© Unknown
Earth Changes
Climate experts say that global warming is melting sea ice faster than expected, which is why the poles currently have the most sea ice ever measured for the date.
Source
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A train passes along the coast at Saltcoats in Scotland, as a combination of high tides, heavy rains and strong winds are expected to bring yet more severe flooding to many parts of the country
A train passes along the coast at Saltcoats in Scotland, as a combination of high tides, heavy rains and strong winds are expected to bring yet more severe flooding to many parts of the country
Antony Frampton and his colleagues at the Environment Agency have rebuilt the mile-long shingle sea defence of Weymouth beach esplanade every day during the stormy weather over the past fortnight, with the exception of Christmas Day.
The team was hard at work again on Friday, as The Independent visited the Dorset town that is currently taking a hammering.
"The sea defence gets eroded overnight and so we rebuild it the next day," said Mr Frampton, before hopping into one of several Environment Agency diggers along the front and once again rebuilding the shingle wall that had been demolished the previous evening by the powerful gales and onslaught of heavy rain.
"We want to keep the shingle at a certain width so waves don't go over the wall and close the beach road," he said - although the road had been forced to close earlier that morning after flooding, and was due to close again last night as a precaution against the expected storm surge.
On Thursday, a helicopter flew the stranded passengers off the icepack in groups of 10 and 12. Their ship had been trapped in the ice for more than 10 days.
Now, they're stuck again, this time because the Chinese icebreaker that sent the helicopter fears it could get stuck as well.
The Australian ship meant to carry the passengers home is hanging around in case it's needed to rescue the Chinese.
© RT
This long time exposure picture taken on January 2, 2014 shows the city center of the western city of Quimperle flooded by the Laita river. Britanny is placed under flood warning due to heavy rains and high tidal coefficient.
This long time exposure picture taken on January 2, 2014 shows the city center of the western city of Quimperle flooded by the Laita river. Britanny is placed under flood warning due to heavy rains and high tidal coefficient.
On a visit to Brittany - the region worst affected by Storm Dirk - Valls recognised that an "error" had been made in forecasting and preparing for the bad weather.
Tens of thousands of homes were left without power over the festive period as fierce winds brought down by power lines and rivers flooded.
Valls has ordered préfets to assess the full extent of the damage in their department and try to ascertain why a higher level of warning was not issued.
The habitual climate-change denier reported that all 52 passengers of the Russian-flagged MV Akademik Shokalskiy had been rescued by helicopter after Chinese and Australian ice breakers had tried for days to reach the vessel.
"The ship, sent to the Antarctic to study climate change, has been stranded in the ice for 10 days," Varney noted. "Attempts to rescue the passengers using ice breaker ships failed. Rescuers finally got through using a whopping, great big helicopter that was landing on the supposedly, very thin ice."
© Daniel P. Derella/AP
Queens, New York, January 3, 2014
Queens, New York, January 3, 2014
The first major winter storm of 2014 brought bone-chilling temperatures and high winds from the lower Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic coast, with nearly 2 feet (60 cm) of snow falling in some areas of Massachusetts.
Much of the northeast saw heavy snowfall and plummeting temperatures late on Thursday evening and early on Friday, said Jared Guyer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
"That whole region is blanketed in winter storm warnings, which will continue at least through the morning hours if not beyond," Guyer said.
The storm posed the first major challenge to New York's new mayor, Bill de Blasio. The city's reaction to snowstorms has caused political havoc for mayors for decades.
© Rob Burch
The Chinese vessel, Xue Long, has expressed fears that it has also become stuck in the ice.
The Chinese vessel, Xue Long, has expressed fears that it has also become stuck in the ice.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has released another press release:
Aurora Australis on standby as a precautionary measureProf Turney tweets he is gutted by the news. I guess he can't believe that climate warming could trap so many ships in sea ice. His communication manager just announced that all the new sea ice is caused by global warming, see my last post.
Xue Long notified AMSA at 1pm AEDT this afternoon it has concerns about their ability to move through heavy ice in the area. The Aurora Australis has been placed on standby by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's (AMSA) Rescue Coordination Centre Australia (RCC Australia) to remain in open water in the area as a precautionary measure. The Xue Long has advised RCC Australia that it will attempt to manoeuvre through the ice when tidal conditions are most suitable during the early hours of 4 January 2014.
There is no immediate danger to personnel on board the Xue Long."
The Chinese vessel, Xue Long, has expressed fears that it has also become stuck in the ice
3 Jan 2014 - The Chinese icebreaker that helped rescue "climate change" researchers from a Russian ship trapped in Antarctic ice found itself stuck in heavy ice on Friday.
A helicopter from the Chinese Snow Dragon plucked the passengers from the icebound Russian vessel - the Akademik Shokalskiy - to an Australian icebreaker late on Thursday.
But on Friday afternoon, the crew of the Chinese icebreaker said they were worried about their own ship's ability to move through the heavy ice, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.
The Australian icebreaker carrying the rescued passengers, the Aurora Australis, has been instructed to remain on standby in open water in the area "as a precautionary measure", the rescue agency said.
The Chinese icebreaker got within sight of the Akademik Shokalskiy on Saturday, but turned back after failing to break through the ice, more than 3 meters (10 feet) thick in some places.
A French flagged icebreaker also tried to help, but abandoned its efforts because of strong winds and heavy snow.
- Environment Agency has urged people to stay away from the sea and rivers because they risk being killed
- Teenager Harry Martin has gone missing after taking photographs of storm from cliffs close to Plymouth in Devon
- 21 severe flood warnings - the highest level - issued in South and West with 500 alerts in total across the UK
- Storm surge began at around 6am this morning - with risk of floods for 4 hours after high tide peaks
- But worse may be to come later with even stronger winds and waves predicted for this evening's high tide
- Streets and homes in Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire are already badly flooded after morning's deluge
- Police forced to spend time moving on weather watchers after large crowds gathered along the British coastline
- Motorist died when his car left a Cornish road as storm hit region with torrential rain and hail
- Met Office expects 70mph-plus winds and torrential rain to batter UK from today into next week, peaking on Monday
Surrounded: Cumbria resident Jane Davies watches helplessly from behind floodgates as the water reaches her home in the coastal village of Sandside on a day where much of Britain has been hit by a huge tidal surge
© AFP
Saint-Leu, La Reunion where the cyclone caused widespread damage uprooting trees and flooding homes
Saint-Leu, La Reunion where the cyclone caused widespread damage uprooting trees and flooding homes
The sixth storm of the season brings flooding rains and damaging winds to the southern Indian Ocean islands.
Tropical Cyclone BeJisa, spent the last few days of 2013 tracking across the southern Indian Ocean, heading in the general direction of Madagascar. At one stage the storm packed winds of 200kph with gusts approaching 250kph, making it the equivalent of a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
On Wednesday the system took a turn to the south as it swept across the Ocean Islands before passing through La Reunion on Thursday. Fortunately, the strongest winds were on the western flank of the storm, and so did not hit land, but there was still some significant damage to property.
Winds in excess of 150kph were recorded as the cyclone clipped the southwest corner of the island. Meanwhile 24 hour rainfall totals in excess of 100mm were widely measured. Saint-Denis had 111mm of rain on Thursday.
Waves approaching 10 metres lashed the coast. The cyclone caused widespread damage uprooting trees, damaging and flooding dozens of homes and severing power and water supplies At one stage around 82,000 homes were left without electricity.
At least one person has died and 15 people were injured. The storm is now moving into the open waters to the south of Madagascar and will steadily weaken over the next few days.
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