Europe Freezing to Death!

As the North Atlantic Current of the Gulf Stream Slows Down, the Big Freeze Could  Become ‘Permanent’

Third Wave of Arctic Blast Continues to Bring Snow and Cold to Much of Europe

London’s Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest hub for air passengers, has canceled all arrivals, with only a handful of departures, as temperatures plunged to -5.2C overnight. This winter could turn out to be the coldest on record (since 1910).

Fresh snow has brought much of Britain to a standstill. Traffic queues in the snow on the A3 near Guildford, in southern England December 18, 2010.  Reuters/Luke MacGregor. Image may be subject to copyright.

The Temp lows in Britain:

Loch Glascarnoch (Scotland) : -17.2C
Norwich (England) : -14.4C
Tredegar (Wales) : -10.2C

“For the first 15 days of this month, the average has been -0.7C. So far this month there have been five nights in Edinburgh when the mercury dropped below -10C, once hitting -16C. On December 7, the maximum temperature reached in the daytime there was -8C,” a report said.

“In Manchester and London, 11 out of 16 nights were below freezing, the coldest in Manchester -12C and in London -5C.”

Rest of Europe

In Paris, Charles de Gaulle’s air traffic was cut by about 50 percent as heavy snow blanketed the French capital. At Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport there were many cancellations and long delays.

At Frankfurt airport, Germany’s busiest, nearly half of the planned total of 1,350 flights, departures and arrivals, were canceled Sunday.

Heavy snowfall covered much of Scandinavia, where temperatures dipped to -22ºC (-8ºF).

Heavy snow and ice storms affected as far south as Italy. Tuscany was blanketed in several inches of snow, forcing the closure of Florence’s airport on Sunday.

Heating Oil Shortage

Up to 3 million homes, schools and hospitals face fuel rationing this winter, as the UK  government warns of ‘very serious’ shortage of heating oil during the cold snaps.

The price of heating oil in the UK has skyrocketed by 63% since June, to  71 pence [USD1.10] per liter today.

The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt

The Thermohaline Circulation (THC)

The great ocean conveyor belt delivers warm water into the north Atlantic, making Europe warmer than it would otherwise be. The slowing down or stopping of these currents could result in catastrophic changes in the world’s climate.

FIRE-EARTH believes that the North Atlantic current of the Gulf Stream is slowing down and could stop entirely in the very near future.

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• FEWW DISASTER FORECAST 2011
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• 2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010

Sea Levels Rose 0.61m in US East Coast

Strange Phenomena Series

Don’t have to wait for all the ice to melt “freak” ACO events could inundate world’s coastal regions at a moment’s notice!

Sea Levels Elevated along Atlantic Coast: NOAA

ELEVATED EAST COAST SEA LEVEL ANOMALY: June – July 2009 . Source: NOAA Technical Report NOS CO-OPS 051

NOAA researchers discovered rises of 15 to 61 cm  (6 inches to 2 feet) in the sea levels along the entire Atlantic  Coast.  Having analyzed data from the relevant  tide stations and buoys along the Atlantic Coast, the scientists from the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) discovered that “a weakening of the Florida Current Transport – an oceanic current that feeds into the Gulf Stream – in addition to steady and persistent Northeast winds, contributed to this anomaly.”

In addition to the current and steady winds, elevated water levels in the latter half of June coincided with a perigean-spring tide, an extreme predicted tide when the moon is closest to the Earth during a spring tide. This tidal event added to the observed sea level anomaly, produced minor coastal flooding, and caught the attention of many coastal communities because of the lack of coastal storms during this time that normally cause such anomalies.

“The ocean is dynamic and it’s not uncommon to have anomalies,” said Mike Szabados, CO-OPS director. “What made this event unique was its breadth, intensity, and duration.”

The significant point about the discovery was the geographic extent of this event, the researchers said, which encompassed the entire East Coast. Smaller regions and estuaries along the East Coast often  experience this kind of phenomena during the summer months.

The June–July 2009 sea level anomaly is unique because northeast winds along the coast were not at a multi-year high and the Florida Current Transport was not at its low–two factors that can cause elevated sea levels. However, the coupled effect of these two forces created sea levels that were at the highest levels all along the East Coast.

Rich Edwing, deputy director for the NOAA’s CO-OPS said “the Gulf Stream slowed down,” pushing water toward the coasts, which caused the  sea levels to rise.

“Why did the Gulf Stream slow down? Why did the fall wind pattern appear earlier?” Edwing said. “We don’t have those answers.”

NOAA says further analysis is necessary to fully understand the basic phenomena that caused the event, and will  continue investigating the forces responsible for the anomalies.

[ACO: Atmospheric, Climatic, Oceanic]

Related Links:

• Sea Surface Height Variations
• Vanishing Fred & Atlantic Hurricane Season 2009
• El Niño