Moscow Enjoying Warmest January in Recorded History. (from ATSNN), page 1

Moscow is at this moment enjoying the warmest January since weather monitoring was done in the country in 1879. So far the warm spell has lasted 10 days and it is predicted that it will last at least until today Saturday and there is a small chance of snow for Sunday. The same storm that brought flooding and gale-force winds to several parts in Europe is responsible for the warmest January in Moscow. The winter is so warm that one bear at the Moscow zoo has awaken from hybernation two months earlier, and another has not hybernated at all.

www.themoscowtimes.com
This winter is so warm that a bear in St. Petersburg Zoo has woken from her hibernation two months early, while another has not gone to sleep at all, Interfax reported Wednesday. A major hockey match was postponed in St. Petersburg on Tuesday because the rink melted, Sovietsky Sport reported.

In Moscow, several ice sculpture exhibitions have melted, including the Olimpiiskaya Simfoniya on Vasilievsky Spusk that opened Jan. 5 to tout Moscow's bid to host the 2012 Olympics.

Similar warm spells occur every five to seven years, the Federal Weather Monitoring Center said Tuesday.

Pozdnyakova said the warmth this year may be an effect of global warming. "Climatic changes chiefly affect winters," she said.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Most people are obviously aware that there is a problem going on, that problem is climate change, and everyday we see more signs that these changes are upon us. We can only prepare to the extend that everyone of us can afford, and wait to see what the not so distant future will bring. But can we really afford to wait for another disaster?

Related News Links:

Global Warming - Climate

Union of Concerned Scientists- Global warming is real and underway

The Discovery of Global Warming

[edit on 15-1-2005 by Muaddib]