Earth may be entering a new Ice Age   Food shortages may lead to regional warfarelink

6 Dec 10 - Astrophysicist Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of space research at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, recently pronounced his belief that Earth will enter a little Ice Age as early as 2014, says this article by Terrence Aym. Such a period of cooling could last as long as two centuries and be ruinous, Aym warns. "Whereas global warming would be a good thing, a mini-Ice Age could be disastrous: growing seasons would be shortened, more energy must be extended to stay warm, and food shortages may lead to breakouts of regional warfare." The last little ice age occurred between 1650 and 1850 and "accounted for many crop failures, outbreaks of famines and mass migrations," says Aym. According to Abdussamatov, "Long-term variations in the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth are the main and principal reasons driving and defining the whole mechanism of climatic changes from the global warmings to the Little Ice Ages to the big glacial periods." "The Russian scientist is concerned about this move towards an extending cooling period. He states, "and as for what lies ahead in the coming decades, it is not catastrophic warming, but a global, and very prolonged temperature drop." "If Abdussamatov's calculation is true—and the observable and historical data seem to support it—then the countries of the world are moving exactly in the wrong direction to deal with an impending Ice Age. Al Gore notwithstanding, global cooling is much more dangerous than global warming. "Future decrease in global temperature will occur even if anthropogenic ejection of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere rises to record levels," says Abdussamatov. "Over the past decade, global temperature on the Earth has not increased; global warming has ceased, and already there are signs of the future deep temperature drop." See entire article: http://www.helium.com/items/1837151-why-earth-may-be-entering-a-new-ice-age Thanks to Jeff Rense and Eric Jones for this link

Snow sweeps back to London on Thursday as temperature plummets ~ link ~ 

Frozen Britain: The UK will be hit by another arctic blast bringing freezing temperatures

Julian Mayes of MeteoGroup said: “Last weekend was just a brief respite from what is now a prolonged cold spell for the UK.”

Brief but heavy snow is predicted for London on Thursday as bitter cold sweeps in from the North Pole. “The snowstorms won't last long, but will be very intense, so could cause problems,” said Mr Mayes. “At the weekend we get the main event. Although Wales and the West will be worst hit, we expect there to be a significant snowfall in London as well.”

Arctic blast set to bring more snow to UK ~ link ~ 

 

David Price, a forecaster for the Met Office, said there would be 5-10cm of snow over much of the country, with some higher areas of Scotland facing as much as 20cm. In Scotland, supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury's had to stop taking some home delivery orders because of the cold snap, it has been disclosed. Plummeting temperatures and heavy snow saw parts of Scotland cut off during the last few weeks and drivers stranded on motorways.

The forecasts came as rail company Southeastern, which runs some of the country's busiest commuter routes, admitted it would "always be a challenge" to run good services in snowy conditions. The firm, whose season ticket-holders face the biggest fare increases in the new year, faced criticism about the way it dealt with the wintry weather earlier this month. Managing director Charles Horton said: "The south-east of England was very, very badly hit by snow and ice and we were always going to struggle. If there is very, very heavy snow, we are always going to find it a struggle to provide a good service."

Ireland: 'Big Freeze' back with more snow this week ~ link ~ JUST when you thought it was safe to go outside -- the Big Freeze is set to make a return with another wave of sub-zero temperatures, snow, ice, sleet and hail.

The Arctic conditions that have plagued the country, closed schools and halted many services are set to return at the end of the week, Met Eireann forecasters confirmed last night.

Temperatures will plummet to below zero and reach -5C in places with snow, sleet, hail and wintry showers predicted.

Winter storm hits Chicago, 1,000 flights canceled ~ link ~ A winter storm brought snow and bone-chilling wind to Chicago Sunday morning, causing more than 1, 000 flights to be canceled, according to local media.

The National Weather Service said on its website that a winter storm warning remains in effect until midnight Monday for northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, and temperature are going to plunge while strong wind moving through after snow tapers off this afternoon.