Aha! Yup.

"Lake forms in downtown Montreal after 118-year-old pipe bursts.

The water main, which dates back to 1891, broke early Friday morning, sending a fountain of water shooting into the air.

...City trucks moved snow into the area to build a dam to prevent the water from spreading farther, including into the nearby Ville-Marie Tunnel.
"What we are looking at is a dam made of snow," said Jacques-Alain Lavallée, who speaks for the borough of Ville-Marie.

...Forcillo said the recent rash of water main breaks in Montreal should be a reminder to the federal government of the pressing need to help municipalities repair aging infrastructure." LINK

So effing doomed.

"A huge 19 square mile (55 square km) ice shelf in Canada's northern Arctic broke away last month and the remaining shelves have shrunk at a "massive and disturbing" rate, the latest sign of accelerating climate change in the remote region, scientists said on Tuesday.
They said the Markham Ice Shelf, one of just five remaining ice shelves in the Canadian Arctic, split away from Ellesmere Island in early August. They also said two large chunks totaling 47 square miles had broken off the nearby Serson Ice Shelf, reducing it in size by 60 percent.
"The changes ... were massive and disturbing," said Warwick Vincent, director of the Centre for Northern Studies at Laval University in Quebec." LINK

Ah, Hurricane season.

Well, it looks like TS Christobal is going to drench Nova Scotia, but more eyes are on TS Dolly, who might be getting a promotion overnight, and who is headed to celerate in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Tropical Storm Dolly drenched a sparsely populated section of the Yucatan Peninsula on Monday and then plunged into the Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to grow into a hurricane and move toward the Texas-Mexico border." LINK

In advance of the storm, "Shell Oil Co began flying workers from platforms in the western Gulf of Mexico on Sunday ahead of Tropical Storm Dolly, but said no production was shut, according to a statement issued by the company on Monday.
Fellow energy giant Exxon Mobil said it was making preparations for heavy weather across its Gulf and South Texas operations.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Dolly, which is forecast to become a hurricane by Tuesday night, would likely miss major offshore production areas but could affect the three Corpus Christi, Texas, refineries with power outages and flooding if it makes landfall as forecast on the Texas coast sometime on Wednesday." LINK

Yup. O Canada!

"The Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean, between Mozambique and Madagascar, are a small nation of sparkling blue lagoons and picture-postcard beaches. But the country is politically unstable and a report published today says it is the world's most vulnerable country to the future impacts of global warming such as increased storms, rising sea levels and agricultural failure.
At the other end of the scale, Canada is the best place to move to if you want to be a climate change survivor in the decades ahead (although Britain is also a good place to be as a warming atmosphere takes hold).

The best-to-worst rankings are revealed in the first-ever climate change vulnerability index, produced by Maplecroft, a British consultancy which specialises in the mapping of risk. Its study, The Climate Change Risk Report, looks in great detail at global warming risks in 168 countries.
Africa is the most vulnerable region, and eight of the 10 most vulnerable countries are African, with the Comoros Islands followed by Somalia and Burundi in second and third places. Only five non-African countries are in the 20 most vulnerable. They are Yemen, Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan and Nepal.
As might be expected, developed nations score best. Canada is top, followed by Ireland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The United Kingdom is in 12th position, just behind the US. The surprise in the top 20 is Uruguay, which is listed ninth, and the only well-placed nation not to be in the club of countries which are rich, or Western (and usually both).

"Canada, on the other hand, is extremely well equipped to adapt to changes in climate. It scores well across all aspects of the index. This is because of the low pressure on natural resources resulting from a low population density and large land area, combined with high agricultural capacity, a healthy economy, few development and health challenges and excellent public institutions." LINK

Crikey. This sounds surprising and really unpleasant!

"Officials in a remote Baffin Island community said Saturday conditions appear to have stabilized after a flash flood looked as though it might wash the community away from underneath.

Heavy rain and unusually warm 13-degree temperatures produced rapid snow melt in the surrounding mountains and hills and led to a flood last weekend.
So much water blasted down the Duvall that it carved a 10-metre channel through the permafrost, right down to bedrock. It damaged both of the town's bridges sufficiently that a majority of the community's 1,600 residents were cut off from the water reservoir, sewage lagoon and garbage dump.
Fears of subterranean erosion were then raised as large cracks and sinkholes began to appear between the town and the river.
"More large cracks (were) appearing, more sinkholes,'' said Mongeau. "We had a telephone pole that literally, before our eyes, dropped 15 feet into the ground.''
With more rain and warm temperatures forecast, Mongeau is unsure whether the current stability will last.
"At this point they're stable; tomorrow, who knows,'' he said.

Private geo-tech companies should be on site shortly to use ground-penetrating radar to find out exactly what's stirring beneath their feet. Science professionals already studying the situation are dumbstruck by what's happening.
Although Mongeau stresses his opinion is not scientific, he believes the root cause of this occurrence, and many other in the eastern Arctic, is global warming. He said ice patterns have been shifting and locals are noticing the arrival of new species to the area, like capeline -- a small fish used to catch cod.
"Fishermen have been fishing these waters for 40 years and they've never seen one,'' he said. "We're pulling them out in large numbers right now.'' LINK

So. Much. Faster.

Wow.

"Rapid Arctic sea ice loss could triple the rate of warming over northern Alaska, Canada and Russia and trigger permafrost thawing that unleashes extremely potent greenhouse gases, according to a new study.

Our study suggests that, if sea ice continues to contract rapidly over the next several years, Arctic land warming and permafrost thaw are likely to accelerate," lead author David Lawrence of the National Center for Atmospheric Research said in a statement.

Arctic sea ice extent shrank to a record low last summer, more than 30 percent below average, while air temperatures over land in the western Arctic were unusually warm from August to October — reaching more than 4 degrees F above average.
Researchers used a climate model to study whether the two events were related, and found that when sea ice melts quickly, the rate of Arctic land warming is 3.5 times greater than the average 21st century warming rates predicted in climate models. "LINK

Arctic ice disappearing at an astonishing rate.

"An area of Arctic sea ice the size of Florida has melted away in just the last six days as melting at the top of the planet continues at a record rate.

2007 has already broken the record for the lowest amount of sea ice ever recorded, say scientists, smashing the old record set in 2005.

In just the last six days, researchers say 69,000 square miles of Arctic ice has disappeared, roughly the size of the Sunshine State.

Scientists say the rate of melting in 2007 has been unprecedented, and veteran ice researchers worry the Arctic is on track to be completely ice-free much earlier than previous research and climate models have suggested.

"If you had asked me a few years ago about how fast the Arctic would be ice free in summer, I would have said somewhere between about 2070 and the turn of the century," said scientist Mark Serreze, polar ice expert at the NSIDC. "My view has changed. I think that an ice-free Arctic as early as 2030 is not unreasonable." LINK

But hey, some fuckers in Vancouver are real excited about this. They had a conference. "Global warming means the Northwest Passage could become the new Panama Canal. It creates an awesome opportunity for Vancouver." LINK

Look, I am not anti-Vancouver. I just have a really hard time understanding how anyone on this green earth can call the end of the world as we know it an "awesome opportunity." That just blows my mind, breaks my heart, fills me with rage, and chills me to the fucking bones.

And again, the polar bears. I am so sorry.

Rush to produce corn ethanol leading to fertilizer shortages

"A Saskatoon commodity analyst says a large number of farmers planting corn for the ethanol market could put a strain on the fertilizer supply for Prairie farmers this spring.

Larry Weber says farmers are planting record amounts of corn, which has created an unprecedented demand for fertilizer.

That could result in a shortage in Western Canada, he said.

"It's going to be very difficult, if you haven't already purchased fertilizer yet, going forward, to buy fertilizer," Weber said." LINK

Mountain top removal mining to threaten bears, water quality in British Columbia and Montana

The Cline Mining Company in British Columbia is threatening a new mining project that would threaten a recovering population of grizzly bears, migratory trout, and water quality in the Flathead River, a river that runs into Montana, raising objections from environmentalists worldwide, and questions about cross-border pollution issues.
"“This mine, if approved, will impact grizzly-bear recovery in adjacent areas of the U.S. and will impact other sensitive species that we share along the U.S.-Canada border,” Servheen asserted in his comments."
LINK to article about the proposed mine
LINK to petition to British Columbia government to reject the mine proposal

Thanks to the amazing B for the tip!

Lyme disease spreads to Canada- climate change to blame.

This is awful news. Lyme is such a miserable disease. Sorry, Canada. That really stinks.

"Much of Canada is appropriate tick habitat, and so if there were to be global warming it seems very reasonable that we might see the ticks extend their range into a much larger part of Canada," said Ward.
Lyme disease is already the fastest-growing infectious disease in the U.S., and appeared in Nova Scotia for the first time just two years ago. It can be very painful and difficult to treat." LINK

Avalanche closes Canadian Highway

"Avalanche Closes TransCanada Highway In Rockies
Jan, 09 2007 - 5:50 PM
CALGARY/AM770CHQR - For the second time in a week, a massive avalanche has closed the TransCanada Highway in the rockies.This time, the road is shutdown between Revelstoke and Golden in B.C. because of the snowslide.No word yet, when that stretch will be cleared and re-opened.A long stretch of the No. 1 was closed last week because of bad weather and the avalanche risk."
LINK

No snow, no money? If you think global warming is too expensive to fight, how much will it cost to give up?

The animals are dying, but economically, people are hurting with this screwy weather. From winter sports to winter wear, the market isn't there.

"Ontario's largest ski resort has laid off 1,300 workers after closing down its ski operations in the middle of the winter season for the first time in the resort's 65-year history." LINK

"At the height of a typical season, about 1,200 people work on Liberty Mountain [Pennsylvania]. This year, the resort isn't hiring the normal cadre of part-time and seasonal workers, and even the 60 regular employees aren't putting in a full week." LINK

" Retailers are calling it the Coat Crisis of 2006. They are even starting to grumble about the first "global warming Christmas." LINK

""It's not just this industry," said Joe Gagne, owner of Roosevelt Trail Nursery and Garden Center. "It's incredible how much the economy in Maine is based on Mother Nature and snow. But a season with little snow can be difficult on small businesses. Gagne employs 11 people and has about nine trucks used for plowing as well as delivering goods. He said there are a lot of overhead costs." LINK

"William Strange, a professor with the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and an expert in urban economics, said the effects of climate change on municipal budgets have been largely overlooked.
"It's a very interesting issue and I don't know how local governments would budget for that," he added." LINK

“The top of the world is melting right in front of my very eyes,”

“The top of the world is melting right in front of my very eyes,” wrote David de Rothschild of the Top of the World Expedition."
"Two more Arctic species – the ivory gull and the Atlantic walrus – are a step closer to extinction, reported the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada."
"Resolute Bays’s climate change pundit and weather station operator, Wayne Davidson, described High Arctic temperatures, about 12 C above normal, as “surreal.” "
GREAT ARTICLE. LINK
And hey, someone finally figured out how to sell air conditioners to Inuits- melt the world! Now, that's a marketing strategy that's hard to beat.

More disruption in the animal world, this time in Canada.

"The balmy weather has tricked many members of the wildlife community into altering their usual migration schedules, sleeping habits and feeding and breeding patterns.
Wildlife biologists, ornithologists and zoologists working in the Montreal area are concerned the survival of some of these animals could be threatened in coming months.
Some animal anarchy reported in the area includes:
Canada geese, which usually migrate south, are staying put. An annual Montreal Christmas bird count found an all-time high number of the waterfowl - 2,832 - on the open water of the St. Lawrence River. The previous record was 1,185 Canada geese, counted in 2001.
Raccoons and skunks are forgoing their short but important hibernation period and burning up stored fat that they will need in the event of a deep freeze.
Eastern grey squirrels, Montreal's most common variety, are feeding instead of nesting - and getting fatter. At the same time, the fox squirrel, a bigger, reddish-brown animal with a more southerly range, has been moving into this region.
Opossums, marsupials usually associated with the U.S. South, are invading southern Quebec.
"There's a pile of stuff going on," said Lynn Miller, a wildlife biologist at Le Nichoir, a bird refuge in Hudson. "There will be winners and losers."
LINK

Dr. Master's weather blog

is usually awesome, and I love to read what he has to say. Today he scared the hell out of me, though. I'll put a couple of quotes, but seriously, his blog is a joy to read- clear, not-too-technical writing about weather from a seriously respected meteorologist. The forums there can be fun, but watch out for the nutjobs- cyclonebuster, I'm talking about you. Actually, unless you have epic patience, avoid the forums, but go for Dr. Master's blog. Quotes in bold.

The lack of snow across the entire Northern Hemisphere has been remarkable both in its areal coverage and depth, thanks to December temperatures 5-20 degrees F above normal. Minneapolis, Minnesota--which normally receives over 18 inches of snow by this time of year--has had a paltry one inch of snow so far this winter.

When my nephew Cody eagerly unwrapped his new snow board this Christmas and asked me when he might get a chance to use it, I told him, "What are you thinking? This is Michigan in the 21st century! There's not going to be any more snow." I exaggerate slightly, but I don't recommend that anyone invest in the winter sports equipment industry this year. The latest 2-week forecast from the GFS model shows no end in sight for the warm conditions in North America.

Now, let's talk about sea ice in the Arctic. The Arctic Ice Cap has shrunk by about 20% since 1979, and at the end of November this year, the amount of sea ice in the Arctic was about 2 million square kilometers less than had even been seen in any previous November. December has also seen the lowest sea ice coverage for any December on record. All this exposed water provides a huge source of heat and moisture in the Arctic that retards the formation of the usual cold air masses over the adjacent regions of Canada and Siberia. It's impossible to know how much of an effect this has without doing some detailed model studies, but I think the record low sea ice in the Arctic is probably a significant contributor to this winter's record warmth. The Arctic Ice Cap is expected to continue to decline, due to human-caused global warming, according to the 2004 study by 300 scientists, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA). Many of us who are used to the reality of a white Christmas will find it only a dream in the coming years. I expect that the unnaturally warm winters we've experienced the past two years in the U.S. will become the norm ten years from now--and may already be the new norm.

Massive iceshelf breaks off in Canada's Arctic

Hm. This shelf actually broke off last August, but in an area so remote that it took seismic indicators and satellites to let researchers know what the heck happened.
Very scary stuff this, what with the slowdown of the Gulf Stream waters already. Ice Age anyone? Thermohaline current disruption.
"They say the ice shelf collapse is the biggest in Canada in 30 years and is indicative of the transformation underway on Ellesmere, Canada's most northern landmass.
"We're seeing incredible changes," said Mr. Vincent, whose group is studying the island's disappearing ice shelves and their unique ecosystems."
LINK