports to the EU were spot deals, Sergey Vakhrameev, analyst at Metropol told Vedomosti daily. Long-term contracts make up the majority of Gazprom deliveries, while spot supplies are only 7% of total exports, Vakhrameev added.
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Arrow Down

Huge landslide demolishes US-441 in North Carolina


WBIR.com
Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:44 UTC

Park officials now believe they know what caused the massive landslide, which took out a football field-sized portion of Newfound Gap Road (US 441) on the North Carolina side.

Officials said they found a subsurface spring underneath the landslide site and they aren't quite sure how long its been there. They said the spring, along with last week's massive amounts of rainfall, contributed to the landslide Wednesday morning, near mile marker 22 between Collins Creek and Webb Overlook.

"We were unaware of this subsurface spring which causes embankment failure," said Acting Deputy Superintendent Alan Sumeriski.
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Bizarro Earth

Chile's Villarrica Volcano: New deep-seated weak explosive activity detected


The Extinction Protocol
Mon, 21 Jan 2013 07:41 UTC
Image
Terrestrial and satellite observations confirm that for about 2 weeks weak explosive activity deep within the summit crater has resumed and indicates that magma might have begun to rise again within the volcano. This ends a period of more than six months of remarkable inactivity. It is expected that in the coming weeks or months incandescence will be visible again at the crater during the nights. The activity levels are so low, that without the help of satellites it would not have been possible to detect the increase in heat from the crater. In addition, about 2 weeks ago, the seasonal melting of ice and snow on the volcano began and produced large volumes of melt-water that drained within and at the base of glaciers.

A critical mass of water might have entered the volcano's hydrothermal system. The internal heat evaporates the water in the immediate area of ​​the volcanic conduit and forms condensation on the inner walls above. The condensation phenomenon has been observed in good weather, notably on 16 and 17 January after noon. The detailed analysis of more than 12,000 daily sequential images indicates that no ash emissions have occurred nor landslides in recent months. - Volcano Discovery
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Bizarro Earth

Scientists are warning New Zealand's Mount Tongariro may erupt again


The Extinction Protocol
Mon, 21 Jan 2013 07:39 UTC
Image
Scientists are warning Mount Tongariro may erupt again as the Department of Conservation looks at re-opening the remainder of the iconic Tongariro Crossing next month. GNS Science say emissions of steam and a gas plume have been a continuous feature of the mountain since the August 2012 eruption. Scientist Tony Hurst said the volcano is still in an "active" state. "Therefore we have to be prepared there will be other events like that without any warning," said GNS Scientist Tony Hurst. The risk of another eruption is causing concern for the Department of Conservation as it prepares to reopen the northern section of the Tongariro Crossing which was damaged in the August eruption. GNS Scientists are also concerned neighboring Mt. Ruapehu may be due to erupt.

Gas samples show there could be a blockage underneath the volcano's surface. The blockage could burst and erupt without warning. Tourism operator Stewart Barclay from Adrift Outdoors said tourism on Mt. Ruaphu and Mt. Tongariro is reliant on the findings of GNS scientists. "We can't do anything until the scientists scratch their heads and reckon it's all safe to go up," said Barclay. DOC has closed the area within 2km of the centre of crater lake at the summit of Mt Ruapehu. -TVNZ
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Question

Bigfoot or animals? Strange sounds coming from swamp on Umatilla Indian Reservation

Richard Cockle
The Oregonian
Sun, 20 Jan 2013 10:20 UTC
Soggy Wetland
© Richard Cockle/The Oregonian
Nobody ventures into this soggy wetland on the edge of Mission on the Umatilla Indian Reservation after dark when the shrieks begin. Resident Sylvia Minthorn once thought about plunging in to find the source of the cries. "€œI used to play back there when I was a kid,"€ she says. "€œBut then I thought, "What if I do find something? Then what am I going to do?"
Pendleton, Oregon -- Baby foxes or Bigfoot?

The eerie late-night serenades began in November and emanate from a brushy swamp on the Umatilla Indian Reservation east of Pendleton. The cries range from high-pitched screams to basso profundo roars.

"It's causing an uproar around here," said Sylvia Minthorn, who lives in a tribal housing unit near the swamp, where she used to play as a child.

She's seen grown men's hair stand on end when the shrieks commence.

Colleen Chance, a tribal housing authority employee, keeps a recording of the howls on her iPhone.

"It's kind of spooky," she said. "Some say it's foxes, some say it's a female coyote and some say it's Sasquatch. I don't know what it is."

So far no one's pinpointed the source of the noise on this rugged 178,000-acre reservation that extends into northeastern Oregon's Blue Mountains and is home to about 1,500 people. The swamp in question borders the old reservation community of Mission, in a canyon north of the Wildhorse Resort and Casino.

Phone calls about the wails started coming in last month to the housing authority, and the office has had a half dozen so far. More could come in because the cries are continuing from time to time.
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Bug

Rare and spectacular spider find in 150-year-old tombs in London!


WildLife Extra
Sun, 20 Jan 2013 19:44 UTC
Rare Spiders in Tomb_1
© London Wildlife Trust
A large, rare spider has been recorded for the first time in London - deep in tombs at Highgate Cemetery.
First record of orb weaver spider in London

A large, rare spider has been recorded for the first time in London - deep in tombs at Highgate Cemetery.

As part of the Wild London Inclusive London project, staff at London Wildlife Trust have been working with the staff and local community of Highgate Cemetery since last summer. During a bat survey in December, Trust staff came across a population of large spiders in the vaults of the Egyptian Avenue at the Cemetery.

Britain's largest orb weavers

Interestingly, these orb weavers are the species Meta bourneti, the rarer of two species of Meta (Britain's largest orb weavers). The identity of the spider was confirmed by Edward Milner, Spider Recorder at the London Natural History Society - and it is the very first record of the species in London!

Meta bourneti is particularly fascinating because, due to its origins as a cave-dweller (also known as a cave spider), it requires total darkness. Even an outdoor night time environment is too bright for it, so the spiders never leave the tombs.
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Igloo

Record snowfall closes lifts and roads in the Pyrenees

meteo morris
Wepowder
Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:39 UTC
Pyrenees Snowfall
© Saint Lary skiresort
This bus was still moving yesterday. But today?
The Pyrenees are experiencing historic, but also terrifying moments right now. Around 200 centimeters of freshies came down in the ski resorts on the French side of the Pyrenees since Sunday. All the lifts in the resorts are closed since Tuesday morning as a precaution.

The combination of a stormy wind (100 km/h), the huge and intense snowfall and the fact that warmer air is coming in this afternoon is causing a very critical situation. Around 200 centimeters came down since Sunday and you can expect another 40-70 centimeters today.
Pyrennees Road Closures
© Wepowder
Lots of roads are closed.
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Igloo

Heavy snow sends Northern Mexico into state of emergency


HispanicallySpeakingnews.com
Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:33 UTC
Cold Weather in Mexico
© HispanicallySpeakingnews.com
Cold weather in Mexico.
The Mexican government declared a emergency in 21 municipalities in the northern state of Chihuahua due to heavy snow and a cold wave blamed for six deaths there.

Federal officials said that the measure, which was requested by the Chihuahua government, will allow authorities to access resources within the national emergency fund to cover food, clothing and health care needs among the affected population. Salvador Echavarria Campos, a meteorologist with Chihuahua's UEPC civil defense agency, said that the lowest temperature registered Thursday morning was minus 11 C (12 F) in the municipality of Bocoyna, in the state's mountainous region.

On Tuesday, UEPC director Luis Lujan Peña confirmed that the snow had cut off some 150 communities in the Sierra Tarahumara mountains. So far, official figures are that six people have died in Chihuahua and two others in the western state of Michoacan from causes linked to the low temperatures.
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Nuke

Meet Mike, the most radioactive fish ever from Fukushima

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 20:23 UTC
Almost two years after the awful nuclear disaster occurred, a fish caught near Fukushima on Friday January 18th had a record-breaking level of radioactive contamination over 2500x the legal limit. TEPCO measured 'Mike the Murasoi' at 254,000 becquerels per kilogram (with the limit for edible seafood at 100 becquerels).

As Le Monde reports, the previous record (caught on August 21st 2012) was a mere 25,800 becquerels/kg. As further precautions, TEPCO is installing new nets 20km around the Fukushima Daichi site to avoid highly contaminated fish gettig too far and being consumed by other species. While Mike's family are no doubt distraught (at him being caught and being so radioactive), it appears (somewhat disappointingly) that there is no apparent third eye, lazer fins, legs, or other 'expected' 'blinky' malformations.

Mike - the slightly crispy looking Marusoi...
Radioactive Fish
© ZeroHedge.com
Doesn't look anything like Blinky...
Blinky
© ZeroHedge.com
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Snowflake Cold

Snowpocalypse Russia: 'Snow tsunami' swallows streets, cars, buildings


RT
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:21 UTC
Image
© bigpicture.ru
On Friday, Moscow was on a verge of traffic collapse as more than 10 inches of snow fell on the city, which is more than half of January's average. Thousands of passengers were stranded overnight in the capital's major airports, as several dozen flights were delayed.

Muscovites woke up and found their cars, driveways and houses buried under a thick layer of snow, with city workers unable to get to smaller streets. Moscow's Yandex app showed traffic at level 10, the highest possible, as strong winds created blizzard conditions and built imposing snow drifts.

Additional images
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