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Archive for February 3rd, 2012
Minus 11 as UK braces for widespread snow
Posted by Independent: Tim Moynihan on February 3rd, 2012
Independent: Britain is lying in wait for widespread snow this weekend after another bitterly cold day in which temperatures in some places struggled to get above freezing.
North Dartmoor recorded a temperature of minus 2.6C at midday, while High Wycombe recorded a temperature of minus 0.7C at 3pm this afternoon.
Temperatures in the South West, London and East Anglia did not get any higher than 2C or 3C, and forecasters are warning that central and eastern areas of England and Wales should expect 5-10cm...
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Glaciers now under attack from ice thieves: UN
Posted by New Kerela: None Given on February 3rd, 2012
New Kerela: Criminal gangs are becoming a threat to the world’s glaciers, which are already receding as a result of climate change, the United Nations said on Thursday, citing a case in Chile where police are investigating the theft of some 5,000 kilograms of millennia-old ice from the Jorge Montt glacier.
Mining for ice could pose a major additional threat to the 454 square-kilometre glacier, which is situated in Chile’s Bernardo O’Higgins National Park, and is part of the 13,000-square kilometre Southern...
Coal mines shut as Australia evacuates flooded towns
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2012
Reuters: Heavy rains shut four coal mines in eastern Australia on Friday as military helicopters evacuated stranded residents from inundated towns, and authorities warned of further flash flooding.
More than 11,000 people in Queensland state have been isolated by the flooding and thousands had been evacuated, emergency services authorities said.
The town of Moree, the centre of the region's cotton growing, has been cut in half by record floodwaters, while authorities are using helicopters to relocate...
Europe is too emotional about fracking, says Shell chief
Posted by Press Association: Tom Bawden on February 3rd, 2012
Press Association: Shell's chief executive, Peter Voser, called on Europe for a less "emotional" response to fracking, as he outlined plans to accelerate the oil giant's use of the controversial technology used to release hydrocarbons from rocks.
Mr Voser said Shell would invest $6bn (£3.8bn) to appraise, explore and develop gas and oil reserves contained in rocks this year, as it looked to significantly expand the volume of hydrocarbons it produces.
About $3bn of the total will be invested developing sites in...
Famine ends in Somalia, as drought looms in West Africa
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Scott Baldauf on February 3rd, 2012
Christian Science Monitor: Somalia’s seven-month-long famine – which killed tens of thousands and forced nearly 4 million people dependent on food aid for survival – has finally come to an end, according to the United Nations.
In a study of weather patterns, improved local harvests, and availability of food aid, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Mark Bowden told reporters today that “famine conditions are no longer present.”
The victory is a fragile one, however, as an internationalized war in Somalia rages...
Thirty degrees below – and at least a hundred dead: Europe’s big freeze
Posted by Independent: Shaun Walker on February 3rd, 2012
Independent: With record snowfalls, icy winds, and thousands of people trapped in remote villages, much of Central and Eastern Europe is in the grip of a cold snap that has caused more than 100 deaths. Temperatures in parts of Ukraine and other Eastern European countries are hovering around -30C (-22F).
The Adriatic islands of Croatia have had a rare dusting of snow, while in Romania, parts of the Black Sea have frozen over. Several towns in Bulgaria have recorded their lowest temperatures since records began...
United Kingdom: Giving an invasive water pest the bullet
Posted by BBC: Will Smale on February 3rd, 2012
BBC: If someone mentions mussels and your first thought is a big bowl of moules mariniere, then you are not alone.
However, the popular seafood dish has a much less palatable relative, the freshwater zebra mussel.
An invasive species, the zebra mussel clogs up water works and systems across the UK, costing millions of pounds each year to remove.
The removal is more often done by having to send down divers to hack them off by hand.
This is because it is very difficult to get rid of zebra mussels...