Mexico Drought Chokes Cattle, Crops


FRAILE, Mexico—The worst drought on record in various parts of Mexico has destroyed millions of acres of cropland and left millions of livestock without food, leading to fears about potential food shortages at a time when U.S. states like Texas are also suffering unusually dry weather.

More than half of the national territory has fallen prey to the drought, with dried-up streams in northern states like Coahuila turning into cattle graves and some towns lying abandoned as people flee the drought. More than 3.7 million acres of agriculture have been lost, an area larger than Connecticut.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... lenews_wsj


Mass evacuation in Australia as flood waters rise


Flood waters rose Monday in parts of Queensland but residents of a threatened town in the Australian state were thrown a lifeline with news that the levee on a swollen river might hold.

Thousands of Australians have been forced to abandon their homes as a record deluge sweeps through areas still reeling from last year's devastating flooding, with St George, in Queensland's south, under most threat Monday.

Many of its residents fled Sunday evening to evacuation centres in nearby Dalby or the state capital Brisbane, although some 400 stayed to help limit the damage despite a mandatory evacuation order.

Local mayor Donna Stewart said the Balonne River in St George, flooding for the third time in less than two years, had reached 13.48 metres (44 feet) and was expected to keep rising until at least Tuesday night.

Forecasters earlier estimated it could top 15 metres, breaching the town's 14.5-metre levee, but they have now revised down the predicted peak to just over 14 metres, making it touch and go whether the levee will hold.

http://news.yahoo.com/mass-evacuation-a ... Q--;_ylv=3

Flood hit villages struggle to survive curse of La Nina


Four years after Cyclone Guba devastated Oro Province in Papua New Guinea, torrential rain and floods attributed to the La Nina climate phenomenon have once again brought grief to village communities.

Villagers are facing food shortages, loss of fresh water supplies and disease, such as diarrhoea and malaria.

Extreme rainfall since September last year has affected 11,000 people in the province, with communities along the major Mamba, Gira and Eia rivers and in the vicinity of Kokoda and Oro Bay the worst affected.

The Kumusi, Diwune, Eroro, Sambogo, Embogo and Girua rivers have also been in flood.

Siai village, home to 300-400 Aeka people and situated close to the banks of the Kumusi River, was washed away during Cyclone Guba in 2007. After being displaced for two years, villagers returned to rebuild their homes adjacent to the river in 2009.

According to Alphonse Kubiri, Elder of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Siai, the river broke its banks five months ago and constant torrential downpours into the new year have resulted in the worst flooding he has seen since 2007.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/ar ... d=10783358



Flood in Greece on Sunday, 05 February, 2012 at 13:30 (01:30 PM) UTC.

Description
One person was killed and more than 200 people evacuated as torrential rain caused widespread flooding and mudslides in the western Peloponnese, in Greece, radio reports said Sunday. Police discovered the body of an 80-year-old woman in her inundated home in the town of Livadia, located in the prefecture of Ilia. Thunderstorms have lashed parts of western Greece since Saturday evening, flooding hundreds of homes and shops. Rescue crews used helicopters to evacuate residents.


http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?page ... -34057-GRC


Thousands trapped by snow in Bosnia

Bosnia used helicopters on Sunday to evacuate the sick and deliver food to thousands of people left stranded by its heaviest snowfall ever, while Pope Benedict XVI donned an overcoat to bless the few pilgrims who braved Rome's unusually cold weather to visit St. Peter's Square.

"The snow is beautiful, but let's hope spring comes soon," the pope told the pilgrims, looking out over remnants of Rome's biggest snowstorm since 1986.

Across Eastern Europe, thousands of people continued to dig out from heavy snow that has fallen during a cold snap that struck more than a week ago and has killed hundreds of people.




In Ukraine, the hardest hit area, temperatures have fallen as low as minus 33 Fahrenheit (minus 36 Celsius). The government said Sunday the country's death toll now stands at 131, including many homeless people. About 2,300 other Ukrainians have sought treatment for frostbite or hypothermia.

At the other end of Europe, Britain had its first snowfall of the winter on Saturday -- up to 6.3 inches (16 centimeters) -- forcing London's Heathrow Airport -- Europe's busiest -- to cancel flights and stranding many drivers overnight on highways. Stansted, Birmingham and Luton airports suspended operations overnight as snow piled up on runways, but resumed operations Sunday.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/05 ... z1laxW0TUx

this info moved for tomorrows show

Snow on the Mediterranean coast as cold snap grips France and temperatures plunge

February 3, 2012 — Marseille and Paris, France (Reuters) Palm trees on the normally sun-kissed French Riviera were covered with a light scattering of snow as a cold snap sweeping through Europe was expected to force temperatures in France sharply low

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/s ... _category2



Forest fires rage near Valparaiso, scorching hundreds of hectares


At least three wild fires had scorched on Thursday (February 2) more than 200 hectares (500 acres) of land in the Valparaiso Region - located some 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of Chilean capital - putting the area on red alert as emergency crews scrambled to extinguish the flames.

Massive smoke plumes were seen for kilometres as the blazes consumed the brush threatening to reach residential areas. The most dangerous of the fires was located near Mount Escobar and the municipality of , home to more than 120,000 residents. The blaze alone has singed more than 120 hectares (300 acres) of raised grassland.

Because of its proximity to residential areas, the area has become the focus of firefighters and emergency crews from Chile, trying to control the flames before winds can change and further complicate the situation.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/s ... _category2

February 03, 2012 18:03

Contact not lost with Russian polar workers in Antarctica

ST. PETERSBURG. Feb 3 (Interfax) - The Russian Antarctic polar expedition, which conducts well-drilling operations in the subglacial Lake Vostok, is working as usual, Deputy Director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute Alexander Danilov told Interfax on Friday.

"Contact with them exists, is maintained, nothing happened there, everything is happening absolutely normally," Danilov said.

Contact with the Russian scientists in Lake Vostok had been lost, several media outlets said earlier, citing U.S. scientists.

Currently, the drilling is conducted within the 'ice-water' border range, the Institute's deputy director said. However, this range is fairly broad, around 50 meters.

"Nobody knows exactly where the border ends and water begins. This is why the drilling continues, and there is still hope for completion in this season," the scientist said.

This season's work on Lake Vostok is due to be completed around February 5.

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=306966

ok so why would they say this


Missing scientists mystery deepens in frozen Antarctica

The world holds its breath, hoping for the best after six days of radio silence from Antarctica -- where a team of Russian scientists is racing the clock and the oncoming winter to dig to an alien lake far beneath the ice.

The team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the surface of the icy continent. Lake Vostok hasn't been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/ ... z1lPKOa7un




Fox Flub: Russian Vostok Lake Scientists Safe

Russian team trying to uncover Antarctica's Lake Vostok 'Doing something that has never been done before.'


The team of Russian scientists trying to uncover the prehistoric Lake Vostok miles beneath a surface of Antarctic ice are not lost, according to American Antarctic explorer John Priscu.

"I can assure you that they are not lost or out of contact," he wrote in an email. "I never said the Russians were lost."

Fox News reported that the team hadn't been heard from for more than five days.

"What I can tell you is that they are doing something that has never been done before—think of it, sampling a lake under 2.5 miles of ice at a location that is the highest, driest and coldest desert on our planet," he adds.

What the Russian team is trying to do is unprecedented—the waters of Lake Vostok have been left untouched beneath more than two miles of ice for more than 15 million years. Lake Vostok has been called the "most alien lake on earth," and scientists believe microscopic "extremophiles" that can survive in very low temperature and light situations might live in the water.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/201 ... tists-safe

I googled


John Priscu

and he did an interview and this is part of it


February 4, 2012

Russian researchers in Antarctica are on the verge of piercing a hole through two miles of ice into an ancient lake, untouched by the light of day for some 20 million years. But it'll be a delicate process to break through without disturbing the pristine waters. Guest host David Green speaks with Antarctic researcher John Priscu about the process.



GREENE: Sounds like if they break through the ice this week, it could be quite an exciting moment. Do you wish you were out there? Do you wish you were out there with them?

PRISCU: I do. I wish I was out there. But I think I would be standing 100 meters away from the boreholes when they break through.

GREENE: All right. Interesting story that will be following. John Priscu is a researcher at Montana State University and he joined us from Bozeman.

Professor, thanks so much for telling us about this.

PRISCU: I thank you very much.


http://www.npr.org/2012/02/04/146393720 ... -into-lake

here is media player of this interview

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlaye ... =146393331


wow his voice is shakey and wow he sounds like he is on the verge of tears...if you have a minute listen to this would appreciate some feedback on what you hear behind all of it

February 03, 2012 18:03


Contact not lost with Russian polar workers in Antarctica

ST. PETERSBURG. Feb 3 (Interfax) - The Russian Antarctic polar expedition, which conducts well-drilling operations in the subglacial Lake Vostok, is working as usual, Deputy Director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute Alexander Danilov told Interfax on Friday.

"Contact with them exists, is maintained, nothing happened there, everything is happening absolutely normally," Danilov said.

Contact with the Russian scientists in Lake Vostok had been lost, several media outlets said earlier, citing U.S. scientists.

Currently, the drilling is conducted within the 'ice-water' border range, the Institute's deputy director said. However, this range is fairly broad, around 50 meters.

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?pg=2&id=306966


If you watch these video's they go in to deep detail on how they want to preserve the intergrity of the waters..and yet you have a team of Russian scientist up there goping gun ho crazy to get a sample of the water out...time for me to read more


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maQhn96AhuI


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vco8tar ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxW8J268 ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RyOvueI ... re=related


This begs the question of...what are they really doing up there..why is there such as race to get water out of there now, when all caution was wanted to be taken(watch the 4th video to understand this one)..and why would they comprimise years of research to grab at this water right now...and side note for myself..I remember seeing somewhere that if they drill into waters like this that they could potentially release virus' that have not been around for millions of years and to which humans have no protection from.



Russian scientists seeking Lake Vostok lost in frozen 'Land of the Lost'?

A group of Russian scientists plumbing the frozen Antarctic in search of a lake buried in ice for tens of millions of years have failed to respond to increasingly anxious U.S. colleagues -- and as the days creep by, the fate of the team remains unknown.

"No word from the ice for 5 days," Dr. John Priscu -- professor of ecology at Montana State University and head of a similar Antarctic exploration program -- told FoxNews.com via email.

The team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the ice sheet's surface. The lake hasn't been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.
Priscu said there was no way to get in touch with the team -- and the already cold weather is set to plunge, as Antarctica's summer season ends and winter sets in.

"Temps are dropping below -40 Celsius [-40 degrees Fahrenheit] and they have only a week or so left before they have to winterize the station," he said. "I can only imagine what things must be like at Vostok Station this week."

The team's disappearance could not come at a worse time: They are about 40 feet from their goal of reaching the body of water, Priscu explained, a goal that the team was unable to meet as they raced the coming winter exactly one year ago.

When the winter arrives in the next few weeks, the temperature can get twice as cold. Vostok Station boasts the lowest recorded temperature on Earth: -89.4 degrees Celsius (-129 degrees Fahrenheit).
If the team does reach the lake water, they will bring its water up through the hole and let it freeze there over the winter. The following year they will be able to start research on what they find, Priscu explained.

searchers actually working at the lake, scientists around the globe have been waiting with bated breath to see what the Russian's unearth this weekend.

"We are terribly interested in what they find," Alan Rodger, a scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, told FoxNews.com last year. "This is a lake that we don't think has been exposed for 15 million years. Therefore, if there is life there, we're going to have so many questions. How has it evolved over those years, how has it survived, what does it look like? Won't it be exciting to find something completely new on Planet Earth?"


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/ ... z1lPgALz4S


Fears for Antarctic 'alien' lake scientists

A TEAM of Russian scientists has mysteriously lost contact with colleagues in the U.S. as they drill into a lake buried beneath the Antarctic ice for 20 million years.

The scientists had been battling conditions of minus 66C at Lake Vostok, as they raced to drill into a lake buried two miles beneath the ice before the weather closed in. The scientists hope the lake's untouched water will reveal more about life on our planet 20 million years ago.

The lake, in the most inhospitable region of the planet, is kept liquid by geothermal heat under the ice and its conditions are often described as 'alien' because they are thought to be akin to the subterranean lakes on Jupiter's moon Europa.

Their radio silence has conjured chilling echoes of classic horror film The Thing, where scientists dig up a buried spacecraft in the Antarctic ice, only to unleash an extraterrestrial horror within.

Valery Lukin, chief of the Russian Antactic Expedition, said last month: 'We do not know what is waiting for us down there.'

The water inside the lake will have had no contact with man-made pollutants or Earthly life forms for millions of years.

Last year the scientists working in freezing temperatures at Lake Vostok came within ten to 50 metres of the surface of the 'relic lake'.

But with the summer almost over, the team will have to leave the remote site within days - before it gets too cold for a plane to land.

Robin E. Bell, a researcher at Columbia University who has visited the region, told MailOnline that the team is focused on getting their job done while they still can, and it's premature to fear the worst.

She said: 'I wouldn’t read too much into it. When you’re doing something very challenging, the last thing you want to do is chat to people'.

Ms Bell added that the Lake Vostok expedition is very important to the Russians and that Mr Lukin's team are 'the best people to drill in the world'.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/f ... 6262454392


Lake Vostok, Antarctica's Largest Subglacial Body Of Water, Soon To Be Explored

Deep beneath miles of Antarctic ice lies a large freshwater lake that will soon be exposed for the first time in millions of years.

Lake Vostok, which is the largest of Antarctica's subglacial lakes and also one of the largest lakes in the world, has not been touched by light for over 20 million years, according to The Washington Post.

A team of Russian scientists is poised to penetrate the lake next week and begin probing for signs of life. The harsh weather conditions on the surface of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet mean that drilling through over two miles of ice has been an arduous process spanning two decades, explained The Washington Post.

[SCROLL DOWN FOR GRAPHIC.]

Unfortunately for the scientists, their job won't be much easier once they drill the final 40 feet into the lake. Discover magazine explains that concerns are growing about preventing bacterial contamination of the "pristine" lake.

Even more menacing is the threat of a geyser-like explosion. The lake reportedly contains "quite a bit of gas," meaning that an explosion could occur if the pressure isn't released carefully. In fact, a large geyser could send enough water vapor to the surface to alter Antarctica's weather. look at Europes weather right now

John Priscu, an antarctic researcher at Montana State University told The Washington Post, "This is a huge moment for science and exploration, breaking through to this enormous lake that we didn't even know existed until the 1990s."

Elsewhere in Antarctica, a team of British scientists is preparing to drill down to another subglacial lake later this year. British Antarctic Survey scientists staged over 70 tons of equipment above Lake Ellsworth last month in preparation for drilling in November.

But the British team isn't very concerned with beating the Russians, reports OurAmazingPlanet. The head of the British project, Martin Siegert, said, "It's not a race for penetrating a glacial lake. We're not adventurers. We're doing science. There are questions we're asking and trying to answer."

Even so, there is still a chance the Russians will not reach the lake on schedule. In January 2011, the Russian team was allegedly within 20 to 40 meters of penetrating Lake Vostok, according to Nature.

The Russian team had to quit, however, and grab the last flight off the ice before winter hit one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, reported OurAmazingPlanet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/0 ... ?ref=green





Lake Vostok: No Response from Russian Scientists after Drilling through Ice

February 3, 2012 2:02 PM EST

It has been five days since anyone has communicated with Russian scientists, who are in a remote Antarctic 'station,' where they are drilling through 13,000 feet of an ice sheet to reach the prehistoric Lake Vostok. Now the scientific community is anxiously waiting to hear what's become of them.

"Temps are dropping below -40 Celsius and they have only a week or so left before they have to winterize the station," said John Priscu, an Antarctic research expert at Montana State University, in an interview with Fox News. "I can only imagine what things must be like at Vostok Station this week."

The scientists are presumed to be on the surface of the ice sheet near the Vostok Station, where they were expected to conclude two decades of efforts to drill through to what has been deemed the most "alien lake on Earth," sealed off from the planet's atmosphere for 20 million years. Geothermal vents are theorized to sustain life beneath the lake, from primordial microbes to monstrous tube worms.


To prevent contamination of the lake, they have attempted to drill only deep enough to let frozen slush on its surface flow up through the borehole, but it is possible that pressurized gas could escape explosively, raising concerns about the scientists' safety.

"If it goes well, a breakthrough opens up a whole new chapter in our understanding of our planet and possibly moons in our solar system and planets far beyond," Priscu told the Washington Post. "If it doesn't go well, it casts a pall over the whole effort to explore this wet underside of Antarctica."

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/292793/ ... hermal.htm

note for above...when they were drilling out the samples of ice to be examined they did not realize they had hit frozen lake water...could this team that is up there right accidentally hit the lake waters and don't know what to do...yup mistakes do happen especially when you are drilling down in to miles of earth..I guess it just seems strange the one comment about the pressure in the lake and if they were to break the ice then it would change the weather condition and we have Japan under lots of snow in areas and a deep freeze in Europe...strange timing I do say



Riddle of the Russian scientists drilling into 'alien' Antarctic lake buried under ice for 20 million years who have been out of radio contact for six days

Antarctic summer will come to an end within days - team's last chance to leave the station

Conditions in lake similar to lakes on moons of Saturn and Jupiter

Remote station recorded coldest-ever temperature on earth: -89C


A team of Russian scientists has mysteriously lost contact with colleagues in the U.S. as they drill into a lake buried beneath the Antarctic ice for 20 million years.

The scientists had been battling conditions of minus 66C at Lake Vostok, as they raced to drill into a lake buried two miles beneath the ice before the weather closed in. The scientists hope the lake's untouched water will reveal more about life on our planet 20 million years ago.

The lake, in the most inhospitable region of the planet, is kept liquid by geothermal heat under the ice and its conditions are often described as 'alien' because they are thought to be akin to the subterranean lakes on Jupiter's moon Europa.

Their radio silence has conjured chilling echoes of classic horror film The Thing, where scientists dig up a buried spacecraft in the Antarctic ice, only to unleash an extraterrestrial horror within.


Valery Lukin, chief of the Russian Antactic Expedition, said last month: 'We do not know what is waiting for us down there.'

The water inside the lake will have had no contact with man-made pollutants or Earthly life forms for millions of years.


Last year the scientists working in freezing temperatures at Lake Vostok came within ten to 50 metres of the surface of the 'relic lake'.

But with the summer almost over, the team will have to leave the remote site within days - before it gets too cold for a plane to land.

Robin E. Bell, a researcher at Columbia University who has visited the region, told MailOnline that the team is focused on getting their job done while they still can, and it's premature to fear the worst.



She said: 'I wouldn’t read too much into it. When you’re doing something very challenging, the last thing you want to do is chat to people'.

Ms Bell added that the Lake Vostok expedition is very important to the Russians and that Mr Lukin's team are 'the best people to drill in the world'.

During drilling temperatures have sunk to minus 66C, and the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth was found at Vostok Station.

On July 21, 1983, temperatures hit minus 89.2C.



When the breakthrough moment comes they must take care not to contaminate the hidden underground world with bacteria and fluids from the drilling.


To make sure the water stays completely pure, the machinery will not even touch the lake.
Instead suction will be used to suck samples of the unique water into the borehole, where it will freeze before being raised to the surface for analysis.

The team also faces the risk of an explosion with oxygen and nitrogen trapped below.

They are trying to make sure only a small amount of air can escape to avert the risk.
The scientists have been drilling 24 hours a day in three shifts as they race to break through before winter descends.

John Priscu, a Montana State University researcher, told the Washington Post the Russian scientists told him they were just 40ft from where the waterline is thought to lie.

He told the newspaper: 'This is a huge moment for science and exploration, breaking through to this enormous lake that we didn't even know existed until the 1990s.

'If it goes well, a breakthrough opens up a whole new chapter in our understanding of our planet and possibly moons in our solar system and planets far beyond.

'If it doesn't go well, it casts a pall over the whole effort to explore this wet underside of Antarctica.'

The lake is one of the largest bodies of freshwater in the world - matching Lake Ontario in its size. Its existence though suspected since the end of the 19th century was only confirmed by sonar and satellite imaging in the last decade and a half.

Specialists at the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute predict they will find 'the only giant super-clean water system on the planet'.

They forecast the extraordinary 5,400 cubic kilometres of water in pristine Lake Vostok, encased by ice since before man existed, will be 'twice cleaner than double-distilled water'.
There is also the strong prospect of discovering completely unknown life forms in its clear ancient waters, the largest and deepest sub-glacial lake in Antarctica.

Environmental groups have criticised the work on the site - and the chemicals used such as keosene to keep the hole open.

Others have said the site should not be explored but instead left in pristine condition.
The worst possible scenario could be the water suddenly shooting up through the hole when the breakthrough is made.

Up to a quarter of the lake's water could shoot out of the hole, John Priscu said, if the worst fears are realised.

Former Vice President Al Gore is currently on an unrelated expedition near the Weddell Sea with Virgin magnate Richard Branson, filmmaker James Cameron and dozens of others.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z1lQMLcacr

Controversy

The drilling project was opposed by some environmental groups and scientists who argued that hot-water drilling would do less environmental damage.[36] The Russians however complained that hot-water drilling required more power than they could generate at their remote camp.[36] Scientists of the United States National Research Council have taken the position that it should be assumed that microbial life exists in Lake Vostok and that after such a long isolation, any life forms in the lake require strict protection from contamination.[37] Sediments on its floor should give clues to its long-term climate, and isotopes in its water are expected to help geologists determine how and when subglacial lakes such as Lake Vostok form. However, meticulously documented decontamination procedures will be required to establish the credibility of the scientific data obtained.

The drilling technique employed thus far by the Russians has involved the use of freon and kerosene to lubricate the borehole and prevent it from collapsing and freezing over; 60 tons of these chemicals have been used thus far on the ice above Lake Vostok.[8] Other countries, particularly the United States and Britain, have failed to persuade the Russians not to pierce to the lake until cleaner technologies such as hot-water drilling are available.[38] Though the Russians claim to have improved their operations, they continue to use the same borehole, which has already been filled with kerosene.[39] According to the head of Russian Antarctic Expeditions, Valery Lukin, the new equipment had been developed by researchers at the St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute that would ensure the lake remains uncontaminated upon intrusion.[1][40] Lukin has repeatedly reassured other signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty System that the drilling will not affect the lake. He argues that on breakthrough, water will rush up the borehole, freeze, and seal the chemical fluids out.

Environmentalist pressure groups however remain unconvinced by these arguments. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition argues that this is a profoundly misguided step, which endangers not only Lake Vostok itself, but could harm other subglacial lakes in Antarctica, which some scientists are convinced are inter-linked with Lake Vostok.[5] This coalition asserts that "it would be far preferable to join with other countries to penetrate a smaller and more isolated lake, before re-examining whether penetration of Lake Vostok is environmentally defensible. If we are wise, the Lake will be allowed to reveal its secrets in due course."[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Vostok#Controversy



Here is some info on how the British are doing the hole at Lake Ellsworth...funny how they will be so careful yet the Russians are just rushing ahead with a hole that is already filled with kerosen(to prevent it from freezing over from previous use)


Antarctic lake drilling mission edges closer

An ambitious plan to explore a vast lake trapped beneath the Antarctic ice is a step closer to becoming reality.

An advance party has braved freezing temperatures to set up vital equipment and supplies at Lake Ellsworth.

The project by UK engineers to drill through the two-mile-thick ice-sheet is scheduled for the end of the year.

The aims are to search for signs of life in the waters and to extract sediments from the lake floor to better understand the past climate.

It is is one of the most challenging British scientific projects for years.

The task is so complex that preparations have had to be spread over two Antarctic summer seasons.

In the first phase a "tractor train" has just hauled nearly 70 tonnes of equipment from an ice runway at Union Glacier through the Ellsworth mountains to the lake site.

more at link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16538129


hummm Dec 2012 ...

subglacial Lake Ellsworth

Antarctica’s hidden world

In December 2012 a team of British scientists and engineers will drill through 3 km of solid ice into a buried lake to search for life forms in the water and clues to past climate in the lake-bed sediments. This is one of the most exciting and ambitious explorations of our time ...

http://www.ellsworth.org.uk/


Press Release - Thursday 12 January 2012

Engineering ‘Advance Party’ returns from Antarctica

A team of four British engineers has returned to the UK after completing a gruelling journey to one of the most remote and hostile locations on the planet to put in place equipment and supplies for an ambitious project later this year. Enduring temperatures of minus 35°C the Subglacial Lake Ellsworth ‘Advance Party’ has successfully paved the way to explore an ancient lake buried beneath 3 km of Antarctic ice. A powerful ‘tractor-train’ towed nearly 70 tonnes of equipment across Antarctica’s ice over deep snow and steep mountain passes. In December a science and engineering team will make the 16,000 km journey from the UK to collect water and sediments from the buried lake.

http://www.ellsworth.org.uk/release1_2012.html

Russian Scientists Poised to be First to Reach Ice-Buried Antarctic Lake

If they don't reach the lake before they are forced to leave for the winter, the Russian team will be forced to wait two more years to sample water from the lake, and discover what may be living in it



At a tiny outpost in the middle of Antarctica, Russian scientists are poised to become the first humans to reach a massive liquid lake that has been cut off from the sunlit world for millennia, and may house uniquely adapted life forms that are new to science.

Researchers are racing against the fast-approaching bitter cold and total darkness of Antarctic winter to complete a drill hole to Lake Vostok, one of the largest lakes on Earth, and the largest of the nearly 400 ice-buried lakes discovered on the frigid continent so far.

It's an effort that began more than 10 years ago, and one that has been plagued by difficulties — and this season, the stakes are higher than ever. If they don't reach the lake before they are forced to leave for the winter, the Russian team will be forced to wait two more years to sample water from the lake, and discover what may be living in it.

The project is a product of serendipity. The colossal lake was discovered beneath a pre-existing drill project, and, although the Russians were the first to begin drilling to a hidden Antarctic lake, they may not be the first to sample one. Teams from the United States and the United Kingdom are nipping at their heels, poised to begin drilling with specially designed equipment as early as fall 2012. However, scientists from U.S. and British projects say it is not a race, and there is enormous scientific value in all three projects. [Race to the South Pole in Images]

Lake Vostok, roughly the size of Lake Ontario, lies in the middle of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, and is buried beneath 2 miles (3.7 kilometers) of ice. The lake itself is likely almost as old as the ice sheet that covers it — around 14 million years old — and the water within could be 1 million years old, according to rough estimates.

4 more pages at link

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... sts-poised







maybe related stuff


Mystery US jet causes excitement at Christchurch airport

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-new ... z1lPpN7JRB




EXPEDITION TO ANTARCTICA

In most expeditions in Antarctica, getting there is half the battle, and with such treacherous terrain, it has to be done properly.

All trips to the continent begin in Christchurch, New Zealand, where scientists will catch a military transport plane, usually a C-130 with skis.

Passengers are then flown to McMurdo Station, the setting for the United States Antarctic Program’s science facility.

All flights to and out of Antarctica must go through McMurdo.

From there, it’s off to other points on the continent, including the U.S.-owned Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station at the most southern point of the earth.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z1lVGZe2QP


Scary Secrets of the Third Reich's Base in Antarctica

A remarkable event occurred in 1999, but only specialists paid adequate attention to it. A research expedition discovered a virus in Antarctica; at that, neither people nor animals had immunity to the virus. After all, Antarctica is far away, for this very reason the virus cannot be dangerous for the rest of the planet, especially since the dangerous discovery was deep in the permafrost.

However, scientists say that against the background of a global warming threatening the Earth, the unknown virus can cause an awful catastrophe on the planet.

Expert Tom Starmerue from the University of New York also shares the pessimistic forecasts of his colleagues.

We don't know what the mankind will face in the South Pole in the nearest time due to the global warming. It is not ruled out that an unbelievable catastrophe may break out. Viruses protected with a protein cover survive even in the permafrost; as soon as the temperature gets warmer they will immediately start reproducing.

American scientists treated the Antarctica discovery very seriously and even organized a special expedition that currently tests the ice for unknown viruses in order to develop an antidote in good time. What is the source of the virus in Antarctica where only penguins can survive in the ice? There is no answer to the question, specialists are at a loss. However, several theories concerning the problem have been put forward.


more at link

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/antar ... tica24.htm

and last but not least this one says there is nothing sinister and that the scientist are safe and sound(yet no one has yet to hear from them yet)


Russian Scientists Poised to Reach Ice-Buried Antarctic Lake

Feb 03, 2012 02:50 PM

At a tiny outpost in the middle of Antarctica, Russian scientists are poised to become the first humans to reach a massive liquid lake that has been cut off from the sunlit world for millennia, and may house uniquely adapted life forms that are new to science.

Researchers are racing against the fast-approaching bitter cold and total darkness of Antarctic winter to complete a drill hole to Lake Vostok, one of the largest lakes on Earth, and the largest of the nearly 400 ice-buried lakes discovered on the frigid continent so far.

The researchers are not lost, nor is there evidence that anything sinister is afoot at Vostok Station, contrary to reports from other news outlets that suggest the scientists are in danger or missing.

http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/2382-ru ... ostok.html

Big freeze Britain: Forecasters warn 15cm of snow on the way as icy weather settles in across country
Temperatures as low as Himalayas overnight, plunging to nearly -11C in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
Heavy snow expected in Cumbria, Lincolnshire, East Anglia, North Yorkshire and the Peak District
Third of flights out of Heathrow tomorrow cancelled
Drivers warned to prepare for cold weather and check 'gritter Twitter' updates
Breakdowns attended by AA double and British Gas puts fleet of 4X4s on standby as call-outs soar
Salt stocks across Britain stand at 2.4m tons - a million more than last year
Sporting events called off including Portsmouth v Hull City Championship football match
By Damien Gayle, Colin Fernandez and Emma Reynolds

Last updated at 1:56 PM on 4th February 2012


The icy weather that has caused chaos across Britain is set to continue with forecasters expecting widespread snow of up to 15cm deep.

Temperatures plunged as low as the Himalayas overnight, reaching -10.6C in Chesham, Buckinghamshire and -10.3C in Benson, Oxfordshire.
The Met Office issued a severe weather warning and the AA attended double the usual number of breakdowns yesterday as the exceptionally mild winter suddenly turned into the reverse.



The freezing conditions have seen daytime temperatures plummet four or five degrees lower than average for February - traditionally the coldest month of the year.

British Gas have a fleet of 4X4s ready after emergency call-outs doubled and around a third of tomorrow's flights from Heathrow have been cancelled.

Widespread snow is expected this afternoon and evening in areas including Cumbria, Lincolnshire, East Anglia, North Yorkshire and the Peak District and temperatures will remain low, with -9C expected in the snowy Midlands.
Billy Payne, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: 'We will see a frontal system that will push south eastwards across the UK and the rain associated with it will turn to snow.

'There will be some significant accumulations quite widely across much of England. Away from the South West and across eastern parts of Scotland we are looking at 5 to 10cm of snow in many areas.

'For many parts of northern England, East Anglia and the Midlands we may see up to 15cm in places.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1lQJe0Cxl


Colosseum closes and drivers abandon cars as snow falls on Rome for the first time in 26 YEARS
Italian capital grinds to halt as severe weather halts traffic
Locals shiver in tiled homes thanks to city's heating restrictions

-36C temperatures across eastern Europe send death toll to 176
Military on alert in the UK as temperatures drop and snowfall is predicted

Over 11,000 villagers in Serbia trapped by snowdrifts and blizzards
Death toll in Ukraine now 122, with 38 people killed by cold last night

By Emma Reynolds

Last updated at 2:24 PM on 4th February 2012


The Colosseum and other ancient tourist sights closed to tourists as Rome saw snow for the first time in 26 years.


Traffic in the Italian capital ground to a halt as buses struggled to climb icy hills and authorities accustomed to a warm climate fought to cope.
Visitors were stopped from entering the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, the former home of Rome's ancient emperors, over fears they could slip on ice.


The news came as as the big freeze took hold of Europe, taking the continent's death toll to more than 176.
The last substantial snowfalls in Rome were in 1985 and 1986, though there have been other cases of lighter snow since then, including in 2010.



---------------

Since the capital rarely sees freezing temperatures, heating in homes is only legally allowed for 10 to 12 hours a day, to cut down on pollution. The cold snap, with temperatures hovering at or just below the freezing point, left Romans shivering in their homes, many of which have tile and marble floors.
Snow dusted pine and palm trees and changed into slush on the cobblestone streets in the centre. In many neighbourhoods, 6cm (2.5 inches) of snow accumulated.
After hearing the forecasts on Thursday night, Mayor Gianni Alemanno cancelled classes on Friday and Saturday, but said school buildings would stay open so working parents could drop off their children if they had no other place to leave them.
Buses were stuck at the bottom of the steep streets of the Monteverde neighbourhood near the ancient Janiculum Hill, and commuters and residents ascended the hill by foot. Balconies resembled skating rinks as overnight rain froze and snow covered the ripe fruit on orange trees growing on the Roman terraces.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1lQK8LY6s



Towns cut off and thousands trapped by worst flooding in Eastern Australia for 35 years (but at least the fishing's good)

Towns have been cut off and thousands of residents evacuated after record flooding hit parts of New South Wales and Queensland in eastern Australia.
The State Emergency Service in New South Wales said today that floodwaters, the worst for 35 years, have isolated more than 17,000 people across the state.
Seventeen helicopters are performing rescue missions and dropping supplies of food and bedding on stricken towns including Moree, New South Wales.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1lQKRf5G4



Texas town forced to trunk in tanks of water after historic drought causes severe shortage



Tanker trucks loaded with water have become the lifeline for a Texas lakefront village that came precariously close to becoming the state's first community to run out of drinking water during a historic drought.

Spicewood got its first delivery of water on Monday under dark clouds and rain. The 8,000-gallon water delivery arrived after it became clear the village's wells could no longer produce enough water to meet the needs of the Lake Travis community's 1,100 residents and elementary school, said Clara Tuma, spokeswoman of the Lower Colorado River Authority.

The town uses wells, not the nearby lake, for its drinking water. Ryan Rowney, manager of water operations for the authority, said it plans to truck water into the Central Texas town for several more weeks while exploring alternatives, including drilling a new well or piping water from Lake Travis.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1lQKuAJ17

Hundreds of flights cancelled at Heathrow as snow and freezing fog forecast to hit Britain

Travellers have been warned they face transport chaos on Sunday as a third of flights from Heathrow Airport are cancelled amid forecasts of heavy snow, and freezing conditions create dangerous driving conditions.


The moves comes as forecasters predicted up to six inches of snow and ice this weekend with temperatures falling to -12 and windchill making it feel significantly colder.


AIrport operator BAA, Heathrow airlines, and air traffic control agreed to introduce a reduced flight schedule to “minimise the disruption to passengers” caused by severe weather.


However, the airport anticipates more than 70% of passengers will still be able to travel as airlines transfer them between flights.


The Met Office said snow will deliver what is expected to be the biggest and most widespread snow dump of winter.


Saturday is expected to be the coldest day of winter, with -12C temperatures due in the early hours feeling like -15C due to bitter windchill.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weath ... itain.html

Flu Pandemics May Lurk in Frozen Lakes

May 20, 2009


he next flu pandemic may be hibernating in an Arctic glacier or frozen Siberian lake, waiting for rising temperatures to set it free. Then birds can deliver it back to civilization.

New research suggests an influenza virus could go into hiding in the ice when earlier generations of humans, birds or other hosts developed immunity strong enough to drive the virus to extinction. It’s a sort of evolutionary loophole.

“It can bring a set of viral genes back to life that have been frozen for centuries or thousands of years,” said environmental biologist Scott Rogers of Bowling Green State University in Ohio. “If hosts haven’t seen the virus in a while, then there may be no active immunity.”

Rogers and Zeynep Koçer, of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, found that influenza viruses can easily survive freezing in pond water, and emerge from the melting ice strong enough to infect bird eggs. They presented their latest evidence today at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in Philadelphia.

Rogers calls this evolutionary strategy “genome recycling.” He thinks migrating waterfowl regularly deliver influenza viruses to Arctic glaciers and lakes, where it becomes frozen in ice. When the ice melts, birds pick the virus up and transport it back south where it can infect humans.


The research comes amid a global alert over a new swine flu strain, H1N1, that has so far killed at least 80 people and could be headed toward full-blown pandemic. Influenza pandemics have struck periodically in historic times. The worst in recent memory were the Spanish flu in 1918, the Asian flu in 1957 and the Hong Kong flu in 1968.

These pandemics are hard to predict or trace back to their origins. Some researchers have proposed Siberia as a hub for the evolution of flu pandemics that eventually emerge in other locations — carried there by birds.

Scientists have in fact detected influenza viruses frozen in the ice and mud of lakes in Alaska, Siberia and elsewhere. These Arctic lakes are the summer grounds for ducks that migrate to China, Southern Asia, Europe and North America.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/iceplague/

Unuasal Happenings


Now more than a HUNDRED dolphins stranded off Cape Cod as scientists mystified why huge numbers are beachingScientists baffled as to why so many dolphins are beaching

116 dolphins have beached themselves; 84 have died and the rest have been rescued

International Fund for Animal Welfare submitted proposal for Federal funding Friday



More than a hundred dolphins have now beached off Cape Cod as mammals continue to get inexplicably stranded on the region's beaches.

Three died on Friday, meaning that of 116 common dolphins that have beached since January 12, 84 have died, though rescuers have managed to save the rest.

This year’s strandings dwarf the average of 37 common dolphin strandings annually over the last 12 years, and no one can explain why the numbers have mysteriously spiked this year.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1lVF13zVN

Sugar May Fall to 18 Cents a Pound This Year With Surplus, Macquarie Says


Sugar prices may fall to as low as 18 cents a pound this year as a forecast surplus for the 2011-12 season becomes available, according to Macquarie Group Ltd.

Sugar supplies are set to outpace demand by 9 million metric tons in the 2011-12 season that began in October, according to trader Olam International Ltd. The estimated surplus has started to reach the market and will increase throughout the year, said Carlos Murilo Barros de Mello, managing director at Macquarie Brasil Participacoes Ltda.

“The surplus has started to reach the market and we see potential for more downside until the end of the year,” he said in an interview in Dubai today, as an annual sugar conference organized by broker and researcher Kingsman SA opens.

Raw sugar traded in New York closed on Feb. 3 at 23.94 cents a pound. Prices are up 2.8 percent this year.

Prices are likely to fall the most after supplies from the next harvest in top global producer Brazil start to become available for sales in the second and third quarters, he said.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-0 ... -says.html

Greece says faces 24-hour deadline to clinch rescue


Greece has just one day left to strike a deal with impatient lenders and reluctant political party leaders on a 130 billion rescue plan before the country is pushed towards a chaotic default, its finance minister warned on Saturday.

Athens has wrangled without success for weeks with lenders and private bondholders on the bailout package and a bond swap plan, putting itself dangerously close to bankruptcy as 14.5 billion euros of debt falls due in mid-March.

The talks have been held up largely on concern that the rescue plan may not be enough to bring Greece's debt back to a sustainable level, and fears that Athens lacks the will or ability to ram through reforms demanded in exchange for aid.

In an apparent warning to Greek political leaders opposing key reforms, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the patience of European partners and the International Monetary Fund footing the bill for Greece's bailout was wearing thin.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/greece-pushes- ... 26928.html

Vostok...so when do they have to leave by...one says Tuesday Feb 6th and another says they will break through next week....humm something is just not right


Researchers To Get First Peek At 20 Million Year-Old Lake

February 3, 2012

In what sounds like the opening scene to a bad monster movie, a team of Russian scientists are on the verge of drilling down to a lake buried under more than two miles of ice that hasn’t seen the light of day for over 20 million years, reports Rob Cooper for the Daily Mail.

Lake Vostok is the largest of Antarctica’s subglacial lakes and also one of the largest lakes in the world and the research team is poised to penetrate the final 40 feet of ice that sits atop the lake next week, after two decades of drilling, and hope to begin probing for signs of life.

Why has it taken so long to drill down only two miles? The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is a hazardous and lonely place with only a short amount of time each year that can be worked through. The scientists have been drilling 24-hours a day in three shifts as they race to beat the Antarctic winter which descends quickly, Huffington Post reports.

The task of drilling here is also slowed with the researchers aim of not contaminating the samples with modern bacteria. The lake has been isolated for millions of years and the hope is to peek into the composition of that pristine world.

There is an even more dangerous threat of a geyser-like explosion as the lake reportedly contains “quite a bit of gas,” meaning that an explosion could occur if the pressure isn’t released carefully. In fact, a geyser could send enough water vapor to the surface to alter Antarctica’s weather.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/11 ... -old-lake/


In Search Of 'Alien' Life, Russian Scientists Out Of Contact Since Last 6 Days In Antarctica
[ Updated 05 Feb 2012, 09:54:34 ]

London, Feb 5: The scientific community is holding its breath for a team of Russian scientists that has been out of contact with colleagues in the U.S for six days, as they drill into a lake buried beneath the Antarctic ice for 20 million years.

They have to evacuate their station by Tuesday - when winter proper kicks in and temperatures start to drop to an inhospitable minus 90C, reports Daily Mail, London.

The scientists are currently battling conditions of up to minus 66C at Lake Vostok as they raced to drill into a lake buried two miles beneath the ice before the weather closed in.

They were hoping water in the lake, the most inhospitable region of the planet, would reveal more about ancient life on our planet - but they have fallen silent just days before the deadly winter is due to begin.

Their radio silence has chilling echoes of classic horror film The Thing, where scientists dig up a buried spacecraft in the Antarctic ice, only to unleash an extraterrestrial horror within.

http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/World/I ... -6825.html