Eideard

A young grizzly bear hitches a ride on his mum’s back in a bid to prevent his paws getting cold as his mum hunts for food in the freezing snow. Steve Hinch photographed the pair from a safe distance in the Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

A lion cub plays with a snowball at the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia.

Cute always wins.

Click on the photo for the series

Six goldfinch compete for the seeds on five branches. One goldfinch missed out on a meal. The unlucky bird was sixth on the scene with only five perches available on a thistle bush. Photographer Peter Svoboda captured the scene in the Ukraine.

Lovely.

UPI/Gary C. Caskey

A worker clears snow from a single row of seats hours before the Pittsburgh Steelers-Denver Broncos AFC Wild Card round at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 8, 2012 in Denver.

Lovely composition.

WRC is the closest of all world class motorsport competition to the genuine road environment, though conditions vary considerably across the 13 race, five continent series from last weekend’s first round in Sweden where blizzards and -28ºC temperatures necessitated tungsten-tipped studded Michelin tyres, through to the gravel and rocks and 40ºC temperatures the cars will encounter a fortnight from now in Mexico.

New “environmentally aware” regulations were introduced this year based around 1600cc turbocharged, 4WD cars, and Ford’s all-new Fiesta RS made a dream debut with a 1-2-3 finish…

RTTFA for all the details – and lots of photos. Most countries show at least delayed coverage of each event. VersusTV is the likely source here in the USA.

During the Northern Hemisphere winter of 2010–2011, unusually cold temperatures and heavy snowstorms plagued North America and Europe, while conditions were unusually warm farther north. Now the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has reported that Arctic sea ice was at its lowest extent ever recorded for January (since satellite records began).

This image shows the average Arctic sea ice concentration for January 2011, based on observations from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite. Blue indicates open water; white indicates high sea ice concentrations; and turquoise indicates loosely packed sea ice. The yellow line shows the average sea ice extent for January from 1979 through 2000…

NSIDC offered two possible explanations. One reason is the Arctic Oscillation (AO), a seesaw pattern of differences in atmospheric pressure. In “positive” mode, the AO includes high pressure over the mid-latitudes and low pressure over the Arctic, setting up wind patterns that trap cold air in the far North. In “negative” mode, air pressure isn’t quite as low over the Arctic and isn’t quite as high over the mid-latitudes. This enables cold air to creep south and relatively warm air to move north.

The AO was in negative mode in December 2010 and January 2011, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). At mid-latitudes, the negative mode resulted in extremely cold temperatures and heavy snow in Europe and North America. At the same time, warm air over the Arctic impeded sea ice growth. NOAA has forecast that the AO should return to positive mode in February 2011, but for how long was unclear.

Another factor in the low Arctic sea ice extent, NSIDC explained, could be that the areas of open ocean were still releasing heat to the atmosphere. Due to its bright appearance, sea ice reflects most of the Sun’s light and heat back into space. Dark ocean water, by contrast, absorbs most of that energy and reinforces the melting process.

Both conditions are comparatively short-term in affecting climate. Not that reality means much to congenital weather whiners. Those accustomed to searching for every possible rationale to support positive cashflow for fossil fuel profiteers will steer this bit of data to whatever is this month’s Chamber of Commerce talking point.

It does allow for better understanding for folks interested in climate, meteorology and science.

High temperature, here in La Cieneguilla, New Mexico, was 3ºF. Wind chill hit -19ºF.

It was then that I carried you… to jail.

[Dalton, Ga] Officers responded to a burglar alarm going off at a liquor store around 4 a.m. Monday. The glass in the front door had been smashed in.

Frazier said snow had been falling for about four hours before the burglary. Officers found fresh footprints in the snow and followed them to the door of a nearby apartment.

The officers knocked on the door and found two suspects inside. They arrested Sebastian Love and Adrian Estrada, both 19, after finding a backpack with five bottles of the missing vodka in the apartment.

Har!

Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday that some city snow plows will be fitted with global positioning systems in a pilot program meant to better track sanitation vehicles as officials brace for a winter storm.

“It gives us the ability to check on the location and progress of our snow plows,” Bloomberg told reporters, saying that the devices will be added to some trucks in New York’s Brooklyn and Queens boroughs where heavy snowfall last month left many residents snowbound.

The city will also deploy scout teams to transmit video images of neighborhoods back to City Hall during clean-up efforts, the mayor said…

The heavy slow hampered morning commuters, delayed first responders and even prevented aircraft service personnel from reaching airports where 29 international flights were stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours, officials said.

Though it may get in the way of goof-off time, the fact remains that decent logistics software combined with rather inexpensive GPS locators enables more efficient traffic management and even the potential of cost reduction while getting a better job done.

The only surprise is why hasn’t this been done earlier? Cab companies figured this out a long time ago.

Steam locomotive, number 45212, built in 1934

Rail companies have admitted that a fault in the the computer software on their modern electric trains leaves them unable to operate in snowy and icy conditions.

When the temperature plummets and the snows start to fall which do you turn to – a traditional steam train or its multi-million pound modern replacement?

Yesterday the steam locomotive, No: 45212, built in 1934, barrelled through the North Yorkshire countryside between Grosmont and Pickering, while hundreds of services on the country’s modern electric network fell victim to the weather.

Some train operating companies last night admitted that the computer software on their modern electric trains was not able to cope with the snowy and icy conditions…

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that a safety feature found in some modern computerised trains causes them to shut down in freezing conditions.

Network Rail has admitted that the software contributed to the chaos which left thousands stranded in freezing conditions last week.

Experts said the problem affects a number of trains, including the Bombardier Electrostar, which operates on the “third rail” electric railway lines common in the south east.

The Electrostar, which comprises the bulk of southern and Southeastern’s rolling stock, includes a safety system which can shut down the train when there is ice on the third rail to protect the train against surges.

Last week, hundreds of commuters had to sleep on trains overnight as drivers made several attempts to reboot the trains’ systems…

Roger Ford, the technology editor of Modern Railways magazine, said: “Some people will find it a little ironic that over the past week older trains seem to have coped better with the extreme conditions.

“The fact that older trains are less clever and complicated than these modern sophisticated trains has definitely worked in their favour as it makes them less sensitive.”

Garbage in = garbage out.