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6 posts tagged europe
Europe’s Danube River froze in February for the first time in 25 years. And now it’s melting.
A bitter cold snap that swept across Europe either completely or partially froze the river between Austria to the Black Sea. The 1,777 mile-long river flows through a total of nine countries and is a vital throughway for the continent.
Last week, temperatures began rising again from lows of minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit to upwards of 50 degrees.
The thaw is causing large chunks of ice to dislodge and float haphazardly along the river. In Serbia, the melting ice has already crushed hundreds of small boats.
Despite the thaw, many communities and countries continue to battle record temperatures and heavy snowfall.
A European ‘supervolcano’ is showing disturbing signs of life.
The Laacher See volcano has historically erupted once every 10,000-12,000 years; we’re now in year 12,900.
Located in Germany about 30 miles from Bonn, the volcano sits just 400 miles from London’s center. It began showing signs of life in 2010 with mild earthquake swarms that continue today. The quakes generally measure between 2.0 and 4.5 magnitude.
Additionally, the lake that sits above the volcano has seen carbon dioxide bubbles drifting to the top of the water – a known sign that a magma chamber underneath the mountain is beginning to evacuate.
There are scientists that say the supervolcano could blow at any time, and would conceivably cover the entire European continent in ash, disrupting life as we know it.
For context, Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano which disrupted air traffic and impacted the continent for days, is about 1/10 the size of Laacher See.
- More: Supervolcano showing signs of life, could destroy Europe
- Fresh volcanic activity beneath Laacher See worrying experts
- Is a supervolcano just 390 miles from London about to erupt?
- Opposing opinion from Wired: Laacher volcano is not about to blow
Thousands of dead herring washed ashore in Norway over New Years weekend.
Residents of Kvennes, in the northern part of the country, were left to deal with over 20 tons of dead fish.
Thankfully, temperatures well below freezing have lessened the potential odor from the carcasses - for now.
Scientists believe a predatory school of fish may have scared the herring towards the beach, leaving them stranded by low tide.
However, tests will be run to better analyze this and other theories, including disease and ocean contaminants.
Europe’s natural heritage is showing an alarming decline.
The European Red List assessed a considerable portion of Europe’s native life and found that a large portion now fall into a threatened category.
An assessment of 6,000 species revealed a ‘threatened’ status for:
- 44% of all freshwater mollusks
- 37% of freshwater fish
- 23% of amphibians
- 20% of a selection of terrestrial mollusks
- 19% of reptiles
- 15% of mammals
- 15% of dragonflies
- 13% of birds
- 11% of a selection of beetles
- 9% of butterflies
- 467 species of vascular plant species
European Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potocnik said: “The well-being of people in Europe and all over the world depends on goods and services that nature provides. If we don’t address the reasons behind this decline and act urgently to stop it, we could pay a very heavy price indeed.”
However, Potocnik also noted that the situation is addressable through conservation.
