Animation of ice cover on the Great Lakes from Jan. 7 to Jan. 14 (NOAA)
January 16, 2015 - GREAT LAKES, NORTH AMERICA - Ice cover on the Great Lakes has made quite a leap after the first, week-long cold snap of the season.
As of Thursday, ice covered 34.1 percent of the Great Lakes, up from just 5.6 percent on Jan. 1, and 10.8 percent on Jan. 5 — the first day of a polar plunge that gripped most of the eastern U.S. for days to come.
“Last year, the Great Lakes were 21.2 percent ice-covered on Jan. 14, making this year’s ice cover 13 percent higher to date,” writes weather.com. “If you recall, below-average temperatures were persistent from mid-January onward in the winter of 2014, leading to the second highest ice coverage on record at 92.2 percent on March 6, 2014.”
Satellite image of Lake Erie on Jan. 9, 2015 shows the lake’s mostly ice-free water peeking through the clouds. (NASA)
By Jan. 14, Lake Erie had iced over. Thin ice
can be seen in the eastern half of the lake, while thicker ice had
formed over the western half. (NASA)
The ice breaking tug Breaker cuts through Lake Erie this morning.
Cool shot of Lake Erie in winter on approach to Buffalo post attending
Lake Erie : Ice - Sunset
This year’s January cold snap set off an upward spiral in ice cover over the lakes, particularly for Erie, the shallowest lake in the network.
Lake Erie’s ice cover has sky-rocketed this month, and is now about 88 percent covered in ice. Just a couple weeks ago, it was ice-free. Last year, Erie’s climb was slightly more gradual, starting in December and then shooting up twice after Polar Vortex I and II in January. It seems this year Erie is getting it done in one shot.
Long-term outlooks suggest more chilly blasts are on the way, which means ice cover records could be in play this year.
According to our winter weather expert Wes Junker, more cold might be in store behind a potent winter storm late next week. “After the storm pushes through, colder weather is expected to filter in,” Junker writes.
“By the end of the two week period, temperatures could take a plunge as a strong upper level ridge develops over Alaska and northwestern Canada.” -
Washington Post.
A dead whale in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in 2011. As container ships multiply, more whales are being harmed, a study said. Credit Marco De Swart/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
January 16, 2015 - EARTH - A team of scientists, in a groundbreaking analysis of data from
hundreds of sources, has concluded that humans are on the verge of
causing unprecedented damage to the oceans and the animals living in
them.
“We may be sitting on a precipice of a major extinction event,” said Douglas J. McCauley, an ecologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an author of the new research, which was published on Thursday in the journal Science.
But there is still time to avert catastrophe, Dr. McCauley and his colleagues also found. Compared with the continents, the oceans are mostly intact, still wild enough to bounce back to ecological health.
“We’re lucky in many ways,” said Malin L. Pinsky, a marine biologist at Rutgers University and another author of the new report. “The impacts are accelerating, but they’re not so bad we can’t reverse them.”
Scientific assessments of the oceans’ health are dogged by uncertainty: It’s much harder for researchers to judge the well-being of a species living underwater, over thousands of miles, than to track the health of a species on land. And changes that scientists observe in particular ocean ecosystems may not reflect trends across the planet.
Dr. Pinsky, Dr. McCauley and their colleagues sought a clearer picture of the oceans’ health by pulling together data from an enormous range of sources, from discoveries in the fossil record to statistics on modern container shipping, fish catches and seabed mining. While many of the findings already existed, they had never been juxtaposed in such a way.
A number of experts said the result was a remarkable synthesis, along with a nuanced and encouraging prognosis.
“I see this as a call for action to close the gap between conservation on land and in the sea,” said Loren McClenachan of Colby College, who was not involved in the study.
There are clear signs already that humans are harming the oceans to a remarkable degree, the scientists found. Some ocean species are certainly overharvested, but even greater damage results from large-scale habitat loss, which is likely to accelerate as technology advances the human footprint, the scientists reported.
Coral reefs, for example, have declined by 40 percent worldwide, partly as a result of climate-change-driven warming.
Some fish are migrating to cooler waters already. Black sea bass, once most common off the coast of Virginia, have moved up to New Jersey. Less fortunate species may not be able to find new ranges. At the same time, carbon emissions are altering the chemistry of seawater, making it more acidic.
“If you cranked up the aquarium heater and dumped some acid in the water, your fish would not be very happy,” Dr. Pinsky said. “In effect, that’s what we’re doing to the oceans.”
Fragile ecosystems like mangroves are being replaced by fish farms, which are projected to provide most of the fish we consume within 20 years. Bottom trawlers scraping large nets across the sea floor have already affected 20 million square miles of ocean, turning parts of the continental shelf to rubble. Whales may no longer be widely hunted, the analysis noted, but they are now colliding more often as the number of container ships rises.
Mining operations, too, are poised to transform the ocean. Contracts for seabed mining now cover 460,000 square miles underwater, the researchers found, up from zero in 2000. Seabed mining has the potential to tear up unique ecosystems and introduce pollution into the deep sea.
The oceans are so vast that their ecosystems may seem impervious to change. But Dr. McClenachan warned that the fossil record shows that global disasters have wrecked the seas before. “Marine species are not immune to extinction on a large scale,” she said.
Until now, the seas largely have been spared the carnage visited on terrestrial species, the new analysis also found.
The fossil record indicates that a number of large animal species became extinct as humans arrived on continents and islands. For example, the moa, a giant bird that once lived on New Zealand, was wiped out by arriving Polynesians in the 1300s, probably within a century.
But it was only after 1800, with the Industrial Revolution, that extinctions on land really accelerated.
Humans began to alter the habitat that wildlife depended on, wiping out forests for timber, plowing under prairie for farmland, and laying down roads and railroads across continents.
Species began going extinct at a much faster pace. Over the past five centuries, researchers have recorded 514 animal extinctions on land. But the authors of the new study found that documented extinctions are far rarer in the ocean.
Before 1500, a few species of seabirds are known to have vanished. Since then, scientists have documented only 15 ocean extinctions, including animals such as the Caribbean monk seal and the Steller’s sea cow.
While these figures are likely underestimates, Dr. McCauley said that the difference was nonetheless revealing.
“Fundamentally, we’re a terrestrial predator,” he said. “It’s hard for an ape to drive something in the ocean extinct.”
Many marine species that have become extinct or are endangered depend on land — seabirds that nest on cliffs, for example, or sea turtles that lay eggs on beaches.
Still, there is time for humans to halt the damage, Dr. McCauley said, with effective programs limiting the exploitation of the oceans. The tiger may not be salvageable in the wild — but the tiger shark may well be, he said.
“There are a lot of tools we can use,” he said. “We better pick them up and use them seriously.”
Dr. McCauley and his colleagues argue that limiting the industrialization of the oceans to some regions could allow threatened species to recover in other ones. “I fervently believe that our best partner in saving the ocean is the ocean itself,” said Stephen R. Palumbi of Stanford University, an author of the new study.
The scientists also argued that these reserves had to be designed with climate change in mind, so that species escaping high temperatures or low pH would be able to find refuge.
“It’s creating a hopscotch pattern up and down the coasts to help these species adapt,” Dr. Pinsky said.
Ultimately, Dr. Palumbi warned, slowing extinctions in the oceans will mean cutting back on carbon emissions, not just adapting to them.
“If by the end of the century we’re not off the business-as-usual curve we are now, I honestly feel there’s not much hope for normal ecosystems in the ocean,” he said. “But in the meantime, we do have a chance to do what we can. We have a couple decades more than we thought we had, so let’s please not waste it.” - NY Times.
January 16, 2015 - EARTH -
Scientist across the globe are balking at recent claims by NOAA and NASA
that 2014 was the warmest year on record. Here are a few quotes from
them, undermining global warming theories as well as dispelling warnings
about runaway emissions:
The global
warming establishment and the media are crowing about 2010 being in a
tie for the “hottest year” ever. The UK Guardian headline sums up the
media’s promotion: UK Guardian: ‘Hottest Year’ Claim: 2014 officially the ‘hottest year’ on record US government scientists say - ‘NASA
and NOAA scientists report 2014 was 0.07F (0.04C) higher than previous
records…The global average temperatures over land and sea surface for
the year was 1.24F (0.69C) above the 20th century average, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA reported. The scientists said 2014 was 0.07F (0.04C) higher than the previous records set in 2005 and 2010.’
But
scientists and climate skeptics are countering that the claims of
“hottest year” are based on immeasurable temperature differences that
are based on hundredths of a degree differences. Climate Depot’s Marc Morano issued this statement:
“There are dueling global datasets — surface temperature records and
satellite records — and they disagree. The satellites show an 18 year
plus global warming ‘standstill and the satellite was set up to be “more
accurate” than the surface records. See: Flashback:
1990 NASA Report: ‘Satellite analysis of upper atmosphere is more
accurate, & should be adopted as the standard way to monitor temp
change.’
Any temperature claim of
“hottest year” based on surface data is based on hundredths of a degree
hotter than previous “hottest years”. This immeasurable difference is
not even within the margin of error of temperature gauges. The claim of
the “hottest year” is simply a political statement not based on
temperature facts. “Hottest year” claims are based on minute fractions
of a degree while ignoring satellite data showing Earth is continuing
the 18 plus year ‘pause’ or ‘standstill’. See: The Great Pause lengthens again: Global temperature update: The Pause is now 18 years 3 months (219 months)
Claiming
2014 is the “hottest year” on record based on hundredths of a degree
temperature difference is a fancy way of saying the global warming
‘pause’ is continuing.” End Morano statement. (Morano was
former staff of U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee and
producer of upcoming documentary Climate Hustle. He also testified in West VA on the climate school curriculum. )
Even
former NASA global warming chief scientist James Hansen, the leading
proponent of man-made global warming in the U.S., conceded in 2011 that
the “hottest year” rankings are essentially meaningless. Hansen explained that
2010 differed from 2005 by less than 2 hundredths of a degree F (that’s
0.018F). “It’s not particularly important whether 2010, 2005, or 1998
was the hottest year on record,” Hansen admitted on January 13. Climatologist Dr. Judith Curry, former chair of the school of earth and atmospheric sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology, had
this to say about 2014 being the ‘hottest year’: “The ‘warmest year’ is
noticeably missing in the satellite data sets of lower atmospheric
temperatures,” Curry wrote on January 16.
Curry
predicts another decade of a global warming ‘pause’ or ‘hiatus’. “I’ve
made my projection – global surface temperatures will remain mostly flat
for at least another decade,” she eexplained
“With 2014
essentially tied with 2005 and 2010 for hottest year, this implies that
there has been essentially no trend in warming over the past decade.
This ‘almost’ record year does not help the growing discrepancy between
the climate model projections and the surface temperature observations,”
Curry told the Washington Post.
Curry
continued: “Berkeley Earth (temperature analysis) sums it up well with
this statement: ‘That is, of course, an indication that the Earth’s
average temperature for the last decade has changed very little.’ Climatologist Dr. Pat Michaels, mocked the notion of the “hottest year.”
“Whether or not a given year is a hundredth of a degree or so above a
previous record is not the issue. What IS the issue is how observed
temperatures compare to what has been forecast to happen,” Michaels
said.
Michaels continued: “John Christy and Richard McNider, from
University of Alabama (Huntsville) recently compared climate model
projections to observed lower atmospheric temperatures as measured by
two independent sources: satellites and weather balloons. They found
that the average warming predicted to have occurred since 1979 (when the
satellite data starts) is approximately three times larger than what is
being observed.” Climatologist Dr. John Christy, professor of atmospheric sciences, University of Alabama-Huntsville,
noted satellites do not agree with “warmest year” claims. “The
satellite and balloon data of the deep atmosphere have 2014 in a cluster
of warmish years well below the hottest two of 1998 and 2010″, Christy
said.
Christy continued: “With the government agencies reporting
that the surface temperature as highest ever, we have a puzzle. The
puzzle is even more puzzling because theory (i.e. models) indicate the
opposite should be occurring – greater warmth in the deep atmosphere
than the surface. So, there are just many very basic and fundamental
aspects of the global climate we have yet to comprehend.” Climatologist Dr. Roger Pielke Sr., professor of atmospheric science, Colorado State University,
downplayed the accuracy of the surface temperature record. “There
remain significant uncertainties in the accuracy of the land portion of
the surface temperature data, where we have found a significant warm
bias. Thus, the reported global average surface temperature anomaly is
also too warm.”
“More generally, we need to move beyond just
assessing global warming, but examine how (and if) key atmospheric and
ocean circulations, such as El Nino, La Nina, the Pacific Decadal
Oscillation, etc. are changing in their intensity, structure and
frequency. These are the climate features that determine if a region has
drought, floods, and so forth, not a global average surface temperature
anomaly,” Pielke added. Astrophysicist Dr. Dr David Whitehouse
declared “talk of a record is scientifically and statistically
meaningless.’ “The addition of 2014 global temperature data confirms
that the post-1997 standstill seen in global annual average surface
temperature has continued,” Whitehouse wrote on January 16.
“According
to the NASA global temperature database 2014 was technically a record
‘beating’ 2010 by the small margin of 0.02 deg C. The NASA press release
is highly misleading saying that 2014 is a record without giving the
actual 2014 figure, or any other year, or its associated error.”
“In
reality of course it is no record at all as the error of the
measurements is about +/- 0.1 deg C showing NASAGiss’ statement to go
against the normal treatment of observational data and its errors. Talk
of a record is therefore scientifically and statistically meaningless,”
Whitehouse added.
“It is clear beyond doubt by now that there is a
growing discrepancy between computer climate projections and real-world
data that questions their ability to produce meaningful projections
about future climatic conditions,” Whitehouse concluded.
Another analysis noted: NASA Hottest Year Claims Not Supported By The Data:
NASA admitted in 2011 that “hottest year” differences were “smaller
than the uncertainty in comparing the temperatures of recent years.” Via the website ‘Not A Lot Of People Know That:
“Nowhere does their (NASA 2015) press release tell us that it only beat
the previous record by a tiny, effectively unmeasurable 0.02C. Nor do
they mention that the error bars are many times greater, or even tell us
what they are. This is all very strange because in their (NASA) report
on 2010 Global Temperatures, NASA said: “Global surface
temperatures in 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest on record, according to an
analysis released Wednesday by researchers at NASA’s Goddard Institute
for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. The two years differed by less
than 0.018 degrees Fahrenheit. The difference is smaller than the
uncertainty in comparing the temperatures of recent years, putting them
into a statistical tie.” Meteorologist Dr. Ryan Maue of Florida State University
ridiculed the same “hottest year” rankings in 2010 and NASA’s Hansen’s
admission that it “was not particularly important” which year was
declared the “hottest.” “Well, then stop issuing press releases which
tout the rankings, which are subject to change ex post facto,” Maue
demanded in a January 14, 2011 commentary at WattsUpWithThat.com. Other prominent scientists have said that temperature rise since 1850 has been very small.
“.8 degrees we will be
discussing in global warming. .8 degrees if you ask people in general
they will think it is 4 or 5 degrees they don’t know it is so little. It
is not even fever,” Giaever said.
“I am amazed that the
temperature can be so stable,” Giaever explained. ‘The temperature (of
the Earth) has been amazingly stable, and both human health and
happiness have definitely improved in this ‘warming’ period.’
January 16, 2015 - MEXICO - An earthquake was registered on the evening of Sunday January 10th, with an epicenter near Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo,an area traditionally considered non seismic.
According
to Margarita Vidal Amaro of the National Seismological Service, an
earthquake of magnitude 4.2 on the Richter scale occurred at 9:49 pm on
Sunday January 10th 2015. The epicenter was located exactly 67 kilometers (41 miles) southwest of Playa del Carmen, in Quintana Roo.
Several Twitter users such as @FerDelor, @arnulfo_26, @CarlosQuikeYam
and @linachapa among others, posted comments regarding this unusual
event in this part of the country.
The government of Quintana
Roo requested support from national institutions on Monday January 12th,
to help determine the causes of this earthquake that occurred off the
coast of Tulum.
But the National Seismological Service in Mexico City
officially confirmed the event since Sunday January 11th.
Vidal Amaro explained that the quake occurred on the mainland and so there was no danger of a tsunami in the area. She
added that even though earthquakes are unprecedented in the area, there
are tectonic plates all over Mexico, which can lead to earthquakes.The quake was felt with greater magnitude in the town of Tulum, according to reports on social networks.
"When I leaned back I felt a vibration that I thought was something to do with the speakers at first.
"When the car started to move I stupidly pulled on the handbrake
thinking I was rolling backwards, but then I realised I was the tipping
over to the side."
Looking out the window, Sheng saw a huge hole appearing in the road as the tarmac vanished into the ground.
Acting instinctively, he crashed open the door and managed to scramble out before the car tipped inside.
He
said: "I dread to think what would have happened if the traffic had
been speeding along at the usual rate. It's pretty busy at all times of
day here."
Engineers said the hole in Guangzhou had been caused
because a sewage pipe had broken, leaking water into the soil under the
road and washing it away.
But it is not the first time a huge sinkhole has appeared under a road or indeed a building in the region.
Council officials have ordered an enquiry to see what can be done to prevent similar problems in the future. - Daily Mirror.
Sinkhole opens up on golf course in Scotland
The sinkhole at Traigh Golf Club
That
16-foot putt for birdie just got a whole lot easier. Scotland's Traigh
Golf Club woke up one morning to find a large sinkhole had developed on
the course.
The 14-foot hole was created by erosion from a
broken drainpipe underground. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But the golf
course's troubles are far from over: The hole will cost about 20,000
British pounds, or more than $13,000 USD.
That's a huge cost
that the golf course, which has been used for more than 100 years,
cannot afford. And since insurance isn't likely to cover the cost of the
hole, it could spell the end of the beautiful course.
"Without
repairing this pipe about half of the golf course will revert to bog
and this would effectively be the end of our golf course," said Traigh
Golf Club spokesman Alec Stewart to GolfClubManagement.net.
Even if the sinkhole is repaired, the erosion could be a harbinger for
similar problems elsewhere on the course. The club is urgently seeking
out any sources of funding to stay afloat. - The Post Game.
Sinkhole swallows plow truck in Cleveland, United States
A
plow truck was on its route in Cleveland when it hit a steel plate on
the road, displacing the plate and sending the truck falling into the
sinkhole.
The steel plate was from the Cleveland Water
Department and was not marked properly. The sinkhole was in place so the
property owner's plumber could make repairs to the home.
After the truck fell, it was removed from the hole shortly after. The plate has since been replaced.
The driver was taken to the hospital as a precaution and there were no other injuries. - FOX 8.
January 16, 2015 - EARTH - Despite claims by NOAA and NASA that Earth just experienced it's hottest year on record in 2014, evidence is mounting that the planet is actually undergoing an overwhelming period of global cooling.
Temperatures forecast to plummet to -15C in Scotland
Weather
Channel UK meteorologist Liam Brown warned: "We should prepare for
freezing temperatures and very icy conditions for the coming days, and
probably much of next week too.
Blizzards swept across the country yesterday - as Scots were warned that the worst of the wintry weather was yet to come.
Travel chaos is set to continue as severe gales of up to 80mph hit the
country, while heavy rain and a thaw caused by slightly milder
temperatures could lead to localised flooding.
Snow
is forecast to return from tomorrow, when the mercury will fall again -
and by early next week temperatures could plummet to a teeth-chattering
-15C.
Weather Channel UK meteorologist Liam
Brown warned: "We should prepare for freezing temperatures and very icy
conditions for the coming days, and probably much of next week too.
"There is a risk of some more widespread snow early next week. We can
also expect some of the lowest temperatures of the winter so far.
"Temperatures below -10C are quite likely in Scotland, perhaps as low as -15C."
Commuters across the country faced difficult journeys to work - even
though gritters had been out in force throughout the night.
There were long delays on the A9 after two lorries got stuck in heavy snow at Blair Atholl, Perthshire.
And the A82 was closed at Invergarry, Inverness-shire, after a lorry and a car collided.
The
snowgates on the A82 were closed for a time at Tyndrum, Perthshire, and
in Aberdeenshire the A93 Glenshee to Braemar, B974 Banchory to
Fettercairn and A939 Ballater to Corgarff roads were shut.
More than 20 minor collisions were reported in the Highlands.
The
weather warnings prompted ScotRail to cancel all trains from Glasgow to
Fort William, Mallaig and Oban, between Helensburgh and Dumbarton
Central, from Kilwinning to Largs and Ardrossan, and between Kyle and
Dingwall from 6pm last night to 6pm today.
Flights at Aberdeen and Orkney airports were delayed or cancelled and CalMac had to cancel ferries on many routes.
But there was some good news for residents of Coll when they finally
received a delivery of vital supplies after being cut off by raging seas
for a week.
Paula Smalley, who runs Tigh na Mara guesthouse on
the island, said: "The ferry finally got in around 10am and brought
bread, milk, fruit and vegetables. We were lucky as by the afternoon the
weather had worsened again."
Nearly
100 schools and nurseries in the Highlands and Moray were closed after
the area was badly affected by overnight snow. Eight schools in Perth
and Kinross, five in Shetland and three in Stirlingshire were also shut
by the weather.
Meanwhile, 1100 households in Shetland were left without power after lightning struck a main line.
The rest of the UK also suffered severe weather, with "thundersnow"
reported in south Wales and homes being damaged by mini-tornadoes in
London, Cornwall and Wales.
In Northern Ireland, more than 100 schools were closed.
The AA had been called out to 8200 breakdowns across the UK by
mid-afternoon yesterday and patrol officers rescued 57 motorists whose
cars got stuck. - The Daily Record.
'Siberian' winter temperatures predicted to hit Denmark
Wednesday offered "blink and you'll miss it"
snow, but the real winter wallop may be coming as early as this weekend.
Photo: Søren Bidstrup/Scanpix
Storm-strength
winds are once again hammering parts of Denmark on Thursday and winter
is set to truly make its presence felt next week.
After a
beautiful blanket of snow hit parts of Denmark on Wednesday and then
disappeared again in about an hour, many were left wondering if and when
true winter conditions will set in.
Meteorology institute DMI
predicts that winter will truly make its presence felt as early as this
weekend, with temperatures falling below the freezing point Saturday
night and then remaining there for much of the next week.
The
national forecast calls for rain to turn to snow on Sunday, with small
amounts predicted through the middle of next week. By late next week,
DMI's forecast is short and to the point: "Cold, windy and snow
showers."
But those who might welcome some snow and cold should perhaps be careful what they wish for.
DMI
warns that cold biting temps might stick around all the way until April
due to conditions in the stratosphere that a senior researcher says
could bring lingering "Siberian temperatures" to Denmark.
"What's happening in the stratosphere right now is a strong indicator
that in the coming period we will primarily experience winds from the
east bring low, Siberian temperatures," Bo Christensen told Jyllands-Posten.
So yes, it seems that winter is coming to Denmark after all. - The Local.
Grand Rapids sets new record low temperature
If you were up and outside at 5:30 this morning, you experienced the coldest temperature in 18 years for Grand Rapids. The temperature briefly dipped to -13 in Grand Rapids at 5:25am. That's
the coldest temperature in Grand Rapids since February 4, 1996 when the
temperature fell to -17.
Kent City thermometer (Photo: Robert)
This is the second day in a row with record cold temperatures. The previous record for today was -6. The average low this time of year is 18... above.
NASA/NOAA satellite image from above the Great Lakes taken just after 1:30 p.m. Monday
Lake Erie was less than six percent frozen last Tuesday with ice covering only a sliver of the lake's western basin.
But, after a week with frigid temperatures in the single digits, heavy
lake-effect snows and high winds, Lake Erie is freezing up fast.
Nearly 60 percent of the lake waters were frozen today, according to graphs by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL).
Most of the western half of the lake is already under ice coverage.
In some areas - the western basin, along the U.S. and Canadian
shorelines, near Long Point, Ont. and close to Buffalo - it's nearly 100
percent iced over, according to GLERL charts.
As Lake Erie iced, so too have the Great Lakes at large.
Just a week ago, more than eight percent of the surface area of all of the lakes was frozen.
But by Monday, nearly one-quarter of the Great Lakes were under ice.
Iced-covered
lakes generally choke off the possibility of lake-effect snow such as
the events that pummeled areas of Western New York last week at rates of
three inches or more of snow per hour.
When the lakes freeze,
it robs opportunity for cold unstable air masses to suck up lake waters
through evaporation and then drop the moisture, usually in the form of
heavy snowfall, over land areas east of the lakes.
The middle
of Lake Erie from just east of Cleveland to about Sturgeon Point remains
wide open this morning, according to data from GLERL.
Here's a
look at how the cold snap of the last week has helped accelerate the
average ice concentration on both lakes Erie and Ontario as well as a
look at figures for the entire Great Lakes since New Year's Day:
DAY HI/LO @ Buffalo Lake Erie Lake Ontario Great Lakes
On Jan. 13, 2014, Lake Erie was 63 percent frozen and Lake Ontario was
just 5.9 percent covered in ice. The Great Lakes, as a whole, was 19.6
frozen.
Last winter, the Great Lakes started taking on
significant ice buildup in December 2013 but the coverage waxed and
waned until the middle of January when it quickly accelerated its
freezing.
By March 6, the Great Lakes were 92.2 percent ice covered - the highest concentration since 1979. - The Buffalo News.
January 16, 2015 - GEORGIA, UNITED STATES - One man died and a second one injured in a plane crash Friday morning in Peach County.
That's according to Peach County Sheriff Terry Deese.
It happened around 11 a.m., about a mile south of Lane Southern Orchards, off Highway 96 outside Fort Valley.
The crash happened near a landing strip at the intersection of Borders and Buckeye Road. The landing strip, Cameron Field, services a nearby fly-in community, the Plane Living Skypark.
Deese said the plane was attempting to land and apparently came in too low.
He described it as an older-model, single-engine plane, but declined to name the model.
He said FAA investigators are en route from Atlanta and should be here after 4 p.m.
WATCH: Man killed during crash landing in Peach Co.
Deese said the two men are both "local," and witnesses to the crash knew one or both.
He declined to identify the two men until family are notified.
The owner of Cameron Field, David Murphy, declined comment.
Rescue crews removed the victim's body from the scene around 1 p.m.
A second man was rushed to a hospital and was reportedly conscious and alert after the crash. - 13WMAZ.
January 16, 2015 - LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES - The following constitutes the latest update from the Assumption Parish Police Jury on the giant Louisiana sinkhole:
An increase in Seismic Activity has been observed in past weeks around the Sinkhole.
Activity occurred sometime last night that indicates water movement as well as a drop in water level within the contained area of the sinkhole.
Increased activity from the Helicorders. Image courtesy of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) at the University of Memphis
Monitor locations as of October 18, 2013.
There has been no noticeable changes to the trees or surface anywhere around the Sinkhole.
LDOTD has reported no changes being observed in any of the instrumentation placed along Highway 70.
Smoke rises from a volcano, some 65 kilometres southwest of the South
Pacific nation Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa, is shown in this image from
New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on January 15, 2015
(AFP Photo/MFAT)
January 16, 2015 - TONGA
- A Tongan volcano has created a substantial new island since it began
erupting last month, spewing out huge volumes of rock and dense ash that
has killed nearby vegetation, officials said Friday.
The volcano, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of the South Pacific nation's capital Nuku'alofa, rumbled to life on December 20 for the first time in five years, the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry said.
It said the volcano was erupting from two vents, one on the uninhabited island of Hunga Ha'apai and the other underwater about 100 metres offshore.
The ministry said experts took a boat trip to view the eruption on Thursday and confirmed it had transformed the local landscape.
"The new island is more than one kilometre wide, two kilometres long and about 100 metres high," it said in a statement.
Smoke rises from a volcano, some 65 kilometres southwest of the South
Pacific nation Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa, is shown in this image from
New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on January 15, 2015
(AFP Photo/MFAT)
"During our observations the volcano was erupting about every five minutes to a height of about 400 metres, accompanied by some large rocks... as the ash is very wet, most is being deposited close to the vent, building up the new island."
It said ash and acidic rain was deluging an area 10 kilometres around the volcano, adding: "Leaves on trees on Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai have died, probably caused by volcanic ash and gases."
WATCH: Underwater volcano continues to spew ash high into the air off Tonga.
A number of international flights were cancelled earlier this week amid concerns about the volcano's ash plume but they resumed on Wednesday, with authorities saying debris from the eruption was not being thrown high into the atmosphere.
Tonga, which is almost 2,000 kilometres northeast of New Zealand, lies on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where continental plates collide causing frequent volcanic and seismic activity. - Yahoo.
January 16, 2015 - EARTH - 2014 was the hottest year on record across the globe, US scientists have confirmed.
Last
year ranked as the Earth's warmest since 1880, according to two
separate analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
The ten warmest years on record, with the exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000, said scientists.
A sculpture called "We're fryin' out here" at a beach in Sydney
Parts of the world experienced record temperatures, including most of Europe and some of Australia, and the US.
The Met Office has already announced that 2014 was the hottest year for the UK in records dating back to 1910.
Data from the US released in November suggested 2014 was on course for record temperatures
In November, preliminary data from the US suggested that 2014 was likely to break temperature records. - BBC.
Shopper Laura Steele leaves a Target store in Toronto on Thursday, Jan.
15, 2015. More than 17,600 Target employees will eventually lose their
jobs when the
U.S. discount retailer closes its 133 Canadian stores
after only about two years to end financial losses that went as high as a
billion dollars a year. (AP
Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)
January 16, 2015 - CANADA
- Target is giving up on its money-losing foray into Canada after just
two years, closing 133 stores and cutting loose more than 17,000
employees.
Target said it didn't see how it could stop losing money before at least 2021 on its first international expansion. The closing links Target with a series of other retailers who have learned the hard way that the northern border is tough to cross.
During a call with investors Thursday, CEO Brian Cornell, who took the helm last August and has been charged with turning around the company, described the decision as "very tough."
What went wrong? Cracking the Canadian retail market, about one-tenth the size of the U.S. and right next door, looks simple. Target's difficulties show it's not.
There are costly regulations. In addition, most Canadians live near the U.S. border, compare prices religiously and are willing to shop in the U.S. to save money.
There's also increasing competition. Canadian standbys like Dollarama and Canadian Tire are formidable rivals. And Wal-Mart Stores Inc., already the biggest retailer in Canada, cut prices to fend off Target.
Other retailers have had similar problems in Canada. Big Lots Inc. and Best Buy Co. have closed stores there and Wal-Mart has seen its sales in Canada weaken. Sears Holding Corp. is selling most of its stake in its Canadian unit.
And just on Thursday, Sony Corp. said it is closing all 14 of its stores in Canada.
The well-publicized woes of Target have made Nordstrom take a conservative approach to Canadian expansion. The upscale chain opened its first store last September and plans to have a total of six by 2017.
Only a few years ago, exporting Target's "cheap chic" seemed like a no-brainer because droves of Canadians crossed the border to shop at its U.S. stores.
But problems cropped up almost immediately when it opened more than 100 stores in the first year of its Canadian expansion. Shoppers complained of shortages of basic goods and complained that prices were too high. They also didn't find the brands that they'd seen and liked in U.S. stores. As a result, Target racked up losses as high as a billion dollars a year.
"We missed the mark from the beginning by taking on too much too fast," Cornell said on the Target blog.
A weak holiday season at its Canadian stores was the last straw. To fix the Canadian business, Target told investors Thursday, it would have to invest billions more.
"Target underestimated that the Canadian consumer is a highly sophisticated consumer who cross-border shops," said Antony Karabus, president of Hilco Retail Consulting in Toronto. "It also underestimated the fiercely competitive landscape."
Canadian shoppers were more blunt in their assessment.
"Shame on them for opening here with exorbitant prices compared to the U.S.," said Lauren Tinto, 35, of Toronto. "They think we're idiots or something."
Jeff Barr, a 63-year-old teacher from Thornhill, Ontario, said he wasn't impressed on his visit to a Canadian Target after often shopping at Targets in the U.S.
"The shelves were empty," he said.
Target said Thursday that it expects about $5.4 billion in fourth-quarter losses from discontinued operations in Canada.
Target expects cash costs for the exit to be between $500 million and $600 million. The retailer said it has enough money to fund the costs.
The company said it received court approval to voluntarily make about $59 million in cash contributions into an employee trust to pay for at least 16 weeks of compensation for almost all the Canadian workers.
Target Canada stores will stay open during liquidation.
Jason Kenney, Canada's minister of employment, said the government would assist Target workers with information sessions to ensure they know what services are available to them and what types of jobs are in demand.
Cornell said that the company can now focus on improving its U.S. business and is doubling down on areas like fashion and home furnishings. It's also expanding smaller-format stores and bolstering its online business. Target executives will offer an update to investors in March.
Cornell's predecessor, Gregg Steinhafel, was pushed out last May after a string of problems, from the theft of millions of customers' data to sales woes in the U.S., as well as the failure in Canada.
The company's stock gained $1.34, or nearly 2 percent, to close at $75.67 Thursday.
But employees were feeling the pain at a Target store just east of downtown Toronto.
"It's so sad for us," said Adelle Layon, a Target worker at the Canadian store. "We've been here since the start. We built these shelves. All of us here right now, helped to build it. "
Layon said she and her fellow workers heard the news from managers and after they went into the lunch room, they saw the news on TV.
The US Retail Industry is Collapsing: Here’s Why You’re in Trouble
Shopping
malls across America are going to look a whole lot emptier soon. An
exodus of giant retailers is beginning with the announcement of hundreds
of store closures and thousands of people newly unemployed.
The first of January, I broke with my usual tradition and wrote not about positive resolutions, but about the impending rockslide of the US economy.
And “rockslide” is an apt word: as one thing starts rolling down the
mountain, it will pick up other things until a veritable avalanche of
other businesses and people are affected and rolling pell-mell right
alongside.
Best Buy Forecast store closings: 200 to 250 Sears Holding Corp. Forecast store closings: Kmart 175 to 225, Sears 100 to 125 J.C. Penney Forecast store closings: 300 to 350 Office Depot Forecast store closings: 125 to 150 Barnes & Noble Forecast store closings: 190 to 240, per company comments Gamestop Forecast store closings: 500 to 600 OfficeMax Forecast store closings: 150 to 175 RadioShack Forecast store closings: 450 to 550
Macy’s is closing 14 of its 790 stores across the country. JCPenney is closing 39 of its stores and laying off 2,250 workers. Sears has been around for 122 years, but it, too, is closing 235 under-performing stores. C. Wonder, the preppy retailer, is going out of business, closing all 11 of its U.S. stores in the next few weeks. Wet
Seal is closing 338 retail stores while dealing with bankruptcy
proceedings. Nearly 3,700 full- and part-time workers will be
unemployed. Aeropostale,
suffering from declining sales, closed 75 stores during the holiday
season, which runs from November through January. And in 2015, they
expect to close an additional 50 to 75 stores. RadioShack,
which is negotiating with lenders to gain approval to shutter 1,100
stores, said last month that it closed 175 locations in 2014. (source)
You may not work in retail yourself, but never doubt that the mass closure of these businesses will directly affect you..
Maybe
you are wondering how. You aren’t much of a shopper. You aren’t a
retail worker. Perhaps you believe you can compartmentalize this
information, pack it away, and go on with your life as you always have.
The
thing is, it’s not just the patrons and employees of these stores who
are affected. This is going to be catastrophic on a variety of levels. Let’s go a little bit deeper.
Think
about the people who worked in these stores. Now, they’re without jobs.
There will be more competition for the smaller number of jobs in
America, and many people will not be able to find work.
They’ll survive
by going on assistance, draining the US coffers even more. As formerly
employed people search for work that just isn’t there, we’ll see an
increase in foreclosures, repossessions, and welfare.
Think about
those who provided the inventory for these stores. Yes, I know a lot of
it was made in other countries. But, it was imported here and
distributed here. Most businesses work on a “Net-30″ basis, meaning the
inventory is delivered, and the payment for that inventory is due in 30
days. And guess what? The companies that imported the merchandise aren’t
going to get paid. This will ripple through and cause other businesses
to go under, which means still more people are unemployed.
Think
about those who transport the inventory. Trucking companies and the
independent operators who drive the trucks won’t get money owed to them
either. As companies struggle to keep trucks on the road, transport
costs will go up, which will cause future inventory in stores to be
priced higher. This is how we’ll be affected:
The
price of everything is going to go up because wary distributors are
going to try to recoup what they’ve lost from these companies that went
under, while transporters increase prices to try to cover losses.
Jobs
will be even harder to get than they were previously – and looking at
the unemployment rates, it was pretty darned difficult before.
When people have no jobs, they spend no money, crushing the manufacturer’s and retailer’s economy even more.
As
financial desperation increases, so will crime. And it won’t just be
property crime – expect an uptick in violence as property owners fight
back.
If you don’t live in an entirely self-sufficient bubble, you can bet you’ll be affected in one way or another. - The Daily Sheeple.
January 16, 2015 - UNITED STATES & EUROPE -
The United States and European countries are on heightened terror alert,
following the Paris shootings that claimed the lives of 17 people.
Gunman armed with Kalashnikov takes hostages at post office near Paris
A suspect in a hostage taking situation raises his arms in the air as he
is detained by members of special French RAID forces outside
the post
offices in Colombes outside Paris, January 16, 2015.(Reuters / Philippe
Wojazer)
Several
people were taken hostage by an unknown gunman at a post office in
Colombes, a northwest suburb of Paris, French media reported. After
negotiations, the assailant handed himself over to police.
The
gunman was armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, a gun and numerous grenades,
French RTL radio reports.
From two to five people were taken hostage,
say police sources. The incident took place at about 12:00 GMT.
WATCH: Scenes from new hostage situation in Paris.
After
negotiations with the assailant began, reports emerged that an unknown
number of hostages was released and the gunman eventually surrendered to
police.
BFM TV says no one was injured in the incident.
The hostage-taker “is disappointed in love”, local prefecture told Liberation newspaper, adding that the hostage taker is a customer “who lost his head” and speaks of “heartbreak.”
Sources told AFP that the man was "speaking incoherently".
The
gunman is known to police as a petty crime suspect. The officers have
secured the perimeter and a helicopter has been deployed to the area of
Charles-de-Gaulle boulevard where the post office is situated.
It
is not yet clear if the incident is connected with last week’s Paris
shootings that left 17 people dead, including journalists and police
officers. However, police sources indicate it may be an attempt of armed
robbery.
A suspect in a hostage taking situation is detained by members of
special French RAID forces outside
the post offices in Colombes outside
Paris, January 16, 2015.(Reuters / Philippe Wojazer)
Alexis Bachelay, the deputy of Hauts-de-Seine's first
constituency where Colombes commune is located, confirmed the
hostage-taking situation.
“I am going to the Petit-Colombes
[or just Colombes commune] where police have sealed the area after a
robbery at Aragon Post Office. There are hostages,” he said on Twitter.
EU anti-terror alert: 2 suspects killed, 1 captured in Belgium raid
Belgian special forces police block a street in central Verviers, a town
between Liege and the German border, in the east of Belgium January 15,
2015.
(Reuters / Stringer)
Belgian
police have killed two suspects and arrested a third in a raid on a
terror cell in Verviers. They were allegedly planning a serious and
“imminent” attack. The anti-terror operation is ongoing as Europe is on
high alert following attacks in France.
The suspects, all Belgian
nationals who are believed to have recently returned from Syria, opened
fire at police officers with automatic weapons in an attempted escape. “They were planning to commit serious terrorist attacks, and to do so imminently,” Eric Van Der Sypt, a spokesman for the country’s federal prosecutor, said at a briefing in Brussels. "The
suspects immediately and for several minutes opened fire with military
weaponry and handguns on the special units of the federal police before
they were neutralised." “They didn’t even know who was at the door,” he added. No police or civilians were injured in the shootout.
Belgian
TV stations are reporting that the third suspect was wounded and may
have died. Meanwhile AFP has quoted a source in the mayor’s office as
stating the raid was “jihadist-related.” "We've averted a Belgian Charlie Hebdo," an unidentified police officer told La Meuse.
The
anti-terrorist operation continues in Belgium as officials raised the
threat level to three out of four. Overall, police have searched about a
dozen locations across the nation.
Van Der Sypt said that so far
the investigations have found no links with the Paris assaults, but said
the investigation leading to the raid began before the Paris attacks.
Law enforcement allegedly learned of a planned attack through
intercepted phone conversations. “The searches were carried
out as part of an investigation into an operational cell, some of whose
members had returned from Syria,” he said. “For the time being, there is no connection with the attacks in Paris.”
Belgian authorities alleged that the cell was planning attacks on police buildings within “hours or days.”
Many European countries are on high alert, boosting security measures in the wake of last week’s deadly terror attacks in Paris.
The
Italian capital of Rome has become the latest to increase security at
local media outlets following the attack on Charlie Hebdo that left 12
people dead. Rome’s prosecutor announced that security measures have
been increased at and around other “sensitive places” –
including the Vatican, embassies, and tourist attractions, the Local
reports. Up to 20 people in Italy are being investigated for their
alleged links to extremist cells in Iraq and Syria, according to Italian
media reports.
WATCH: Heightened terror alert grips Europe, 2 suspected jihadists killed in Belgium raid.
In Germany, federal prosecutors have confirmed the
arrest of a suspected jihadist militant. According to reports, the
suspect could be part of a wider cell of Islamic State sympathizers
allegedly planning attacks in Germany.
Denmark and Norway are also
on alert after a threat was reportedly posted against two Scandinavian
countries on a French website.
Following the recent developments,
Austria and Spain also are on “high alert,” relying on a general threat
level. Transportation hubs – such as airports, seaports, and train
stations – as well as energy networks and nuclear power plants have
tightened up security.
UK security services are also taking
precautionary measures and have increased security after
counter-terrorism officials reportedly uncovered a plot to abduct a serving police officer or soldier on UK soil and broadcast their brutal murder on the web.
Germany arrests suspected ISIS fighter amid investigation into wider group
Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Reuters / Stringer)
Authorities
in Lower Saxony have confirmed the arrest of a suspected jihadist
militant. According to reports, the suspect could be part of a wider
cell of Islamic State sympathizers allegedly planning attacks in
Germany.
Federal prosecutors in Germany have confirmed that the
State Criminal Investigation Department has arrested a suspect in the
city of Wolfsburg. However, they denied a threat of “serious subversive violence” in Germany.
The arrested suspect, named as a 26-year-old German-Tunisian Ayoub B, has undergone “combat training for the militant jihad” and “recruited more fighters for the association” during a nearly three-month stay in Syria between late May and mid-August 2014, the prosecutors announced, according to Welt.
He
is allegedly one of the seven members of a 50-member cell which
traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight with the Islamic State, Bild
reported earlier.
The President of the Office of Criminal
Investigation (LKA), Uwe Kolmey, confirmed the investigation into the
suspect's extremist activities is ongoing, but said there is no evidence
that the suspect had planned attacks in Germany.
German former ISIS fighter Ayoub B. from Wolfsburg arrested by a special police unit. Charged for terror plans.
In total, there are 12 ongoing investigations into the Islamist “group” in Baden-Wuerttemberg state, Kolmey added, emphasizing that it is not a “terror cell,” according to NDR.
Meanwhile,
LKA officials reportedly searched several homes of Islamists in
Pforzheim, a town of nearly 120,000 inhabitants in Baden-Württemberg,
southwest Germany, on Thursday morning.
The head of the Federal
Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Maren
Brandenburger, pointed out that their authority has "no concrete evidence” of threats to Germany. "So we now have no real fear,"
she said. The activities of Salafists in Wolfsburg are well known and
are observed by the intelligence community, Brandenburger told German
N-TV.
A spokesman for the Lower Saxony branch of BfV told the
station that authorities are currently aware of some 40 people from
Lower Saxony that "have left the country in the direction of Syria" to become involved with ISIS.
Meanwhile,
Wolfsburg Mayor Klaus Mohr has warned the public against panic.
Although there are some known IS sympathizers in the city, he emphasized
that most of the Muslim community is strongly opposed to any extremism. "The overwhelming large number of Muslim citizens also thinks and acts completely differently [than IS sympathizers]," Mohr said, according to Welt.
Overall,
German officials believe around 550 nationals have traveled to Syria
and Iraq to fight alongside Islamic State, raising fears of possible
attacks on home soil when they return.
Ohio man arrested for ‘plotting’ ISIS-inspired attack on Capitol
Christopher Lee
Cornell, 20, of Green Township, Ohio, was arrested on charges of
attempting to kill a U.S. government official in an alleged plot to
attack.
The
FBI has arrested an Ohio man for allegedly planning to detonate a
series of bombs aimed at lawmakers and public officials in Washington,
DC, according to an ABC News report. The plan was reportedly inspired by
the Islamic State.
Little is currently known about Christopher Lee Cornell, who also goes by the name Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah, but officials told ABC that he viewed American lawmakers as enemies. He has been charged with attempting to kill a US public official.
Specifically,
Cornell is accused of planning an assault on the US Capitol that
included setting off pipe bombs and using firearms to shoot officials
and others after those explosives were detonated.
Prior to his
arrest, 20-year-old Cornell was allegedly taking the “final steps” in
his plan – setting up travel arrangements to DC, buying two
semi-automatic weapons and 600 rounds of ammunition. Court documents
also stated that he made contact with an FBI informant, meeting twice in
person last year. During these meetings, Cornell told the informant of
his intention to attack the Capitol.
The same informant originally
told the FBI about Cornell after noticing posts on Twitter expressing
support for the Islamic State (also known as ISIS/ISIL). Cornell also
allegedly posted similar thoughts on message boards. “I believe that we should just wage jihad under our own orders and plan attacks and everything,” Cornell allegedly wrote online, the FBI said. “I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves."
Following Cornell’s arrest, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security alerted law enforcement about the case. "The
alleged activities of Cornell highlight the continued interest of
US-based violent extremists to support designated foreign terrorist
organizations overseas, such as ISIL, by committing terrorist acts in
the United States," the notification reads. "Terrorist group
members and supporters will almost certainly continue to use social
media platforms to disseminate English language violent extremist
messages."
