Rusted Sky

Afghanistan: Reinforcing Failure

February 15, 2008: The cold weather in western Afghanistan has abated. The snow and low temperatures were the worst in decades. Over 300,000 cattle died, along with over a thousand people. In addition, several thousand suffered cold related injuries (particularly lost limbs from frost bite). The cold has also shut down the usual Taliban activities, which have largely shifted across the border to Pakistan, where the Taliban is fighting for its very survival against an enraged government and population.

Recent cold snap helping Arctic sea ice, scientists find

There's an upside to the extreme cold temperatures northern Canadians have endured in the last few weeks: scientists say it's been helping winter sea ice grow across the Arctic, where the ice shrank to record-low levels last year.

Temperatures have stayed well in the -30s C and -40s C range since late January throughout the North, with the mercury dipping past -50 C in some areas.

Satellite images are showing that the cold spell is helping the sea ice expand in coverage by about 2 million square kilometres, compared to the average winter coverage in the previous three years.

Global WARMING!!!

Heh.

J.