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University 'tried to mislead MPs on climate change e-mails'

Ben Webster
The Times
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:04 UTC
The university at the centre of the climate change row over stolen e-mails has been accused of making a misleading statement to Parliament.

The University of East Anglia wrote this week to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee giving the impression that it had been exonerated by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). However, the university failed to disclose that the ICO had expressed serious concerns that one of its professors had proposed deleting information to avoid complying with the Freedom of Information Act.
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Target

3.9-magnitude earthquake rattles western Quebec, Canada


CTV.ca
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:57 UTC
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© Unknown
The earth shuddered closer to home Saturday night when a 3.9-magnitude earthquake hit western Quebec, hours after a devastating quake hit central Chile.

The quake hit at about 10:50 p.m. local time, according to Earthquakes Canada. Its epicentre was 13 kilometres northwest of Lachute, a town of about 12,000 located 75 km northwest of Montreal.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

About 50 km northeast of Lachute, Louise Tremblay was sitting on her couch in Ste. Adele, Que., watching images of destruction from the quake in Chile flash on television when she was startled by a loud and violent noise.
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Attention

A Perfect Storm is Brewing for the IPCC

Christopher Booker
telegraph.co.uk
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:59 UTC
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© Artizons.com
The news from sunny Bali that there is to be an international investigation into the conduct of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and its chairman Dr Rajendra Pachauri would have made front-page headlines a few weeks back. But while Scotland and North America are still swept by blizzards, in their worst winter for decades, there has been something of a lull in the global warming storm - after three months when the IPCC and Dr Pachauri were themselves battered by almost daily blizzards of new scandals and revelations. And one reason for this lull is that the real message of all the scandals has been lost.

The chief defence offered by the warmists to all those revelations centred on the IPCC's last 2007 report is that they were only a few marginal mistakes scattered through a vast, 3,000-page document. OK, they say, it might have been wrong to predict that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035; that global warming was about to destroy 40 per cent of the Amazon rainforest and cut African crop yields by 50 per cent; that sea levels were rising dangerously; that hurricanes, droughts and other "extreme weather events" were getting worse. These were a handful of isolated errors in a massive report; behind them the mighty edifice of global warming orthodoxy remains unscathed. The "science is settled", the "consensus" is intact.
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Bizarro Earth

Storm Batters Southern Europe, At Least 51 Dead


CNN
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:48 UTC
storm france
© AFP/Getty ImagesRescuers evacuate a flooded street Sunday using a motor boat in Chatellaillon, western France
Paris, France - A winter storm named "Xynthia" battered the western coast of Europe Sunday, its high winds downing trees and power lines and leaving as many as 51 people dead, authorities said.

Hardest hit was France, where at least 45 people were killed, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon announced.

The extra-tropical cyclone whipped the country's coastal regions and moved inland, bringing sometimes heavy flooding with it.

"It's a national catastrophe," Fillon said in a brief news conference. "Many people drowned, surprised by the rapid rise of the water."

The departments of Vendee and Charente-Maritime, on the French coast west of Paris, had severe flooding flooding when the strong winds whipped up the water at high tide.
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Bizarro Earth

18 killed as storm batters France


sify.com
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:41 UTC
At least 18 people have died in a violent storm that swept across France late Saturday and Sunday, France Info radio reported.

Packing winds of up to 160 km per hour, the storm uprooted trees, flooded houses, wreaked havoc with transportation and cut electricity supply to more than one million households, primarily along the Atlantic coastline.

Among the victims was an 88-year old woman who was found drowned in her house on the Isle of Oleron, off the west coast. Another octogenarian woman and a 10-year-old child also died in the region.

In addition, a man was struck by a branch and killed Saturday in the south-western city of Luchon.

Officials fear that the death toll could still rise, since many people have been reported missing and are feared swept away by the floodwaters.

The heavy rains and strong winds made numerous roads impassable and flooded cities along the coast, cutting off many communities from the outside world.

The flooding was exceptional in many areas because the passage of the storm coincided with the annual spring tide. As a result, many dikes were swamped or simply collapsed.
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Bizarro Earth

Aftershocks rattle quake ravaged Chile


Reuters
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:40 UTC
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© Mario Vilches AlcainoThe death toll stands at 214, but seems certain to rise.
Chileans have spent a night camped outside, fearful of aftershocks as rescuers battle to find survivors of a huge earthquake that shattered roads and airports and triggered a tsunami across the Pacific.

A powerful new 6.1 magnitude aftershock struck just off the coast early on Sunday morning (local time) reinforcing those fears, rattling cities already devastated by Saturday's deadly quake.

The 8.8 magnitude quake, one of the world's most powerful in a century, hammered Chile, killing more than 300 people as it toppled buildings and mangled highways.

The clock is ticking on the search for survivors, with about 100 people feared trapped in just one collapsed apartment block in the city of Concepcion.
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Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Alert for Mexico, California and Alaska

Ian Brockwell
News Blaze
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:32 UTC
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With the effects of the recent 8.8 magnitude quake in Chile still unfolding, it is understandable that thoughts of how this will affect other areas are not high in people's minds.

Hundreds have lost their lives in Chile, and Tsunami alerts have been seen as far away as Japan and Russia. Aftershocks continue to hit Chile, hampering rescue efforts and placing the survivors in constant fear.

The Chile quake occurred in the centre of three tectonic plates (Nazca, South American and Antarctic plates) and almost the same location that produced the largest earthquake the world has ever seen (in 1960).

Tectonic plates move in different ways. Some slide against other plates, while others push or go over or under each other. In some cases, the movement of one plate can affect another, creating new earthquakes in different areas of the planet.
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Bizarro Earth

Chile quake in 'elite class' like 2004 Asian quake

ALICIA CHANG
Associated Press
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:41 UTC
Los Angeles - The huge earthquake that struck off the coast of Chile belongs to an "elite class" of mega earthquakes, experts said, and is similar to the 2004 Indian Ocean temblor that triggered deadly tsunami waves.

The magnitude-8.8 quake was a type called a "megathrust," considered the most powerful earthquake on the planet. Megathrusts occur when one tectonic plate dives beneath another. Saturday's tremor unleashed about 50 gigatons of energy and broke about 250 miles of the fault zone, said U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Paul Caruso.

The quake's epicenter was offshore and occurred about 140 miles north of the largest earthquake ever recorded - a magnitude-9.5 that killed about 1,600 people in Chile and scores of others in the Pacific in 1960.
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Bizarro Earth

Parts of UK on flood alert with more downpours likely


BBC News
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:32 UTC
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South-east England is expected to bear the brunt of the stormy weather
Large parts of the UK are on flood alert after heavy rain, with further torrential downpours and strong winds predicted for southern England.

The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for south-east England and says up to 20mm (0.8in) of rain could fall on already saturated ground.

There is one severe flood warning and eight flood warnings in place for East Anglia and north-east England.

Some 103 flood watches are in force for much of the rest of England and Wales.

Two flood watches are currently in force in Scotland for the east coast from Peterhead to Berwick, and the Solway Firth from the Esk Estuary to Loch Ryan.
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Bizarro Earth

Deadly storm lashes Spain, Portugal and France


BBC News
Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:18 UTC
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© AFPThe French village of Ver-sur-Mer feels the force of the gales
At least nine people have been killed in storms that have lashed parts of Spain, Portugal and France.

Winds of up to 140km/h (87mph) caused chaos as they moved from Portugal up through the Bay of Biscay.

Five people are reported to have been killed in France, three in Spain and a 10-year-old boy in Portugal.

The storm is expected to track north-eastwards during the course of Sunday, reaching Denmark by the evening, French meteorological authorities said.
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