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German food prices spike due to extreme weather in 2012


Deutsche Welle
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:38 UTC
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Food prices in Germany rose sharply in December, posting their strongest gains in four years. The rise added to higher costs for energy, keeping inflation in Europe's largest economy at a high level.

German inflation edged up at the end of 2012, rising to 2.1 percent in December compared with 1.9 percent in November, according to latest data released by the German Statistics Office, Destatis, Tuesday.

The consumer price index was boosted markedly by soaring food prices, which jumped 4.8 percent compared with the same month a year ago.

"This marks the strongest increase in food prices since September 2008," Destatis said in a statement.

Year-on-year, food prices rose 3.2 percent, adding to 5.2 percent higher prices for energy - the primary drivers of inflation in Germany last year.
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Bomb

A bit of a bombshell from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme? Black carbon is a larger cause of climate change than previously assessed

Anthony Watts
WattsUpWithThat.com
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:57 UTC
From the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme via Eurekalert, some of the heat gets taken off CO2 as the 'big kahuna' of forcings, now there is another major player, one that we can easily do something about. I've often speculated that black carbon is a major forcing for Arctic sea ice, due to examples like this one. - Anthony

Reducing diesel engine emissions would reduce warming
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© American Geophysical Union 2013 D. W. FaheyThis shows black carbon processes in the climate system.
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - Pacific-Antarctic Ridge


US Geological Survey
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:59 UTC
Pacific Antarctic Ridge
© USGS
Event Time
2013-01-15 16:09:37 UTC
2013-01-15 05:09:37 UTC-11:00 at epicenter

Location
62.580°S 161.397°W depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities
1027km (638mi) ENE of Scott Island Bank, Antarctica
2571km (1598mi) SSE of Dunedin, New Zealand
2617km (1626mi) SE of Invercargill, New Zealand
2618km (1627mi) SE of Gore, New Zealand
2844km (1767mi) SSE of Wellington, New Zealand

Technical Details
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Snowflake

Heaviest snow in 7 years strikes Tokyo

Nick Wiltgen
wunderground.com
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:01 UTC
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© Photo credit: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty ImagesA pedestrian looks at the falling snow while crossing the road in the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo on January 14, 2013.
The heaviest snowstorm in seven years struck Tokyo Monday, causing thousands of car accidents and disrupting train travel just as the nation celebrated a unique national holiday.

Coming of Age Day, held the second Monday of every January, celebrates those who have turned or are about to turn 20 years old. Ceremonies and parties are held in communities across Japan, and the newly-minted adults often wear traditional kimono for the occasion.

But with wind-driven snow flying in the Japanese capital Monday, getting around proved difficult. Roads were clogged with slush, and the country's extensive rail network experienced delays. The snow was the first of this winter for Tokyo.
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Sun

U.S. Agriculture Secretary: 2013 already a drought disaster

Tim Wall
Discovery News
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:17 UTC
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The first month of 2013 is already a disaster for many farmers. Last week, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack declared 507 counties in 14 states natural disasters due to the ongoing drought.

America's first official disaster areas of 2013 were designated because the 597 have experienced severe drought conditions for eight consecutive weeks, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Last year, 2,245 counties in 39 states were declared disasters by the USDA. With continued drought projected for much of the United States, farmers may have another hard year ahead of them. A hard year for farmers means a had year for anyone who eats. Global food prices are strongly affected by America's harvests.
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Question

Chinese village suffers over 20 sinkholes in five months

Ian Jones
MSN News
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:50 UTC
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Residents in the village of Lianyuan in southern China's Hunan Province have been treading rather gingerly these last few months.

Over 20 sinkholes have opened up in the ground since last September.

The cave-ins, which range in size, have seen houses collapse and rivers run dry. And there is never any warning as to where and when the sinkhole occur.

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No Entry

Volcano lava flows worry Italian island


Agence France-Presse
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:47 UTC
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© AFP PhotoThe flanks of the Stromboli volcano north of Sicily spews lava towards the sea on January 14, 2013 after one of Europe's most active volanoes churned into activity. Spectacular lava flows and smoke from an active volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli on Monday sparked fear among inhabitants but geophysicists said the situation was under control.
Spectacular lava flows and smoke from an active volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli on Monday sparked fear among inhabitants but geophysicists said the situation was under control.

Stromboli is part of the seven-island Eolian Archipelago just off Sicily in southern Italy.

The volcano is active but on Monday there was a particularly powerful eruption and sustained lava flows following four days of heightened activity.
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Snowflake Cold

NASA: We may be on the verge of a "Mini-Maunder" event


WashingtonsBlog
Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:54 UTC
earth
© NASA
Is a Planetary Cooling Spell Straight Ahead?

All climate scientists agree that the sun affects Earth's climate to some extent. They only disagree about whether or not the effect form the sun is minor compared to man-made causes.
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Bad Guys

Global Warming? Has the UK Met Office committed fraud?

Christopher Monckton of Brenchley
What's Up With That?
Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:40 UTC
UK snow
© Unknown
The truth is out. No amount of hand-wringing or numerical prestidigitation on the part of the usual suspects can any longer conceal from the world the fact that global warming has been statistically indistinguishable from zero for at least 18 years. The wretched models did not predict that.

When I told the December 2012 UN climate summit in Doha that there had been no warming for at least 16 years, the furious delegates howled me down.

The UN later edited the videotape to remove the howling. The delegates were furious not because I was speaking out of turn (they did not know that at the time) but because the truth was inconvenient.
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Radar

3.4-magnitude earthquake hits Tasmania


9News, Australia
Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:53 UTC
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Residents on Tasmania's northern coast have woken to tremors after a 3.4-magnitude earthquake struck 10km from the shore.

The earthquake, about 10 to 12 kilometres from Wynyard, hit at 7.21am (AEDT) on Sunday, sending short and sharp tremors to nearby Burnie and as far away as Launceston, said Geoscience Australia seismologist Jonathan Bathgate.

Mr Bathgate said the agency received around 100 calls from residents who felt the tremors.

"It's been fairly widely-felt across that section of Tasmania," he said.

"They generally hear a loud noise and feel a sharp, sudden jolt.

"The phones have been just ringing constantly.

"I think it woke a few people up."
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