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Gale-force winds: Germans brace for major winter storm


Der Spiegel online
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 13:52 UTC
North Sea storm
© wetterspiegel.de
A massive North Sea storm is expected to strike large parts of Germany on Thursday.
Northern Germany is preparing for a major winter storm expected to make landfall on Thursday. Weather forecasters are warning that winds of up to 180 kilometers per hour could be the worst seen in decades.

People in Germany and other parts of Northern Europe began preparations on Wednesday for a major North Sea storm that is expected to bring hurricane-strength winds to the region. The low-pressure front "Xaver" is currently on a course from Newfoundland, Canada to Europe. The storm is expected to arrive in southern Norway on Thursday before continuing towards northern Germany with gale-force winds. The storm is expected to be strongest in the north and east of the country, although rain and winds are expected in the south, too.

With gale force winds of up to 180 kilometers per hour (111 miles per hour), public officials are already bracing for what could be one of the worst storms in decades. Deutsche Bahn, Germany's national railway, is advising travelers in the states of Schleswig-Holstein, northern Lower-Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen to cancel their plans if possible. The company said it was preparing for possible disruptions to services or closures in those regions. Airports are also warning of possible delays or cancellations of flights because of the inclement weather.


Comment: The same storm system is called "Sven" in Sweden and "Bodil" in Denmark and both places are equally gearing up for a major storm.
Swedes warned: 'Expect up to 30 cm of snow'

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Ice Cube

Delusional Global Warmists get one thing right: Climate change is not gradual

Seth Borenstein
Associated Press
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 11:50 UTC
Image
Washington - Hard-to-predict sudden changes to Earth's environment are more worrisome than climate change's bigger but more gradual impacts, a panel of scientists advising the federal government concluded Tuesday.

The 200-page report by the National Academy of Sciences looked at warming problems that can occur in years instead of centuries. The report repeatedly warns of potential "tipping points" where the climate passes thresholds, beyond which "major and rapid changes occur." And some of these quick changes are happening now, said study chairman James White of the University of Colorado.

The report says abrupt changes like melting ice in the Arctic Ocean and mass species extinctions have already started and are worse than predicted. It says thousands of species are changing their ranges, seasonal patterns or in some cases are going extinct because of human-caused climate change. Species in danger include some coral; pika, a rabbitlike creature; the Hawaiian silversword plant and polar bears.

Comment: Although the authors harp on "human-caused climate change" when the causes may lie elsewhere, the conclusions that changes are non-linear and can reach a tipping point and happen quickly seem correct and show that projections of climate states decades in the future are probably nonsense.

But what's most ridiculous about their conclusions, which contradict the points made in their research, is that they discount the possibility of a radical swing towards cooling. See this for more information on the rapid cooling hypothesis.

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Bizarro Earth

Study highlights catastrophic collapse of Saharan wildlife

April Flowers
RedOrbit
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 12:00 UTC
Wild Addax
© Thomas Rabeil and Sahara Conservation Fund
This shows some of the world's 200 remaining wild addax in Termit and Tin Toumma National Nature Reserve in Niger.
The world's largest tropical desert, the Sahara, has suffered a catastrophic collapse of its wildlife populations, according to a new study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

The research team consisted of 40 scientists from 28 international organizations. They assessed 14 desert species, finding that half of those are regionally extinct or confined to one percent or less of their historical range.

It is difficult to be certain of the causes of these declines because of a chronic lack of studies across the region due to political instability. The team suggests, however, that over-hunting is likely to have played a major role.

The Bubal hartebeest is completely extinct; the scimitar horned oryx is only found in captivity; and the African wild dog and African lion have disappeared from the Sahara. The study, published in Diversity and Distributions, reveals that other species have fared only marginally better. The dama gazelle and addax are gone from 99 percent of their range; the leopard has lost 97 percent of its range; and the Saharan cheetah has disappeared from 90 percent.

The only species that still inhabits most of its historical range is the Nubian ibex, but even this species is classified as vulnerable due to numerous threats including widespread hunting.
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Question

6 Pilot whales stranded in Everglades National Park


The Sacramento Bee
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 11:20 UTC
Federal officials say six pilot whales have died after stranding in shallow water in a remote area of Everglades National Park.

Blair Mase of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says 46 whales are swimming in about 3 feet of water. Volunteers were keeping an eye on the whales Wednesday.
Image
© WPTV West Palm, Fla/via News Distribution Network
Pilot whales stranded in Everglades National Park

Mase says the whales are short fin pilot whales that are known to inhabit deep water, "so they are very out of their home range."

On Tuesday, officials found the whales beached or stranded in a remote area of the park near Highland Beach in northern Monroe County.

Mase says pilot whales usually swim in large groups and are one of the most common mass strandings "because they are a cohesive species."

Source: The Associated Press
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Black Cat

Mountain lion captured on camera in Hollywood


The Telegraph, UK
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 11:09 UTC
National Geographic has released amazing new images of a cougar living near central Los Angeles

The mountain lion, named P22 by scientists, was discovered accidentally by a camera trap, which had been set up to monitor wildlife in Griffith Park in Hollywood.


Biologist Miguel Ordenana found a photo of the creature whilst checking one of the camera sites.

"I was kind of tired and had been in the sun a lot so I was like, ok let me just refreshed my eyesight - and yes it was still a mountain lion in front of my face".

Since the sighting, National Geographic wildlife photographer Steve Winter has spent a year waiting for the perfect shot of the animal. He finally captured the following breathtaking images of the cougar with the Hollywood sign and city of Los Angeles in the background.

Image
© Steve Winter/ National Geographic
His best images are due to be published in the December issue of the National Geographic magazine.

Image
© Steve Winter/ National Geographic
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Ice Cube

Global warming? Winter superstorm hits half the U.S. as millions are warned to prepare for the worst storm in a decade with temperatures dropping to MINUS 40


Daily Mail UK
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 11:11 UTC
A wintry storm pushing through the western half of the country is bringing bitterly cold temperatures that prompted safety warnings for residents in the Rockies and threatened crops as far south as California. The jet stream is much farther south than normal, allowing the cold air to push in from the Arctic and drop temperatures by 20 to 40 degrees below normal levels, AccuWeather meteorologist Tom Kines said on Tuesday.

Areas of Montana and the Dakotas were forecast to reach lows in the minus-20s, while parts of California could see the thermometer drop to the 20s. The icy, 'Polar Express' blast was expected to be followed by another one later in the week, creating an extended period of cold weather that hasn't been seen since the late 1990s, meteorologists said.

Officials warned residents to protect themselves against frostbite if they are going to be outside for any length of time. 'When it gets this cold, you don't need 30, 40 mile-per-hour winds to get that wind chill down to dangerous levels. All it takes is a little breeze,' Kines said.

Image
Additional images
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Snowflake Cold

UAH Global temperature, down slightly, "the pause" continues

Roy W. Spencer
Watts up with that
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 07:57 UTC
The Version 5.6 global average lower tropospheric temperature (LT) anomaly for November, 2013 is +0.19 deg. C, down from +0.29 deg. C in October (click for full size version):

UAH satellite based temperature
© Roy W. Spencer
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Cloud Lightning

Heavy wind, rain and snow batters Greece - downing trees, cancelling ferries and causing power blackouts

Ioanna Zikakou
Greek Reporter
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 07:09 UTC
Image
© ethnos.gr
Many areas in Athens, Greece are without electricity today, due to the abrupt weather change and the strong winds that started Monday evening.

In Piraeus, Rafina, and Lavrio in Attica, as well as in the Rio-Antirio crossing in Western Greece, ferry boats have been forbidden from leaving the port for several hours.

The routes to Aegina from Piraeus, to Andros, Tinos and Myconos from Rafina, and to Tzia from Lavrio, have been cancelled and port authorities believe there is a possibility that further sea routes will be cancelled due to the recent forecasts that the weather will worsen over the course of the day.

In Attica, the Fire Department received more than 230 telephone calls in the early hours of Tuesday to report fallen trees and branches, requesting their removal, while a tree fell on two parked cars near the train station in Menidi, Attica.
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Hardhat

Kamchatka's Shiveluch volcano spews ash cloud 9 km high


Voice of Russia
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 05:58 UTC
Kamchatka
© RIA Novosti

Kamchatka
The Shiveluch Volcano erupting in Kamchatka has spewed ash nine kilometers high, the Kamchatkan territorial emergency situations department reported on Tuesday. No ashfall has been reported from towns nearby.

"The volcanic event occurred on Tuesday afternoon. The ash cloud stretched northwest, bypassing populated areas," the report said.

No ashfall has been reported from towns nearby, it added.

Nevertheless, rescuers advised tour operators to avoid paths around the volcano, for which a red alert has been issued.

Shiveluch is the northernmost active volcano of Kamchatka situated 45 kilometers away from the town of Klyuchi in the Ust-Kamchatsky district with a population of approximately 5,000.

It is also one of the largest Kamchatkan volcanoes. Shiveluch became active in May 2009 and got a fissure that is almost 30 meters deep in its dome.
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Igloo

Southern Alberta digging out from massive winter storm

Chris Epp
CTV News
Wed, 04 Dec 2013 03:27 UTC
Alberta snowstorm
© Unknown
The blizzard that hit Calgary may be over, but residents are now left to dig themselves out from the mounds of snow left in the storm's wake.

The city declared a snow route parking ban would begin Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., which would allow crews to begin cleaning up Calgary roads.

The parking ban is the first of this season and only the fifth issued in the last three winters. City officials estimate Wednesday's ban will affect about 60,000 people across Calgary.

In the past, parking bans were issued only when there was an accumulation of five centimetres of snow or more, said Julie Yepishina-Geller, spokesperson for the City of Calgary

"But that's been changed this year in the bylaw, so now it's just a significant accumulation, so we basically are reserving parking bans for the few times a year where we actually do see really significant snowfalls," Yepishina-Geller told reporters.

Comment: Comment: Interesting prediction: "...colder but shorter winter...". Maybe they are not going to count this snowstorm as part of winter as it is officially only fall.

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