[ Blizzard Jonas. More moisture. More precipitation. More energy to be released. ] Forecasters have predicted the weather system will hit Britain on Tuesday morning, bringing torrential rain and heavy winds. The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning covering most of Wales, north-west England and west Scotland.

Hurricane Alex develops near Azores in water barely warm enough for any storm to form, says US researchers. [...] Hurricane Alex’s maximum sustained winds were near 140kph (85mph) and residents of Portugal’s mid-Atlantic Azores islands were warned to expect waves up to 18m (60ft) high and wind gusts up to 160kph (100mph). The islands’ Civil Protection Service issued a weather red alert, the highest of four warnings that indicates extreme risk, for five of the archipelago’s nine islands. The US National Hurricane Center in Miami said in a Facebook post there hadn’t been a hurricane present during the month of January since 1955, when Alice formed in late December 1954 and carried over into the next month.

Storm Frank/Storm Eva/Storm Desmond. High temps @North Pole. This will go down into the history books! Destabalising of Polar Vortex (colder winters) vs El Nino effect (warmer wetter winters) + Jet Stream wobbly (<< still cutting edge science.) [...] 'Destable Polar Vortex due to global warming.' Wobbly Jet Stream = chaotic weather (ie warm arctic like california warm). Coming Decades more extremes, more events. //&! Civilization's rise based on fossil fuel = also it's demise, mass extinction - youtu.be/XhkpsyT3mDc //&! Pre-COP21 France Foreign Minister "We Are on the Edge of a Climatic Abyss" - youtu.be/jfeS5k1518o //&! Crisis is Worse Than We Think & Scientists Are Self-Censoring to Downplay Risk - youtu.be/NmL4t8TclGU - public collectively comfortably aware. and hoping for carbon capture tech. youtu.be/svlU6p0gHgo //&! Naomi Klein on Why Climate Change is ‘Incredibly Threatening To Our Elites’ - youtu.be/g_2GjzS576A

The campaign group Save Hemsby Coastline raised funds to pay for a trial sea defence, but it only covers a short stretch of coastline. Norfolk County Council said sea defences were not its responsibility. [...] An Environment Agency spokesman said it was spending £2.3bn over the next six years to protect 15,000 properties from coastal erosion, but it had not received an application for funding from Hemsby. [[[ >> // taking money away for renewables, and will have to put it and 10x more into extreme weather defences and repairs. does not include economic damage. - Re first big strom this winter Strom Desmond breaches several once-in-100 years flood devences. and winter is supposed be harsh with el ninio powering it and exceptionally cold atalantic bc of greenland iceshield cooling gulf stream ]]] //&! bbc.in/1HQd7Nr

[ confusing the public, as with diet ] The United Nations is promising a "universal climate change agreement" when leaders from almost 200 countries meet in Paris. But is the jargon used in environmental discussions actually putting people off the subject rather than enthusing them?

Experts blamed the record cold ocean temperatures on the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, also feared to be slowing the Gulf Stream, which pushes warm currents towards Britain. The US Government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather department said: "The area of ocean had its coldest January to August in at least 80 years of records." //&! [Stronger than ever El Nino may exacerbate Winter conditions] The knock-on effects around the globe, which include unusually cold winters in Britain, could be catastrophic. The last El Nino, six years ago, saw the UK crippled by the worst winter for decades with widespread harsh frosts, sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow setting in from early December and lasting until March. - bit.ly/1PuF8fr - UK forecasters are also bracing themselves for the worst with all the ingredients in place for a lengthy and savagely cold and snowy season. [...] unprecedented sequence of events

Als größte Gefahr des Klimawandels gilt der Eispanzer Grönlands. Er drohe schon bei einem Temperaturanstieg zwischen 0,8 bis 3,2 Grad Celsius komplett abzuschmelzen, warnten Forscher des Potsdam-Instituts für Klimafolgenforschung (PIK) und der Universität Madrid vor einem Jahr. Folglich würden die Ozeane um sieben Meter anschwellen, ganze Länder im Meer versinken.

"When we see melt in places that we haven't seen before, at least in a long period of time, it makes you sit up and ask what's happening," Nasa chief scientist Waleed Abdalati said.

"It's a big signal, the meaning of which we're going to sort out for years to come."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/03/greenland-ice-sheet-global-warming.html

Das ebenfalls viel diskutierte Abtauen des arktischen Meereises rund um den Nordpol hätte diesen Effekt dagegen nicht. Der Grund dafür ist, dass es bereits auf dem Meer schwimmt und dabei genau so viel Wasser verdrängt, wie in ihm gebunden ist. Das auf dem Land aufgetürmte Grönland-Eis dagegen ließe beim Schmelzen gigantische Mengen zusätzlichen Wassers in die Ozeane fließen.

Meeresspiegel steigt dann um mehrere Meter.