2018 February 26 « nuclear-news

Exceptional warmth in the Arctic

It will be warmer at the North Pole next week than much of Europe, as sea ice melts, Mashable, BY ANDREW FREEDMAN 26 Feb 18 In what seems to be becoming an annual occurrence, temperatures at the North Pole are about to reach or possibly exceed the freezing point this week as the North Atlantic and the North Pacific Oceans inject unusually mild air into the Arctic.

Not coincidentally, Arctic sea ice is at record low levels, with a freak disappearance of ice off the western coast of Alaska, between Alaska and Russia. This vanishing of sea ice in the Bering Sea is exposing coastal communities in Alaska to storm surge flooding from typically fierce winter storms, particularly Little Diomede Island. ……..

In Europe, winds known as “The Beast from the East” will transport frigid temperatures from Russia and Scandinavia to the west, into Germany, France, and the UK, along with potential snowfall.

In part, this is because of a split in the polar vortex — that much hyped circulation of air at upper levels of the atmosphere that keeps the coldest air penned in across the Far North. One “sister vortex” has set up across Canada and the Western U.S., with another established in Eurasia. Many of these areas are colder than the Arctic is right now.

Consider some of these startling statistics. Arctic sea ice is at its lowest observed level since the satellite era began in 1979. The magnitude and pace of the sea ice decline observed during the 21st century, along with the warming of the ocean surface throughout the region, has been shown to be unprecedented in the last 1,500 years.

In the Bering Sea in particular, sea ice has been at record low levels for much of the fall and winter. As if spooked by a ghost, much of the ice that had been covering the region vanished during February, a time when it would normally be at its peak extent and thickness.

Temperatures in parts of the Arctic — including the North Pole — could rise to 45 degrees Fahrenheit above average this week. Already, the northernmost land-based weather station in Greenland, known as Cape Morris Jesup, rose above the freezing mark of 32 degrees Fahrenheit, or 0 degrees Celsius, five times since Feb. 16. That weather station is just about 400 miles from the North Pole.

Previously, temperatures had only exceeded the freezing point at this weather station for brief periods during February in 2011 and 2017. So far this February, temperatures exceeded 32 degrees Fahrenheit on Feb. 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21, a warm streak that is incredibly rare.

At the same time as the Arctic heats up (relatively speaking), temperatures will plunge to about 35 degrees Fahrenheit below average across nearly all of Europe, from Moscow to London. ………

study published in Nature about a 2015 sudden polar warming event found that these events are growing more intense, meaning that the temperature extremes are getting more extreme, especially when compared to the overall rate of Arctic warming.

Scientists studying the Arctic climate have sounded the loudest alarms about how quickly humans are altering the climate. This winter, coupled with some of the extreme warming events during the past few winter seasons, is driving that point home even further. https://mashable.com/2018/02/22/north-pole-temperatures-above-freezing-europe-deep-freeze/#zAsltrHx8Oq3

February 26, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ARCTIC, climate change | Leave a comment

Removal of spent fuel from Fukui’s defunct Fugen reactor delayed by nine years

KYODO, JAPAN TIMES, FEB 26, 2018 FUKUI – The transfer of spent nuclear fuel from the Fugen converter reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, will be postponed for nine years until a new reprocessing facility can be chosen, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency said Monday…….https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/26/national/removal-spent-fuel-fukuis-defunct-fugen-reactor-delayed-nine-years/#.WpR4vx1ubG

February 26, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decommission reactor, Japan | Leave a comment

5.7-magnitude quake strikes off Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, no tsunami warning issued

Editor: yan TOKYO, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 struck off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan’s northeast at 1:28 a.m. local time on Monday, the weather agency here said.

While a wide swathe of Japan’s eastern seaboard felt the jolt, the offshore temblor did not trigger a tsunami and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has said there is no risk of a tsunami posed by the quake…….http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/26/c_136999478.htm

February 26, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

The French approach to community engagement… — Cumbria Trust

Hundreds of French police swooped in at dawn to evict about 15 protesters living in treehouses at a site that is due to be developed to store nuclear waste deep under the earth. Bulldozers accompanied hundreds of gendarmes in body armour as they removed the men and women who have been occupying a zone in […]

via The French approach to community engagement… — Cumbria Trust

February 26, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment