Environment
EnvironmentMidwestern US warned of 'life-threatening' temperatures of up to minus 51 Celsius
Residents of the Midwestern United States braced for the coldest weather in two decades, temperatures that forecasters warned would be life-threatening. An estimated one third of the US population has been affected by the extreme weather conditions that also reached neighboring Canada.
US icebreaker sent to Antarctica to rescue Chinese and Russian trapped vessels
A U.S. Coast Guard heavy icebreaker left Australia for Antarctica on Sunday to rescue more than 120 crew members aboard two icebreakers trapped in pack ice near the frozen continent’s eastern edge, officials said. The 122-meter cutter, the Polar Star, is responding to a Jan. 3 request from Australia, Russia and China to assist the Russian and Chinese ships.
Chinese icebreaker trapped in Antarctica after rescuing passengers from Russian vessel
The Chinese icebreaker that helped rescue 52 passengers from a Russian ship stranded in Antarctic ice found itself stuck in heavy ice, further complicating the 9-day “roller-coaster” rescue operation. “Snow Dragon” (Xue Long) had ferried the passengers from the stranded Russian ship to an Australian icebreaker late on Thursday.
China starts to build its fourth Antarctica base: more planned
Just days after the Chinese rover Jade Rabbit settled down on the moon, China is setting out to bolster its presence in another remote place: Antarctica. Chinese state media said on Thursday that construction workers are en route to the future site of China’s fourth Antarctic research station, after a pit stop at one of its other bases.
Chinese helicopter rescues stranded passengers from Russian vessel trapped in Antarctic ice
A Chinese helicopter reached on Thursday a Russian ship stranded in Antarctica for nine days to pick up 52 passengers who spent Christmas and the New Year trapped in ice, the expedition leader has said.
Blackouts continue in Argentina while government keeps threatening power distributors
Blackouts continued in several neighborhoods of Argentina's metropolitan Buenos Aires area while protests increased including pickets in highways, attempts to set on fire power distributors offices or kidnap power companies' officers while the only resource from government has been to blame companies and threaten to take over utilities.
UK Met Office will offer daily forecasts about the weather in space: solar storms the target
The United Kingdom Met Office is to begin offering daily forecasts about the weather in space. The 24 hour service will aim to help businesses and government departments by providing early warnings of solar storms that can disrupt satellites, radio communications and power grids. The first forecast is expected to be available next spring.
Virus kills over 1.000 migratory bottleneck dolphins in US eastern seaboard
More than 1,000 migratory bottlenose dolphins have died from a measles-like virus along the US Eastern Seaboard in 2013 and the epidemic shows no sign of abating, a marine biologist said. The death toll exceeds the 740 dolphins killed during the last big outbreak of the then-unknown virus in 1987-88.
Gazprom confirms in has started production at Prirazlomnoye field on the Arctic shelf
Gazprom has started producing oil from the Prirazlomnoye field, which is the first Russian project for developing the Arctic shelf and the commencement of their large-scale activities aimed at creating a large hydrocarbon production center in the region, according to the company.
Three icebreakers to the rescue of Antarctica trapped Russia's 'Akademic Shokalskiy'
Seventy four people spent Christmas aboard a cruise ship that has become stuck in the ice in a remote region off the coast of Antarctica and rescue vessels are at least two days away, according to Australian maritime officials. Three icebreakers are sailing to the rescue.
