In Africa, drought continues for the sixth consecutive year, adding terribly to the toll of famine victims. During 1972 record rains in parts of the U.S., Pakistan and Japan caused some of the worst flooding in centuries. In Canada's wheat belt, a particularly chilly and rainy spring has delayed planting and may well bring a disappointingly small harvest. Rainy Britain, on the other hand, has suffered from uncharacteristic dry spells the past few springs. A series of unusually cold winters has gripped the American Far West, while New England and northern Europe have recently experienced the mildest winters within anyone's recollection.

As they review the bizarre and unpredictable weather pattern of the past several years, a growing number of scientists are beginning to suspect that many seemingly contradictory meteorological fluctuations are actually part of a global climatic upheaval. However widely the weather varies from place to place and time to time, when meteorologists take an average of temperatures around the globe they find that the atmosphere has been growing gradually cooler for the past three decades. The trend shows no indication of reversing. Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age.

Telltale signs are everywhere - from the unexpected persistence and thickness of pack ice in the waters around Iceland to the southward migration of a warmth-loving creature like the armadillo from the Midwest. Since the 1940s the mean global temperature has dropped about 2.7° F. Although that figure is at best an estimate, it is supported by other convincing data. When Climatologist George J. Kukla of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory and his wife Helena analyzed satellite weather data for the Northern Hemisphere, they found that the area of the ice and snow cover had suddenly increased by 12% in 1971 and the increase has persisted ever since. Areas of Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic, for example, were once totally free of any snow in summer; now they are covered year round.

In 1999, scientists were using the polar vortex as a way to raise money for Arctic ozone hole research.
Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search

1994 was a cold year, due largely to the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. That year also had a lot of Arctic ice. There was a similar polar vortex cold outbreak during that year, and no one was stupid enough to blame it on global warming.
The Deseret News - Google News Archive Search

Award-winning Princeton University Physicist Dr. Will Happer rejected the media and some scientists claims that the record U.S. cold is due to man-made global warming. Happer, explained the science in an exclusive interview with Climate Depot:

"Polar vortices have been around forever. They have almost nothing to do with more CO2 in the atmosphere," Happer said in an exclusive interview with Climate Depot.

Happer continued: "Here is a thumbnail sketch of the physics. The poles have little sunshine even in summer, but especially in winter, like now in the Arctic. So the air over the poles rapidly gets bitterly cold because of radiation to dark space, with negligible replenishment of heat from sunlight. The sinking cold air is replaced by warmer air flowing in from the south at high altitudes. Since the earth is rotating, the air flowing in from the south has to start rotating faster to the west, just like a figure skater rotates faster if she pulls in her arms. This forms the polar vortex. The extremely cold air at the bottom of the vortex can be carried south by meanders of the jet stream at the edge of the vortex. We will have to live with polar vortices as long as the sun shines and the earth rotates.

Like any fluid system at "high Reynolds number," the jet stream is highly unstable, and from time to time it develops meanders to low latitudes, like the one we have had the past few days. About this time of year in 1777, just before the Battle of Princeton, there was a similar sequence. On January 2, Cornwallis's men marched south from New York City through cold rain and muddy roads to try to trap George Washington and his little Continental Army in Trenton . On the night of January 2-3, a polar vortex swept across New Jersey, with snow and a very hard freeze. Aided by the extremely cold weather, Washington was able to evacuate his troops and artillery over newly frozen roads and to avoid Cornwallis's encirclement. Reaching Princeton on the viciously cold morning of January 3, Washington won another battle against the British and escaped to winter quarters in Morristown. Thank you polar vortex!

With the UK suffering the worst band of winter storms in more than 20 years, the Environment Agency has been forced to issue flood warnings in every single region across England and Wales.

The agency currently has around 350 alerts in place across the country as a whole, including three severe warnings which indicate there is a "danger to life".

Last night a flood siren warning of extreme danger to people and property was sounded in Dorset, as gales and tidal surges battered the coast.

The Environment Agency raised the alarm after its sea defences were breached at Chiswell Beach in Portland last night, following on from a severe flood warning in the area.

• Plague of poison-resistant rats bringing new misery to homeowners

• Super rats are invading houses to seek shelter from their flooded lairs

• Pests are immune to traditional poisons and carry life-threatening diseases

Flood ravaged homes across England have a new threat to contend with: a plague of mutant 'super' rats.

The disease-carrying rodents have been emerging from their traditional lairs in sewers and burrows, fleeing the rising flood waters.

Hordes of the brown rats have escaped flooded drains across the south of England after storms unleashed torrential downpours on vast swathes of the country.

Record heatwaves and wildfires, widespread and severe flooding, massive sinkholes swallowing buildings and people, mass animal deaths, an asteroid exploding over Russia, thousands more fireballs lighting up the sky throughout the year, record-breaking blizzards snowfall, the coldest northern spring in 100 years, massive landslides, 'rare' tornadoes occurring in places they shouldn't, the widest tornado ever observed, more volcanic eruptions, more major earthquakes forming new islands, the strongest tropical storm in recorded history, successive hurricanes in Europe, the coldest temperature ever recorded, snow in Cairo... these are signs of climate change, aka Earth Changes.

Welcome to the new normal.

• Couple swept out to sea in walking along rocks near the town of Biarritz

• The woman is still missing and rescuers are searching for her

• The man was in the sea for 20 minutes before being rescued

A video has captured the horrifying moment a couple were swept out to sea after a huge wave to crashed down on them as they walked along a coastal path.

The pair were walking along the treacherous sea front on Sunday near the town of Biarritz, south west France at the weekend when they were dragged out to sea.

The man was in the water for 20 minutes before he was saved, but rescuers have been unable to find the woman who is in her thirties.

• The terrifying incident was captured on CCTV in the city of Abaetetuba

• Gigantic craters, caused by water erosion, opened up in the ground

• Electrical wires above the houses started snapping - giving a warning sign

Residents in a town in the north of Brazil screamed in horror as they watched their homes disappear into massive sink holes on the weekend.

The terrifying incident was captured on CCTV cameras in the city of Abaetetuba in the northern state of Para.

These pictures show the moment gigantic craters, caused by water erosion, open up in the ground and swallow dozens of houses.

Fierce storms have broken down flood defence systems, battered coastal towns and destroyed part of a centuries-old landmark rock formation in Cornwall.

The natural rock formation in Porthcothan Bay, Newquay was battered by 30ft waves and 70mph winds, causing most of the doughnut-shaped archway to break away into the sea.

Local resident Tamsin Swindells told the Western Morning News the beach "just won't be the same without it", adding that the area "looked like a demolition site" now.

The damage came as some of the worst winter storms to hit Britain in 20 years shattered various harbours and coastal areas.

More flooding is expected across the country today and tomorrow as the west coast counted its losses following the arrival of "Winter Storm Hercules", the system which has left behind a record-breaking deep freeze in the US.

Last night a flood siren warning of extreme danger to people and property was sounded in Dorset, as gales and tidal surges battered the coast.

The Environment Agency raised the alarm after its sea defences were breached at Chiswell Beach in Portland last night, following on from a severe flood warning in the area.