Earth ChangesS


Igloo

Winnipeg deep freeze as cold as Mars

Winnipeg Deep Freeze
© CBC News, CanadaParts of Manitoba hit -53 C, colder than Mars.
In terms of astonishing weather facts, it doesn't get much more impressive than being as cold as a distant planet for a day. The Manitoba Museum is reporting Winnipeg's temperatures on Tuesday were actually as cold as the surface of Mars.

According to the Curiosity Rover, Mars reached a maximum temperature of -29 C on Tuesday, a temperature Winnipeg only reached shortly before 3 p.m. The deep freeze over much of Southern Manitoba prompted extreme wind chill warnings in the area and most of the north.

In Winnipeg, the daytime high temperature for Tuesday was only expected to reach - 31 C, but the windchill made it feel more like - 40 to - 50. That means exposed skin can freeze in less than five minutes.

On Monday, it got as warm as - 28 C.

In the northern half of the province, in places like Thompson, Nelson House, Lynn Lake, Leaf Rapids and Churchill, the wind chills on Tuesday made it feel like - 48 to - 53.

The entire province was under an extreme wind chill warning on Monday, but it was later lifted in the central portion of Manitoba as well as the southwest and southeast corners.

Ice Cube

In the icy grip of fear that global warming is claptrap

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© UnknownAntarctica
If you are going to get yourself marooned, the Seychelles or some palm-fringed Pacific atoll would seem to be the shot. Caressed by balmy winds and encircled by golden sands, they are warm and pleasant places with bars, duty-free shops, clean sheets and room service.

Just the sort of spots, in other words, for an academic to hole up with his latest grant and contemplate the ravages of global warming.

But go to the Antarctic?

Let's just say that making the South Pole your destination implies a great disadvantage from the start.

Arrive in Kiribati, one of those islands frequently reported to be sinking beneath the waves, and local politicians will greet you at the airport with ready quotes about how it is all the fault of the industrialised West's carbon emissions.

Much easier to predict than global temperatures, the next sentence from their lips is sure to be a cup-rattling plea that large sums of UN-administered cash be transferred to the island's treasury without delay.

After those formalities the climate caper is a piece of cake.

Battery

Hawaii: Storm super cell - non-stop lightning (video)

Crazy Super Cell stalls over Hawaii December 30, 2013. Non-stop lightning!

Whistle

Global Warming researchers ice-bound; 96 percent of network stories censor why ship is there

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© AP
Antarctic ice trapped a ship full of scientists on a climate change expedition. Yet, 96 percent of network news reports about the stranded researchers ignored climate change entirely. The ship has been stuck since Christmas morning.

The broadcast networks mostly ignored the reason the Russian ship, Akademic Shokalskiy, was on its way to Antarctica. Twenty-five out of 26 stories (96 percent) on the network morning and evening news shows since Dec. 25 failed to mention climate change had anything to do with the expedition.

In fact, rather than point out the mission of the scientists to find evidence of climate change, the networks often referred to the stranded people as "passengers," "trackers" and even "tourists," with no mention of climate change or global warming. Chris Turney, the expedition's leader, is a professor of climate change at the University of South Wales. According to Turney's personal website, the purpose of the expedition is to "discover and communicate the environmental changes taking place in the south."

Attention

Mount Etna erupts again sending smoke and lava into the air

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© AP/Carmelo Imbesi
Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily erupts again after exploding several times earlier this month

The crater spewed out smoke and dust as lava poured from the top of the most active volcano in Europe.

Snowflake Cold

The New Year ushers in another winter storm for New England and New York

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© Getty imagesNew York, NY
Residents in New England and parts of New York began preparing Wednesday for a winter storm that will help usher in 2014 with snow and frigid temperatures across much of the region.

Snow is expected to begin falling overnight in some areas, promising a messy commute for the first business day of the new year, but the full storm isn't expected to hit until later Thursday. As much as a foot of snow or more is forecast for some areas overnight Thursday into Friday, and temperatures are expected to plummet, with some areas seeing highs just above zero.

"There will be travel problems," said Hugh Johnson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Albany, N.Y., talking about Friday's commute. "It will be very cold. You don't want to be out in the stuff long unless you have the proper clothing."

Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.6 - 37km W of Sola, Vanuatu

Sola Quake_010114
© USGS
Event Time
2014-01-01 16:03:30 UTC
2014-01-02 03:03:30 UTC+11:00 at epicenter

Location
13.873°S 167.202°E depth=196.2km (121.9mi)

Nearby Cities
37km (23mi) W of Sola, Vanuatu
183km (114mi) N of Luganville, Vanuatu
443km (275mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
779km (484mi) N of We, New Caledonia
918km (570mi) N of Paita, New Caledonia

Technical Details

Attention

Unusually large number of high-profile earthquakes across the globe last weekend

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© Afn / Handout / EPAView of the collapsed section of the Ensenada-Tijuana highway in Baja California, Mexico, Saturday.
An unusually large number of high-profile earthquakes sprung up across the globe over the weekend, causing extensive damage to a roadway in Mexico and leaving residents shaken in southern Europe, Egypt and the U.S.

Saturday, an earthquake near the Mexico - U.S. border collapsed chunks of this 300-yard stretch of highway. (Via CNN)

"The road is about 60 miles south of Tijuana. It passes over geological fault. The earthquake ranged in magnitude from 1.3 to 4.3." (Via WABC)

There were surprisingly no injuries, but one truck driver hauling 36 tons of cement had to wait hours before being pulled to safety. (Via NBC)

Also Saturday, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake reportedly hit the Mediterranean Sea, shaking nearby Turkey, Cyprus and Egypt. (Via Famagusta Gazette)

That was followed by a 4.9 magnitude earthquake nearly 1,500 miles away around Naples, Italy early Sunday morning. Residents reportedly slept in their cars in fear of aftershocks that might damage buildings. (Via U.S. Geological Survey)

In the U.S., Oklahoma dealt with several earthquakes over the last week with more striking over the weekend. Most were reported as minor between 2.0 magnitude and 4.9., but the Midwestern state has rarely dealt with earthquakes, until recent years. (Via KOTV) (Via Al Jazeera)


Arrow Down

Truck falls into sinkhole on rain-soaked Hawaii island

Storm sets new rainfall record for Hilo

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Heavy rains drenched Hawaii island's Windward coast Monday morning, scattering runoff and debris across the area - and even causing a Paauilo Mauka road to collapse beneath a truck, according to officials.

More rain Monday afternoon and evening prompted a flash flood warning that's been extended through 8 a.m. today after radar showed heavy rain south of Hilo near Keaau at about 7:48 p.m.

Other locations in the warning include Waipio Valley, Paauilo, Laupahoehoe, and Hawaiian Paradise Park.

The National Weather Service said flooding was reported at Ainako Ave. and Kaumana Drive this evening. A landslide was also reported on Old Scenic Road in Papaikou.

The Hawaii County Civil Defense was alerted to the road collapse site on Pohakea Mauka Road, near its junction with Manienie Road, at about 8 a.m., Civil Defense administrator Darryl Oliveira said. The rain had caused a culvert beneath the street to shift, which then triggered the roadway's collapse as a Dodge pickup drove over it. The truck fell into a giant sinkhole-like crater, Oliveira said.

The truck's female driver emerged with minor injuries and "definitely very shaken," Oliveira said. County public works personnel are at the site and "trying to come up with a plan" for repair - but it likely will be a slow fix. Oliveira said.

Ice Cube

Best of the Web: A dose of COLD reality: The ironic saga of the eco-campaigners trying to highlight global warming and melting ice caps trapped in the freezing Antarctic

  • Australian scientists set out on Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy
  • The £900,000 expedition began full of high hopes early last month
  • But ship was hit on Christmas Eve by a 50-knot blizzard and became trapped in ice
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MV Akademik Shokalskiy trapped in the ice at sea off Antarctica. A scientific research team who headed south to prove the threat to mankind from global warming by establishing that the region is melting have found themselves trapped on their ship
A team of Australian climate scientists set out on a Russian research ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy on a mission to raise awareness of global warming.

'The research stakes are high,' claimed a sympathetic report on Australia's ABC TV station.

'Antarctica is one of the great engines driving the world's oceans, winds and weather. But there are ominous signs of climate change . . .'

Up until Christmas, all seemed to be going well. Besides the Russian crew and the Australian climate scientists, the ship's 85-strong company included an Australian Green MP, two environment journalists from the Guardian newspaper and a BBC science journalist eager to relay details of the expedition's vital findings which support their gospel of man-made global warming.