Earth ChangesS


Snowman

Best of the Web: U.S. Shivers as Temps Head Lower

Craig Johnson
CNN
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:41 UTC
Icy Temperatures in the US - Jan 4, 2010
© CNNCold spell covers most of U.S. This map shows how far from normal the temperatures have been since the start of the new year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Figures are in degrees Fahrenheit.
Much of the nation awoke to frigid weather Monday as below-freezing temperatures threatened to shatter records across the South.

"We're seeing freeze warnings not just into Central Florida, but down into the Everglades," CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano said.

Hard freeze warnings were in effect for much of the Florida Peninsula and the Southeast, according to the National Weather Service. Record lows were expected in the Gulf Coast states and into southern Florida, said CNN meteorologist Sean Morris.

Temperatures in parts of South Carolina got down to 14 on Sunday, Morris said, breaking the record low of 18 set in 1979.

The Big Chill is far from over.
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Snowman

Britain braced for heaviest snowfall in 50 years

Martin Evans
The Daily Telegraph
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:39 UTC
Snow!
© Getty ImagesSnow!
As the country was plunged into one of its worst winters for decades, the Met Office issued an emergency weather warning for all counties of the UK.

The South, including London and the Home Counties, were expected to bear the brunt of the snowfall with emergency services warning they are already struggling to cope with the increasingly bitter conditions.

Forecasters predicted that more than one foot of snow could fall in less than 24 hours in most southern areas leading to widespread chaos and disruption for millions.
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Bizarro Earth

Thousands left homeless on Solomon Islands after major earthquake triggers 10ft tsunami

Wil Longbottom
The Daily Mail
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:04 UTC
Image
© ReutersDamage: A house lies destroyed after a 10ft tsunami hit the remote Solomon Islands yesterday
Landslides and a tsunami triggered by a major earthquake have left thousands of people homeless on one of the Pacific Solomon islands.

One-third of the population of Renova have been left without shelter after a 10ft wave destroyed 200 houses and left debris strewn across the coast.

Photographs taken from police helicopters showed extensive damage to the remote western island after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the islands yesterday.
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Igloo

Soul-destroying cold and snow brings China to standstill: lowest temperatures in 50 years


Press TV
Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:52 UTC
Image
© UnknownAn ice-frosted bus in the Chinese capital tells the story of the coldest spell in Beijing in over 50 years.
Heavy snowfall has wrought havoc on the Chinese transport system, clogging highways and stranding thousands for 48 hours and 1,400 rail passengers in Inner Mongolia, state media said Tuesday.

On Sunday, a snowfall of 10 millimeters was reported in the southern suburbs of Beijing where, according to the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, temperatures have fallen to their lowest in some 50 years.

Drivers slept in their vehicles for two nights after getting stuck on Tuesday on a highway outside the Chinese capital, where a 20-kilometer-long bumper-to-bumper traffic was reported, AFP reported.
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Bizarro Earth

Swiss Avalanches Kill 5; 3 Missing Beneath Snow

Franks Johns
The Associated Press
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:05 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/Peter KlaunzerTheo Maurer, chief instructor of Alpine Rescue Switzerland, left, talks on his mobile phone as a rescue helicopter of the Swiss emergency service Rega prepares for takeoff from the Diemtig Valley, in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.
Avalanches killed five people in the Swiss Alps over the weekend, and bad weather prevented rescuers from reaching three skiers who apparently remained trapped under the snow on Monday, officials said.

Two of the avalanches occurred in central Switzerland on Sunday, the first hitting a group of skiers, the second the rescuers who came to their aid. A third avalanche buried two skiers in southern Switzerland.

Bad weather conditions meant rescuers had to call off foot and helicopter searches in central Switzerland on Monday for two Swiss and a German missing in the Diemtig Valley, 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the capital, Bern, said regional police chief Otto von Almen.
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Gear

Best of the Web: Flashback 1922: "Extra, Extra, Read all about it! Arctic Ocean Getting Warm; Seals Perish, Glaciers and Icebergs Melt!"


Watts Up With That?
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:14 UTC
Image
© Maksim-ThePeoplesCube.com
Roger Carr recently wrote in comments:
Help Wanted: I am trying to purchase (or plunder) a full copy of this story, mentioned here on this forum:
A Washington, D.C. resident John Lockwood was conducting research at the Library of Congress and came across an intriguing headline in the Nov. 2, 1922 edition of The Washington Post: 'Arctic Ocean Getting Warm; Seals Vanish and Icebergs Melt'.

The article mentions "great masses of ice have now been replaced by moraines of earth and stones," and "at many points well-known glaciers have entirely disappeared."
The original source of the story resurfacing recently was from an Inside the Beltway column of August 14th, 2007. The newspaper article was located in the Library of Congress archives by James Lockwood.
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Snowman

Climategate: One Must Ignore 200 Years of Observations to Believe in AGW

David J. Bellamy
Pajamas Media
Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:36 UTC
David Bellamy
A summary of the compendium of evidence refuting manmade global warming.

There is no evidence of carbon dioxide being a poison, or that it is capable of causing a warming Armageddon. What follows is a summary of the proof - straight from real science, peer-reviewed over the past 232 years by legions of physicists, thanks to Newton's Principia.

Remember the famous picture of Miss Marilyn Monroe with her skirt blown high? Even at the age of 76, when I see this picture my temperature goes up - followed by the amount of carbon dioxide I exhale. Never the other way 'round. Now, thanks to the study of a series of ice cores, this appears to be an inconvenient truth for the global warming industry.
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Arrow Down

Flashback Ocean drift disruption may chill Europe


BBC
Thu, 25 Nov 1999 15:29 UTC
Image
© planetforlife.comGreat Ocean Conveyor Belt
Scientists have found evidence that the Atlantic Ocean current which gives Europe its mild climate is being disrupted.

If it stopped, then the temperatures in western Europe would plunge by five degrees Celsius, creating bitter winters. The culprit for the changes could, ironically, be global warming.

The current, called the North Atlantic Drift, brings warm water northwards from the Gulf Stream. It is being disrupted by a growing amount of freshwater entering the Arctic Ocean, reports New Scientist magazine.
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Star

Ray of Creation: Cosmic radiation and tree growth patterns linked


Watts Up With That?
Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:53 UTC
Image
© NASAPhotograph by Jason A.C. Brock of Roundtimber, Texas.
Here's a surprise. The growth of trees in Britain appears to correlate to cosmic ray intensity. University of Edinburgh researchers have found that trees are growing faster when high levels of cosmic radiation arrive from space. This may also correlate to the Interplanetary Magnetic Field which tends to modulate Galactic Cosmic Rays. The discover lends credence to Svensmark's work on GCR to cloud cover correlation by demonstrating yet another tangible effect.

The researchers made the discovery studying how growth rings of spruce trees changed over the past half a century.

Here's the kicker: the variation in cosmic rays affected the tree growth more than changes in temperature or precipitation.

The study is published in the scientific journal New Phytologist.

A relationship between galactic cosmic radiation and tree rings

Sigrid Dengel, Dominik Aeby and John Grace

Institute of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, School of GeoSciences, Crew Building, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3JN, UK
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Snowman

Britain facing coldest winter for 30 years and temperatures could reach -18

Emily Nash
Mirror.co.uk
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:29 UTC
Image
Freezing Britain is facing its coldest winter in three decades with temperatures as low as -18C.
Weathermen yesterday predicted at least 15 days of icy hell with the deepest layers of snow for years in some parts.

The freeze will cause travel chaos for millions returning to work today after Christmas. And charities warned the big chill would put many pensioners at risk.

The Met Office said: "It will be very cold over the next days with severe night frosts and snow. Temperatures could well be in the range of -12C, even -18."

If the Arctic conditions continue through January it will be the coldest winter since the big freeze of 1978/79.
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