UK weather: temperatures to plunge again on Saturday night

Thousands of people have been trapped, delayed and had their journeys disrupted by heavy snow that swept across parts of the UK, as forecasters warned more severe weather was on the way over the weekend. Scotland could see lows of minus 16C (3.2F) over Saturday night into Sunday as the cold snap continues, the Met Office said.

Vehicles make their way through heavy snow
at Culloden near Inverness, Scotland. 

Hundreds of motorists were stranded on Friday, while air and rail passengers faced cancellations or difficult journeys and more than 1,000 schools were closed. Some householders experienced power cuts and sporting fans had events cancelled or travel plans wrecked.

Trains on the South Western Railway network were expected to be disrupted until 9am on Saturday after heavy snowfall, according to National Rail Enquiries. Southeastern, Transport for Wales and Great Western Railway services were expected to run as normal.

Read the story from The Guardian by Steven Morris, Matthew Weaver and agencies  - “UK weather: temperatures to plunge again on Saturday night.”

Drivers airlifted to safety as freak rain closes freeway

Drivers were winched to safety after becoming trapped in their vehicles on the Hume Freeway as heavy rain brought floods and emergency warnings to northern Victoria on Thursday afternoon.

The flooded Hume Freeway, near Wodonga, on Thursday afternoon.

Victoria’s State Emergency Service had responded to more than 20 requests for assistance by 1pm (ADST), including reports of up to 100 cars trapped on the freeway near Wangaratta, in the state’s north-east.

Drivers and passengers waited on the tops of their vehicles before they could be airlifted away from the flooded road, as emergency services warned of worse weather to come later in the afternoon.

Read The New Daily story “Drivers airlifted to safety as freak rain closes freeway.”

Fracking – the reality, the risks and what the future holds

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking as it is better known, is a method of extracting oil and gas trapped in shale and other rock formations.

The US expects to produce 7.5m barrels of shale oil per day
 by 2040, but in the UK fracking faces strong resistance. 

The modern version involves pumping large amounts of water down a well at high pressure, along with sand and chemicals that make up a tiny fraction of the volume. Together, this “stimulation fluid” fractures the rock and releases the gas or oil, which flows to the surface. The hole drilled for a well is about the size of a manhole cover.

As the UK industry body explains, the sand is there to keep fractures in the rock open. The chemicals are included for several purposes, such as lubrication and keeping bacteria out.

The other big technological development that has made fracking economical is horizontal drilling. This means that several horizontal boreholes can be drilled off one well, like tributaries off a river, maximising the amount of oil and gas that can be recovered. This spring, either Third Energy in North Yorkshire or Cuadrilla in Lancashire will become the first company to frack in the UK since 2011.

Read the story by Adam Vaughan on The Guardian - “Fracking – the reality, the risks and what the future holds.

The Most Powerful Evidence Climate Scientists Have of Global Warming

Earth's temperature is rising, and it isn't just in the air around us. More than 90 percent of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions has been absorbed into the oceans that cover two-thirds of the planet's surface. Their temperature is rising, too, and it tells a story of how humans are changing the planet.

This accrued heat is "really the memory of past climate change," said Kevin Trenberth, the head of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and co-author of a new paper on ocean warming.

It's not just the amount of warming that is significant—it's also the pace.

The rate at which the oceans are heating up has nearly doubled since 1992, and that heat is reaching ever deeper waters, according to a recent study. At the same time, concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have been rising.

The charts that follow show how the oceans are changing and what they're telling us as a thermometer of global warming.

Read the Inside Climate News story by Sabrina Shankman and Paul Horn - “The Most Powerful Evidence Climate Scientists Have of Global Warming.”

The Most Powerful Evidence Climate Scientists Have of Global Warming

Earth's temperature is rising, and it isn't just in the air around us. More than 90 percent of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions has been absorbed into the oceans that cover two-thirds of the planet's surface. Their temperature is rising, too, and it tells a story of how humans are changing the planet.

This accrued heat is "really the memory of past climate change," said Kevin Trenberth, the head of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and co-author of a new paper on ocean warming.

It's not just the amount of warming that is significant—it's also the pace.

The rate at which the oceans are heating up has nearly doubled since 1992, and that heat is reaching ever deeper waters, according to a recent study. At the same time, concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have been rising.

Read the Inside Climate News story - “The Most Powerful Evidence Climate Scientists Have of Global Warming.”