Earth ChangesS


Hourglass

Massive octopus kill still a mystery

Lisa Abend
Time
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:44 UTC
more_dead_octopus
© William Manning / CorbisDead octopuses have been washing up on shore in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
What is killing the octopus of Vila Nova de Gaia? That question has obsessed the Portuguese city - located just across the Douro River from Porto - since Jan. 2, when 1,100 lb. (500 kg) of dead octopus were found on a 1.8-mile (3 km) stretch of local beach. The following day, another 110 lb. (50 kg) appeared; later there was just one expired creature. "It's very strange that so many should be killed, and in such a confined area," says Nuno Oliveira, director of the Gaia Biological Park, a nature refuge on the outskirts of Vila Nova de Gaia. "There's nothing in the scientific literature for this kind of mass mortality among octopus."

Twelve hundred pounds is a lot of dead cephalopod, especially when no one seems to know for sure what killed them. Local biologists have ruled out pollution or contamination because no other species were affected. And although some suggest that perhaps a boat, illegally fishing the multilegged creatures, threw them overboard in a panicked attempt to avoid detection, that possibility also seems unlikely. "The sea has been very rough," says Oliveira. "No one has been out fishing for days."
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Snowman

Mysterious giant ice balls discovered on Swedish coastline

David Landes
The Local
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:59 UTC
Image
© Ottenby Fagelstation
Bird watchers walking along the beach on the Baltic island of Öland off Sweden's southeastern coast were puzzled by an unusual natural phenomenon recently when they stumbled across dozens of football-sized balls of ice lying on the shore.

A week before Christmas, Magnus Bladh of the Ottenby bird station, located on Öland's southern cape, was strolling along the beach with a colleague when he saw something he'd never seen before.

"Temperatures were below freezing and there was a light wind, but it was very cold! In the seaweed we noticed at least 200 large ice balls," he said in a report to Swedish meteorological agency SMHI.

"The balls varied in size but the biggest ones were quite large, some larger than a football."
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Igloo

Snow covers Britain from head to toe

Stephen Adams
Telegraph.co.uk
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:53 UTC
Image
© PA/NEODAAS/University of DundeeBritain remains covered from head to toe with snow end in sight...
As if dusted with icing sugar, this satellite image of Britain shows the full extent of the snow coverage affecting the country.

From head to toe there is barely a patch of land not blanketed by the heaviest snowfall in 50 years.

It was taken at 11.15am on Thursday by the NASA satellite Terra and transmitted to the University of Dundee Satellite Receiving Station.

The image gives an impression of just how deep with snow has been across most parts, including the southern belt of England: parts of Hampshire received more than 16 inches in just a few hours earlier this week.

Only the western coastal extremes, such as Dorset's Isle of Purbeck in the south and more surprisingly Jura and Islay in the Inner Hebrides, have escaped widespread coverage.

The picture also demonstrates how little thawing has taken place, as most of the snow lying across lowland parts fell on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Cloud Lightning

No end in sight as freeze tightens grip on Ireland


Independent.ie
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:21 UTC
Image
© Independent.ie
The country will be hit with snow storms for the entire weekend as Met Eireann yesterday warned the cold weather will continue for at least another week.

Up to 5cm of snow fell in Dublin yesterday and, at one point, the capital was hit with a thunder storm.

Met Eireann issued a severe weather warning last night after temperatures were forecast to fall to as low as -8C.

Forecaster Vincent O'Shea said driving conditions would become even more hazardous over the coming days, with no respite in the freezing temperatures expected.
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Igloo

British government using freezing weather to force through rationing: cuts off gas to factories, even though there is sufficient supply

Terry Macalister
Guardian.co.uk
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:07 UTC
Severe weather and creaking power infrastructure lead to first tangible sign that fears over energy shortages are translating into supply disruption

Factories in the north-west of England and east Midlands are today having their energy supplies cut off for the first time in years as the severe weather and creaking power infrastructure lead to 1970s-style rationing.

In the first tangible sign that fears over energy shortages are translating into supply disruption, the National Grid has withdrawn gas via suppliers such as British Gas from 94 industrial customers who have signed up to interruptible contracts in a bid to safeguard power to domestic homes.

The Grid, which operates the UK transmission networks for both electricity and gas, told guardian.co.uk that the gas transmission network in certain parts of the country was operating at 96% capacity and it was not possible to go beyond this.
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Igloo

Airport chaos as icy weather grips northern Europe


BBC
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:55 UTC
Image
© Marcus Brandt/EPAHamburg, Germany: Large sheets of ice drift on the Binnenalster
The icy weather gripping northern Europe has disrupted flights at airports in the UK, France, the Irish Republic and the Netherlands.

Many flights were delayed or cancelled at Orly airport in Paris, Dublin airport and Amsterdam-Schiphol, as well as major UK airports.

A Eurostar train was stuck for about two hours in the Channel Tunnel on Thursday. It later reached the UK.

Four other Eurostar trains were cancelled, a company spokesman said.

Last month the Eurostar service was suspended for three days after several trains broke down in the tunnel. Powdery snow getting into the engines was identified as the cause.

In Germany, at least nine homeless men aged between 42 and 62 have frozen to death.

Many parts of Germany saw temperatures fall below -10C on Thursday, the Deutsche Welle news website reports.
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Snowman

US: Frigid weather hits Midwest, -52 wind chill in North Dakota

Michael Crumb
Associated Press
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:34 UTC
Des Moines - Snow was piled so high in Iowa that drivers couldn't see across intersections and a North Dakota snowblower repair shop was overwhelmed with business as residents braced Thursday for heavy snow and wind chills as low as 52 below zero.
vehicles in white out
Vehicles travel in white out conditions caused by blowing snow on Interstate...

Frigid weather also was gripping the South, where a rare cold snap was expected to bring snow and ice Thursday to states from South Carolina to Louisiana. Forecasters said wind chills could drop to near zero at night in some areas.

Dangerously cold wind chill levels hit the Midwest early Thursday including 52 below zero in northern North Dakota, negative 40 in parts of South Dakota and minus 27 in northeast Nebraska, according to the National Weather Service. Equally disturbing chills were expected overnight Friday.
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Phoenix

Costa Rican volcano erupts after long silence


Reuters
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:12 UTC
San Jose - Costa Rica's Turrialba volcano, last active in the 19th century, erupted on Tuesday, spewing ash and steam and prompting authorities to evacuate a small number of people from its slopes.

The 11,000-foot (3,340-meter) volcano is situated east of the capital San Jose in the remote, lushly forested central highlands of the Central American country.

It had shown increased activity since the weekend, Vanessa Rosales, president of Costa Rica's disaster response commission, told Reuters.
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Igloo

Best of the Web: Arctic freeze and snow wreak havoc across the planet

Charles Bremner in Paris and Richard Lloyd Parry Tokyo
Times of London
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:59 UTC
Arctic Cold
© APA boy walks with his yak after fresh snowfall in Kufri, outskirts of Shimla, India
Arctic air and record snow falls gripped the northern hemisphere today, inflicting hardship and havoc from China, across Russia to Western Europe and over the US plains.

There were few precedents for the global sweep of extreme cold and ice that killed dozens in India, paralysed life in Beijing and threatened the Florida orange crop. Chicagoans sheltered from a potentially killer freeze, Paris endured sunny Siberian cold, Italy dug itself out of snowdrifts and Poland counted at least 13 deaths in record low temperatures of about minus 25C (-13F).

The heaviest snow yesterday hit northeastern Asia, which is suffering its worst winter weather for 60 years. More than 25 centimetres (10in) of snow covered Seoul, the South Korean capital - the heaviest fall since records began in 1937.
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Igloo

Best of the Web: Britain Freezes Over: 'No end in sight'


The Independent
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:27 UTC
Big Ben snow
© Getty Images
Britain's big freeze showed no sign of easing tonight as heavy snow again brought swathes of the country to a standstill.

Hospitals cancelled operations, the Army was drafted in to rescue motorists and emergency moves to ease the gritting crisis were demanded as a further 1.5ft (47cm) of snow fell in some parts.

Crucial transport networks went into meltdown during heavy flurries across the south while hundreds of thousands of children enjoyed an extension to their holidays after school closures.

With millions unable to get into work on a day estimated to have cost businesses £690 million, forecasters warned the misery will continue into next week.

After striking Scotland and the north of England, the heavy snowfall moved south to the home counties and London - where it was set to continue falling over night.

Comment: Gas Supplies Running Out as Britain Shivers

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