Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Rain lashes the West, bringing flash flooding and travel chaos




Heavy rain brought flash flooding to communities still suffering from last summer’s disaster, disrupting road and rail travel around the county today. (Tuesday 15th Jan 2008)

More than 1.2in (30mm) of rain was recorded overnight in Wales and the West Midlands, with gale force winds causing the cargo ship Ice Prince to sink off the Dorset coast.

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Monday, January 14, 2008

Managing Flood Risk




Please click here to access resources published by the Geographical Association.

Antarctic is losing ice ‘nearly twice as fast as ten years ago’


The rate of annual ice loss in the Antarctic has increased by almost 80 billion tonnes in a decade, a study has found.

Measurements using satellite radar readings revealed that in parts of the continent the rate of loss has speeded up by 140 per cent since 1996. Global warming is thought to be among the most likely factors and the data provides one of the most detailed assessments yet of the changes.

The findings challenge suggestions from previous research that the overall quantities of ice and snow in Antarctica could increase over the next century because of greater snowfall. The total annual loss was estimated at 196 billion tonnes, almost 50 times as much as the 4 billion tonnes of drinking water supplied to Britain’s taps each year.

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