Greenland Melts 50 Days Longer

Fahrenheit 451 minus 419

Melting in Greenland lasted 50 days longer than average in 2010

Click image to enlarge. Image acquired January 1, 2010 – December 31, 2010

“This image was assembled from microwave data from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) of the Defense Meteorological Satellites Program. Snow and ice emit microwaves, but the signal is different for wet, melting snow than for dry. Marco Tedesco, a professor at the City College of New York, uses this difference to chart the number of days that snow is melting every year. This image above shows 2010 compared to the average number of melt days per year between 1979 and 2009.” Source: NASA-EO

Greenland Melting – Short Movie

A short movie of videos and stills from Greenland collected by Marco Tedesco and his team in their 2009 and 2010 expeditions. “The theme is: meltwater. You will see canyons through which water flows, supraglacial lakes and ice cracks routing surface water to the bottom of the ice sheet. The vocal background at the beginning is a Shaman Inuit Chant.”

Somalia Drought: Mega Disaster Threatens 2.4m People

Severe, country-wide drought in Somalia threatens a third of the population: UN Official

UN relief chief warns of humanitarian disaster as drought ravages Somalia and Kenya

Severe drought in Somalia is worsening the humanitarian crisis in the country (Population: 7.2 million) causing more people to become internally displaced. As food and water scarcity worsen, many are moving into refugee camps across the border in Kenya, according to the UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos.

Somali rural society is largely based upon pastoralism – drought has bitten deep into Somali rural society in recent years. Source: SAACID-ORG

“Somalia… is on the brink of a much larger disaster due to the threat of a country-wide drought,” said Amos.

“Malnutrition has increased in the last six months in Southern Somalia and 2.4 million, 32 percent of the population, remain in crisis.”

Current estimated food security conditions, rural areas, January 2010

Image Source:FSAU and FEWS NET via SAACID

“As we speak, there are significant urban population movements from [Somalia’s] Hiran and Middle Shabelle regions to Kenya,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos, who visited Somalia and Kenya earlier this month, told reporters at UN Headquarters.

“People are moving due to the deteriorating living conditions and a lack of a way to make a living. Families are said to be selling their assets, including houses and land, to get by and to facilitate their movement to the refugee camps in Kenya,” she said.

“Families are set to start selling their assets, including their houses and land to get by… our actions in the next few months is critical.”

“I cannot stress enough the importance in Somalia of finding a political solution. Only that would enable people to live in peace and dignity.” She said.

Somalia plunged into factional warfare in 1991 when the regime of Muhammad Siad Barre was toppled.

About 431,000 refugees have moved to Kenya, most of whom are from Somalia. About 300,000 of the refugees live in the Dadaab camps, close to Kenya’s border with Somalia.

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Area of Convection 90P, ENE of Vanuatu, Continues Developing

• Time/Date: 01:00UTC Feb 18, 2011
• Current Position: 14.1S 168.9E
• Location: ~ 260km ENE of Vanuatu

Convection Area 90P – IR satellite image. Source: CIMSS. Click image to enlarge.

Convection Area 90P – IR satellite image (NHC Enhancement). Source: CIMSS. Click image to enlarge.

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