4th January - Today's News: Bush Fires & Near Record Heat in Australia

Homes lost in Tasmania fires as Australia's south swelters with temperatures up to 48c in South Australia and in Victoria, State swelters as Melbourne tops 40c and heatwave heralds hot, dry summer.

In contrast, Delhi breaks 44-year record as maximum temperature plunges below 10c

 

No surprise that 2012 was UK's second wettest year on record - although it was only the 3rd wettest since 2007 in Evesham, and national records only go back to 1910.   

In Michigan, while temperatures hit record highs, lake levels at record lows

Idaho Power uses cloud seeding to enhance winter snowpack

Cyclone lashes Reunion in the Indian Ocean

Snowstorms delay 299 train services in Hokkaido

El Nino weather pattern not linked to climate change, researchers believe

Weather systems seek Victor, Volker or Vincent - I hadn't realised that Berlin University sold the right to name storms, but it seems to be a commercial success.  I don't think I'll be bidding to have a storm named Essan any time soon though!

Should there be laws of geo-engineering to mitigate global warming?   Perhaps the first which should be the law of unintended consequences .....

First meteorite linked to Martian crust

And astronomers estimate that at least 100 billion planets populate the galaxy.   Chances are, some have life as we know it on them, though the majority will not.  And some will have life very different to anything we can envisgage.   And there are, of course, millions of other galaxies out there .....