Infinite Unknown

- Death toll rises as big cold freezes Europe (DPA/Sydney Morning Herald - ‎Feb 11, 2012‎):

Freezing temperatures left thousands of people stranded without power in the Balkans and elsewhere in Europe on Saturday, as the death toll from one of the coldest winters in years continued to rise.

In Montenegro, the government declared a state of emergency 24 hours into a blizzard that dumped another two metres of snow across the country and cut off access to northern regions. The death toll was expected to rise from three when rescuers reach isolated areas.

In Serbia, the authorities reported three new deaths, raising the overall death toll for the country to 19. An estimated 50,000 people remain isolated in remote villages. The energy situation has become critical, prompting the government to extend a two-day holiday next week to five days, keeping schools closed and cut the power supply to non-essential factories.

In Croatia, an average of 50 centimetres of snow were expected to fall during the weekend, while powerful winds blowing from the sea forced local road authorities to close some sections of the Adriatic highway.

Many villages in mountainous regions in Bosnia have been cut off since the start of the cold spell, nearly two weeks ago.

Temperatures dropped to as low as -32C in Poland’s southern Bieszczady Mountains, while eight people died in house fires, police said.

A further eight people died in Romania, the health ministry said, raising the overall death toll to 65. Tens of thousands of people remained isolated in the south, where the army, police and firefighters were trying to clear access routes and distribute food and water.

Heavy snowfall also hit many parts of Italy – especially its central and southern regions – where six recent deaths have been linked to the cold weather. Several remote villages in the central Marche and Umbria regions remained cut off as a result of unusually high snow levels.

In north-eastern Trieste, at least 10 people were injured when winds with speeds of more than 130 km/h lashed the Adriatic port city. The poor weather forced the cancellation of flights and Serie A football matches.

In northern Bulgaria, trains could not make their way through the deep snow, which the wind has blown on the railways, state radio reported.

The Bulgarian section of the Danube was completely frozen on Saturday, the national Agency for Maintenance of the Danube River said. The Bulgarian Maritime Administration has banned all navigation in the Bulgaria section, including ferries to Romania.

- europe snow blocks in tens of thousands (AFP/Pakistan Daily Times - ‎Feb 11, 2012‎):

* Death toll from Europe’s big freeze rises past 550

BELGRADE: Snow drifts reaching up to rooftops kept tens of thousands of villagers prisoners in their own homes Saturday as the death toll from Europe’s big freeze rose past 550.

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Tags: Bulgaria, Climate Change, Environment, EU, Europe, Global Cooling, Global News, Global Warming, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Snow, Winter

YouTube Added: 10.02.2012

Description:

Villages buried under 4-5 Meters (13-16 feet) of snow. January-February 2012.

Sources:

http://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/actualitate/romania-sub-zapada-30-de-batrani-izo…

http://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/actualitate/imagini-incredibile-din-case-ingropa…

Tags: Climate Change, Environment, Global Cooling, Global News, Government, Politics, Romania, Snow, Society, Winter

- Europe’s Danube freezes over, cold snap toll at 460 (ZEENEWS, Feb. 11, 2012):

Belgrade: Thick ice closed vast swathes of the Danube on Thursday, crippling shipping on Europe’s busiest waterway, as the death toll from bitter cold across the continent rose to at least 460.

As it has every day for nearly two weeks, the brutal cold claimed lives in several countries and killed dozens more in weather-related accidents.

The 2,860-kilometre Danube, which flows through 10 countries and is vital for transport, power, irrigation, industry and fishing, was wholly or partially blocked from Austria to its mouth on the Black Sea.

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Tags: Bulgaria, Climate Change, Czech Republic, Danube, Environment, Global Cooling, Global News, Italy, Snow, Winter

And L’Aquila and Trasacco are damn far south and close to Rome!

Größere Kartenansicht

- Wolves scavenge as Italians take shelter from biting cold (ABC News/AFP, Feb 8, 2012):

Wolves scavenged in isolated snow-covered villages, the canals in Venice froze over, and the death toll rose to 30 as freezing weather continued across Italy on Tuesday.

Snow kept falling in the north of Italy, with temperatures dropping to minus 25 degrees Celsius in Marcesina on the shores of Lake Garda, and there was black ice in Calabria and Sardegna in the south.

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Tags: Climate Change, Food, Food shortages, Global Cooling, Italy, Snow, Winter, Wolves

A man attempts to dig his car out of heavy snow in the Bosnia capital, Sarajevo.

- Cold Weather, Snow Paralyze Much Of Europe (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Feb. 05, 2012):

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Bosnian authorities have used helicopters to evacuate sick people and deliver food to thousands who have been cut off by the heaviest snow the country has ever recorded.

More than 100 remote Bosnian villages are cut off by more than two meters of snowfall in the mountains.

A state of emergency has been declared in Sarajevo after more than a meter of snow fell on the capital.

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Tags: Bosnia, Climate Change, Environment, Global Cooling, Global News, Sarajevo, Snow, Winter

- Colorado weather forecast: Snow breaks 100-year-old Denver record (Feb. 4, 2012):

DENVER – The storm that passed over Colorado has broken a few records. Locations across the metro area have reported 10 to 20 inches of snow with an additional half-inch of accumulation expected Saturday. According to the National Weather Service in Boulder, Denver broke a single-day snowfall record on Friday with 12.5 inches of snow. The previous record was 9.5 inches on the same day in 1932.

Denver also broke the three-day snowfall record for February with 15.9 inches. The previous record was 14.1 inches in 1912.

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Tags: Climate Change, Colorado, Denver, Environment, Global Cooling, Global News, Snow, Snow storm, U.S., Winter

YouTube

- Deadly freeze moves west across Europe (Al Jazeera, Feb. 5, 2012)

More than 250 people have been killed across Europe as a potentially worsening week-long cold snap shifts west, blanketing large parts of the continent with snow.

Forecasters on Sunday predicted the deep freeze, which has already forced Bosnia to declare a state of emergency and airports to close, will continue.

The death toll included hundreds of homeless people who have frozen to death in what has become the harshest European winter in decades.

Russian gas exporter Gazprom, which supplies fuel to much of Europe, said it would be unable to meet increased European demands and had reduced supplies “for a few days” to ease the crisis in Russia.

Snow fell on Rome’s Colosseum for the first time in three decades, disrupting air and rail travel, and Venice’s famous canals have frozen over.

About 160,000 people in central and southern Italy were without electricity, and power company Enel said 1,000 workers were trying to fix damaged power lines.

Bodies on the streets

In Ukraine, where at least 122 people have died, the most in Europe, 78 bodies have been found on the streets. Night- time temperatures there have dropped to -33C.

Metro stations in the capital, Kiev, have become sanctuaries of warmth for the homeless.

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Tags: Bulgaria, Climate Change, Environment, EU, Europe, France, Global Cooling, Global News, Global Warming, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Snow, Ukraine, Winter

- Snow leaves drivers stranded in their cars overnight (Mirror, Feb. 5, 2012):

Drivers have been stuck in their cars overnight after snow hit the UK.

The bad weather saw traffic grind to a standstill on some roads, with some drivers abandoning their cars.

Overnight the M25 was shut in both directions between junctions 23 and 25, causing gridlock.

There were also problems on the M40, with 100 vehicles stranded.

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Much of the country has had heavy snowfall, with Church Fenton in North Yorkshire reporting 16cm (6ins) of snow.

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Temperatures have also fallen to below the average for the time of year, with the mercury dropping to minus 12.4C in South Newington, Oxfordshire on Friday night

Tags: Environment, Global News, Snow, U.K., Winter

- Travel disruption as snow blankets the UK (Guardian, Feb. 5, 2012):

Heavy snowfall causes transport chaos, with trains delayed, cars abandoned on roads and flights cancelled across Britain

A thick blanket of snow, 16cm deep in places, has settled across parts of the UK, grounding planes, stranding motorists and leaving roads icy and treacherous.

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Tags: Climate Change, Environment, Global Cooling, Snow, U.K., Winter

- Snow to fall in London as bitterly cold weather grips Britain (Telegraph, Feb. 2, 2012):

All of Europe and even Africa is being frozen by a giant 4,000-mile wide mass of freezing air shunted west from Siberia.

Amazingly, the Sahara Desert, which had no snow for 33 years until a brief fall in western Algeria last month, faces an inch of snow by the weekend.

Meteogroup forecaster Stephen Davenport, who said parts of north Africa face six inches of powder, said: “The deep cold is spreading surprisingly far south.

“It will deliver snow to Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica and, most remarkably, possible low level snow in north Africa, although it is unlikely to settle.”

Tags: Africa, Climate Change, Environment, Global Cooling, Sahara, Snow, Winter