Mega Storm Threatens Biggest Tidal Surge in History

EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS

Hurricane-force Storm Xaver Blasts Northern Europe

British govt warns of “the most serious coastal tidal surge for over 60 years in England.”

British authorities shut down the Thames Barrier Thursday night, designed to protect London from exceptional tides, and evacuated scores of homes in Great Yarmouth, eastern England , and other coastal areas in the path of the ferocious storm.

The mega storm has already claimed several lives and cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes throughout northern Europe, including more than 100,000 homes across northern Britain.

The UK Met Office recorded winds of up to 225 km/h (140MPH) as the storm battered Scotland and northern England.

A woman walks through flooded street in Rhyl, north Wales December 5, 2013. Credit: REUTERS/Phil Noble

The authorities were forced to shut down the entire rail network in Scotland on Thursday, due to debries and damaged equipment. Various regional networks across the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and northern Germany were also closed, as hundreds of domestic and international flights were cancelled across the entire region.

“Germany’s northern port of Hamburg was preparing for a direct hit, which some forecasters said could be as powerful as a storm and flood in the city in 1962 that killed 315.” Reuters reported.

“The truly dangerous thing about this storm is that the winds will continue for hours and won’t let up,” said a German meteorologist. “The danger of coastal flooding is high.”

• Flights from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports in Scotland have been cancelled.

• “Railway lines in Sweden and Denmark were closed, while Germany’s national railway, Deutsche Bahn, warned of likely disruption across a swathe of northern Germany.” BBC reported.

• Ferries to Germany from Denmark and Sweden were also cancelled.

• North Sea oil and gas producers have shut down operations and evacuated staff from many platforms.

What you should know by now

• RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Critical Overload Threatens Planetary Life Support Systems

Related LinksDecember 4, 2013

• Britain Set for “Worst Winter in History” December 2, 2013
• ‘Catastrophic Losses’ of Animals Feared due to UK Spring Snow Posted on March 26, 2013
• How Homo Ignarus Killed Spring Posted on March 21, 2013
• Intensifying Winter Drought in England Worst Since 1888 Posted on March 12, 2012
• British Govt Makes Another Straw Man March 17, 2010
• Group Forecast Climate change could directly affect about half the population in the UK  in the next 3 to 5 years November 20, 2009

EU Cod Stocks Facing Collapse

Cod and whiting in the West of Scotland risk  collapse: EU Fisheries Commission

The European Commission has proposed a continued ban in 2014 on landings of cod and whiting off Scotland’s Atlantic coast in an attempt to avert a collapse.

“Cod stocks in the Irish Sea and the Kattegat continue to be in a dire state…  Sole in the Irish Sea is at extremely low levels. Advice for haddock in the Celtic Sea demands a considerable TAC cut … Cod and whiting in the West of Scotland, subject to extremely high rates of discarding, are at a risk of collapse.” EU Fisheries Commission reported.

Cod stocks off most parts of Britain, Ireland and in the Bay of Biscay are also in a dire state, which means quotas should be reduced by up to 30 percent, according to the Greek EU fisheries commissioner.

Cod – gadus morhua. The British fish and chips industry is heavily dependent on cod, the country’s most consumed fish. International disputes over the prized species has so far led to two rounds of naval clashes between Britain and Iceland in the 1950s and 1970s.

“For stocks where data is not good enough to properly estimate their size, the Commission proposal reflects the advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) to adapt the TAC up or down by a maximum of 20%. Following a Council decision last year on precautionary reductions, TACS are proposed at the same level as in 2013 for 21 of these stocks,” said the Commission.

NOTES:

• Total allowable catches (TACs) are catch limits that are set for most significant commercial fish stocks. TACs are proposed by the EU Commission on the basis of scientific advice on the state of the stocks concerned and decided on by the Council of Fisheries Ministers.
• TACs are set annually for most stocks and every two years for deep sea species.
• The TACs are shared between EU countries under a system known as ‘relative stability’ which keeps national quotas stable in relation to each other.

Storm Kills at least 15 in Northern Europe

Record gusts of 191 km/h (119mph) reported over the North Sea

A major storm battering NW Europe has killed at least 15 people including seven in Germany, four in Britain, two in the Netherlands and one each in France and Denmark.

The storm hit Britain with gusts of up to nearly 100mph early Monday, leaving a path of damage across large parts of southern UK, before targeting mainland Europe.

A crane smashed into the U.K. Cabinet Office in central London, forcing Deputy Prime Minister to cancel a news conference, while a gas explosion caused by toppled trees killed at least two people in west London, according to reports.

Flights and ferry services as well as road and rail transport were severely affected throughout the vast storm-battered region.

The storm knocked out power to about a million homes and business across northwestern Europe, including 750,000 customers in Britain.

Winds of about 155 kph swept across the low-lying Netherlands, killing at least two people, and causing widespread damage.

Giant waves crash against a lighthouse in Port of Boulogne, France October 28, 2013. Credit: Reuters. Image may be subject to copyright.

Denmark and Sweden issued storm warnings, as hurricane force winds gusting to about 162km/h hit Scandinavia, causing widespread damage across the region, while meteorologists measured record winds of  191 km/h (119mph) over the North Sea.

Related Links

• Severe Weather Warning Issued for South of England  on October 24, 2013
• Deadly Storm Batters Southern U.K. October 28, 2013

Rocks to halt overfishing rolls!

Activists drop rocks on seabed to stop overfishing

Environmental activists dropped large granite rocks on the North Sea bed off the German coast on Tuesday to stop trawling, which decimates fish and other marine life.

Deep net trawling near the seabed and other destructive fishing methods are decimating stocks of plaice and sole near the Sylt Outer Reef and destroying the reef itself, a feeding ground for creatures such as common and grey seals, activists said.

The Island of Sylt, Northern Germany. [A screenshot from NASA’s globe software World Wind using Blue Marble, Landsat or USGS layer.]

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The stone reef, an EU-protected area, is similar to a coral reef but made of rock, and is located off one of Germany’s North Frisian Islands, near Schleswig Holstein and Denmark, Reuters reported.

“The harbor porpoise population is one of the most threatened species of whale and dolphin in Europe and giving protection to this species was one of the primary objectives for the area,” said Greenpeace.

“We believe what they’ve done is illegal and risks the lives of fishermen,” said the general secretary of the German Fishing Association, denying that German fishermen used nets in the area or that the reef was in any danger.

Greenpeace said its tactics of dropping rocks on the seabed was not endangering marine life.

“We have a very clear knowledge of this and are placing the stones next to the old reef, effectively extending it. There is no damage,” Greenpeace oceans campaigner Iris Menn told reporters. (Source)

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Wind Energy in Norway, Nuclear in F*nland

Are the Norwegians More Intelligent Than the Finns?

Top 10 Reasons why the Norwegians May Be More Intelligent that the Finns [then again …]:

10. Finland with an estimated population of 5.32million, most of whom are intoxicated most of the time [no offense intended, just citing a matter of fact relayed to us by a Finnish colleague,] wants more nuclear energy despite the fact … well read it for yourself: More nuclear power and How Do You Say ‘Duck-n-Cover’ in Finnish?

As for our Norwegian [distant] cousins, the North Sea gas pipeline operator Gassco has just awarded [Aug 20, 2008] Sweden’s Marine Matteknikk AB “a contract to survey 636 km of seabed for potential pipelines to carry carbon dioxide to offshore burial sites.” (Source)

Let’s hope there’ll never be an earthquake on the Norwegian Continental shelf.

Continued …

[May 15, 2008] Photo of the Day!

Phytoplankton Bloom in North Sea off Scotland

Photo by MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite

The northern and western highlands of Scotland were still winter-brown and even dusted with snow in places, but the waters of the North Sea were blooming with phytoplankton (tiny, plant-like organisms) on May 8, 2008, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the region and captured this image.

Phytoplankton are tiny organisms—many are just a single cell—that use chlorophyll and other pigments to capture light for photosynthesis. Because these pigments absorb sunlight, they change the color of the light reflected from the sea surface back to the satellite (shades of bright blue and green). Scientists have used observations of “ocean color” from satellites for more than 20 years to track worldwide patterns in phytoplankton blooms.

Phytoplankton are important to the Earth system for a host of reasons, including their status as the base of the ocean food web. In the North Sea, they are the base of the food web that supports Scotland’s commercial fisheries, including monkfish and herring. As photosynthesizers, they also play a crucial role in the carbon cycle, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Some oceanographers are concerned that rising ocean temperatures will slow phytoplankton growth rates, harming marine ecosystems and causing carbon dioxide to accumulate more rapidly in the atmosphere.

NASA image by Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey (some editing by FEWW).