Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Italian storm prompts flooding concerns

Rome -- Civil protection officials in Italy say they are concerned a major storm in the region Monday could prompt dangerous flooding.

The Italian news agency ANSA said as the third major pre-winter storm ravaged parts of Italy Monday, concern over increased flooding along the Aniene River increased.

The Aniene temporarily overflowed during earlier inclement weather, leaving several of Rome's streets flooded.

The river's level dropped during the weekend but the renewed storm had that level rising steadily Monday.

Better Earth

OOPS, We Forgot Siberia!

When you first glance at the chart from my last blog entry it sure looks like Global Warming is for real, after 1990 the bars never go into the blue zone. But how can this be when 1934 is still the hottest year on record, this chart makes it look like 1998 is the hottest?
temp chart
© unknown

Binoculars

'Once-in-100-year-snowfall' photos in Southern Austria

Here's the 'Once-in-100-year-snowfall' in Southern Austria in pictures......that storm I told you about last week ended up going further east - Eastern Italy and SE Austria. Still expecting a big dump in Southern France today and tomorrow - not quite this much, but a metre.

Rhys Jaggar

Igloo

102 cm of snow disrupts rail, traffic in south Austria

Vienna - Record snowfall in parts of southern Austria disrupted traffic and rail services Friday and prompted authorities to declare the highest-level avalanche alert.

In the Gailtal valley, in the southern province of Carinthia, about 102 centimetres of snow fell in just 48 hours, marking an 80-year record, according to the Austrian national weather centre ZAMG.

The Lesachtal valley meanwhile saw between 160 and 200 centimetres of fresh snow, according to unofficial data.

Igloo

Freak Snowstorms Cut Power In France

Tens of thousands of people have been left without power or transport by freak snowstorms in south-central France.

Up to 100,000 were left without electricity in the largely hilly region, with some losing their phone lines, according to regional power company ERDF.

Traffic has been blocked on several highways, while heavy snow in the elevated Massif Central region near the Alps cut train lines between Béziers and Clermont-Ferrand.

Snowman

U.S. hit by blizzards and avalanche (video)

A skier dies after an avalanche and blizzards paralyse towns and cities in parts of the western United States.

The 20-year-old skier died in hospital after she was buried by a rare avalanche at a resort in Utah.

The same storm front that created the avalanche conditions also brought blizzards to major cities, closing roads and halting transport systems.

Arrow Down

Colorado, US: New record low temperatures in Denver for December

New record low temperatures in Denver for December 14th and 15th.

Play

Video: Al Gore sued by over 30.000 Scientists for fraud


Better Earth

As Ice Melts, Antarctic Bedrock Is On The Move

POLENET GPS site
© Ohio State UniversityEric Kendrick, a senior research associate at Ohio State, shown at a POLENET GPS site in West Antarctica. He is standing in front of solar panels, battery boxes, and wind generators used to power the GPS station.
As ice melts away from Antarctica, parts of the continental bedrock are rising in response -- and other parts are sinking, scientists have discovered.

The finding will give much needed perspective to satellite instruments that measure ice loss on the continent, and help improve estimates of future sea level rise.

"Our preliminary results show that we can dramatically improve our estimates of whether Antarctica is gaining or losing ice," said Terry Wilson,* associate professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University.

These results come from a trio of global positioning system (GPS) sensor networks on the continent.

Wilson leads POLENET, a growing network of GPS trackers and seismic sensors implanted in the bedrock beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). POLENET is reoccupying sites previously measured by the West Antarctic GPS Network (WAGN) and the Transantarctic Mountains Deformation (TAMDEF) network.

Frog

Flashback Australia: Crocodiles wiped out by invasion of the toxic toads

Cane Toad
© APThe cane toad is famed for its indestructibility

In a contest between a toad and a crocodile, it seems obvious the croc will win. Not, though, if its adversary is a cane toad - the poisonous pests laying waste to Australian wildlife.

Researchers have found that, in some waterways in the Northern Territory, numbers of freshwater crocodiles have more than halved over the past two years. The reason is cane toads, which are fatal when eaten.