Earth ChangesS


Igloo

Freezing weather blasts Britain


BBC News
Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:14 UTC
Freezing winds from the Arctic are blasting Britain, with much of the country braced for snow showers.

Several roads have been closed in northern Scotland after heavy snow made driving conditions treacherous.

Snow showers are spreading down eastern England, affecting north Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Snow could hit more areas on Sunday.

Drivers are being warned of black ice on roads, with snow and rain due to fall on frozen surfaces overnight.
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Fish

New dolphin species revealed by genetic test

Emma Young
New Scientist
Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:31 UTC
A new, third species of bottlenose dolphin has been discovered in the waters off southern Australia. It is only the second new dolphin to be discovered in 50 years.

Luciana Möller of the Marine Mammal Research Group at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and her colleagues were studying populations of what they thought were Indo-Pacific and common bottlenoses in southern waters.
Southern Australian bottlenose dolphin
© Macquarie UniversityThe Southern Australian bottlenose dolphin is only the second new dolphin to be discovered in 50 years.

DNA analysis, though, revealed that most the animals living close to the shores of the states of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania were in fact a new species, belonging to a new genus. "They look very like the Indo-Pacific species, but genetically they're very different," says Möller.
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Camcorder

In the Northern California wilds: animal 'Candid Camera'

Tom Stienstra
San Francisco Chronical
Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:10 UTC
Image
© CA Dept of Fish and Game
In one scene, a small bobcat crouched on a one-inch perch, appearing to gather the courage for a 10-foot leap over a stream to an equally tiny landing spot.

In another, a large mountain lion crept along a creek, searching for a way across without getting wet.

Then there was the phantom creature that snuck right behind the wildlife biologist and his camera, then disappeared - but only for a moment. In another episode, a bear, the Holy Grail of "critter cams," hovered over a salmon pool on a remote creek, then out-quicked the camera.

A "critter cam," also known as a "trail cam," can unveil the wildlife secrets of forests, streams and lakes. These are movement-activated cameras strapped to trees, or fixed video cameras positioned at strategic locations on land and underwater. They are like having hidden eye-witnesses in the wilderness.
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Cloud Lightning

Deadly flash floods hit storm-battered Australian city


Agence France-Presse
Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:25 UTC
Brisbane - Flash floods killed a woman and forced evacuations as torrential rain drenched Australia's battered city of Brisbane Thursday just days after it was hit by a violent storm, officials said.
Map of Australia locating Brisbane
© AFP/GraphicMap of Australia locating Brisbane, where flash floods killed one person and forced evacuations days after the city was hit by a violent storm, according to officials.

The 85-year-old died when she was trapped in her car as it was swept away by floodwaters east of the Queensland state capital, police said. Her elderly husband was recovering in hospital.

More than 1,000 calls were made to emergency services in Brisbane and surrounding areas on the east coast, which were pounded by up to 25 centimetres (nearly 10 inches) of rain over seven hours overnight.

Thousands of homes were plunged into darkness and families were evacuated from houses threatened by a landslip workers had been trying to stabilise after Sunday's storm, said state Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts.
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Info

Government warns of "catastrophic" U.S. quake

Carey Gillam
Reuters
Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:48 UTC
Kansas City, MO - People in a vast seismic zone in the southern and midwestern United States would face catastrophic damage if a major earthquake struck there and should ensure that builders keep that risk in mind, a government report said on Thursday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said if earthquakes strike in what geologists define as the New Madrid Seismic Zone, they would cause "the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States."

FEMA predicted a large earthquake would cause "widespread and catastrophic physical damage" across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee -- home to some 44 million people.

Tennessee is likely to be hardest hit, according to the study that sought to gauge the impact of a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in order to guide the government's response.
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Popcorn

Eastern US Cold Weeks ahead of Schedule

Steve Penstone and Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather
Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:42 UTC
Cold air that is as much as four weeks ahead of schedule has produced record cold temperatures and more lake-effect snow to the lee of the Great Lakes. Snow showers will reach east of the Appalachians into the weekend.

cold front US East
© AccuWeather
The extreme cold air pouring out of the high Arctic is trailing a weak clipper system that moved into the mid-Atlantic region Thursday. The cold air is spreading across much of the country east of the Rockies, but the core of the cold will be in the Midwest and the Northeast.

Temperatures into the weekend will be as much as 20 degrees below normal, while strong winds will create RealFeel® temperatures that will feel even colder.
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Igloo

Cold sweeping over US


AccuWeather
Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:40 UTC
Reinforcing shots of frigid air from Canada will continue to spill into the East into next week. By Thanksgiving Day, temperatures will finally rebound a little closer to normal.

The Midwest Regional News story reports that a weak Alberta Clipper moving into the Upper Midwest today will spread the next wave of arctic air into the East by this weekend, while sparking the next round of lake-effect snow to the lee of the Great Lakes.

Today, residents in the East woke to sub-freezing temperatures across the region. According to the East Regional News story, lows early this morning plummeted into the 20s across a good portion of the eastern third of the nation.
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Igloo

Bitter cold shatters record

Steve Lyttle
Charlotte Observer
Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:25 UTC
Temperatures are climbing this morning after tumbling to a record low before dawn in Charlotte.

The frigid readings this morning not only set a record for the date, but it marked the earliest ever that the temperature has fallen below 20 degrees in Charlotte.

Forecasters say we will moderate slightly over the next two days, but another shot of cold air is headed for the region late Thursday into the weekend.

The unofficial low this morning at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport was 18 degrees. That broke the mark of 20 degrees for the date, set in 1951. Before today, the earliest sub-20 reading in Charlotte was on Nov. 20, 1951.
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Igloo

Early Snow - Sierra Nevada Opens Early

Patrick Thorne
SkiInfo
Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:57 UTC
Sierra Nevada ski resort
© SkiInfoSierra Nevada, Europe's most southerly resort, had its earliest opening for 20 years at the weekend when more than 7000 skiers took to the slopes of Europe's most southerly resort.

The resort, one of Europe's highest, had planned to open this weekend but decided to open early following heavy snowfall. This led to a snow depth of 20 - 50cms (8 - 20 inches) of freshly fallen powder.
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Magic Wand

'Snow-vember' Sees Ski Resorts Open Early Around The World


Ski Paradise
Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:45 UTC
ski snow
Skiinfo.com, is reporting bumper pre-season snow across the northern hemisphere with the Alps, Pyrenees, Scandinavia and the Rockies all receiving huge early snow falls that have brought wonderful powder snow conditions for skiers and boarders on the glacier ski areas that were already open, and led to an increasing number of resorts in Canada, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the US to open up to a month earlier than planned.

Skiinfo.com reports that about 100 ski areas around the planet are now operational (the last southern hemisphere resort, Mt Ruapehu in New Zealand, winds up its 2008 record-snow season this weekend).

New openings in Europe this weekend (November 14 - 16) include Hemsedal in Norway, Obergurgl in Austria, Laax and Lenzerheide in Switzerland.

"Hemsedal has between 20-30 cm nature snow above the tree line and the snow conditions in the high mountain are excellent", said a resort spokesman. Half of the world's open ski areas at present are in Scandinavia where competition focus in on Levi in Finland this weekend for World Cup racing.
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