New evidence suggests that climate change has led to changes in climate extremes such as heat waves, record high temperatures and, in many regions, heavy 'precipitation' in the past half century.

This is according to a major new report by the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), which was issued on Wednesday.

It says that climate extremes, or even a series of 'non-extreme' events, in combination with 'social vulnerabilities' and exposure to risks can produce climate-related disasters.

The IPCC report says that while some extreme weather and climate events lead to disasters, others do not.

One of Japan's crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and much less water to cool it than officials had estimated, according to an internal examination that renews doubts about the plant's stability.

A tool equipped with a tiny video camera, a thermometer, a dosimeter and a water gauge was used to assess damage inside the containment chamber of Fukushima Daiichi plant's number 2 reactor for the second time since the tsunami swept into the complex more than a year ago.

The data collected on Tuesday showed the damage from the disaster is so severe that the plant operator will have to develop special equipment and technology to tolerate the harsh environment and decommission the plant. The process is expected to last decades.

The other two reactors that had meltdowns could be in even worse shape. The number 2 reactor is the only one officials have been able to closely examine so far.

...The probe also found that the containment vessel, a beaker-shaped container enclosing the core, had cooling water up to only 60 centimeters from the bottom, far below the 10 metres estimated when the government declared the plant stable in December.

Wir werden wahrscheinlich die Verfassung Venedigs nachbilden und aus den schlechten Erfahrungen Venedigs vorbeugend profitieren.

Die Jugend (auch die Armen) bekommt englische Spiele: Kricket, Tennis usw., Lyzeen im Gebirge.

Die Hohenpriester werden imposanten Ornat haben; unsere Kürassiere gelbe Hosen, weißsen Waffenrock. Offiziere silbernen Küraß

Moisis Auszug verhält sich dazu, wie ein Fastnachtssingspiel von Hans Sachs zu einer Wagnerschen Oper.

I gots the blues.

Thinking of moving to Yellowknife Canada so I can be eaten by a polar bear before they go extinct.

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

This is a pretty good indication of how our energy debate in America is driven by oil, gas, and coal public relations bullshit not reality.

While our government has been licking around the edges of alternative energy and politely nodding when oil company execs tell us it's not cost competitive yet, Germany has jumped into it in a big way.
The result?

The peak price of electricity over the course of a day dropped 40%, and 25% of their gas generators may be closed.

Romney said he has some connections to Wisconsin.
"One of most humorous I think relates to my father. You may remember my father, George Romney, was president of an automobile company called American Motors ...  They had a factory in Michigan, and they had a factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and another one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin," said Romney. "And as the president of the company he decided to close the factory in Michigan and move all the production to Wisconsin. Now later he decided to run for governor of Michigan and so you can imagine that having closed the factory and moved all the production to Wisconsin was a very sensitive issue to him, for his campaign."

Romney said he recalled a parade in which the school band marching with his father's campaign only knew the Wisconsin fight song, not the Michigan song.

"So every time they would start playing `On Wisconsin, on Wisconsin,' my dad's political people would jump up and down and try to get them to stop, because they didn't want people in Michigan to be reminded that my dad had moved production to Wisconsin," said Romney, laughing.

A study carried out by the UKRC for the RSC about the PhD experience for chemists reveals some fairly unattractive facts that should give heads of chemistry departments serious pause for thought. In particular it can be seen from the figure reproduced here just how precipitous is the fall off in women who intend to continue in research during the 3 years of their PhD, with the figure approximately halving.

Sounds all too familiar to me!

Ad astra per aspera

This government continues to astound. Today, they have managed the impossible: to cause petrol shortages without any actual strike.

The height of incompetence some might argue - with some confidence. And, naturally, this is perfect diversion from the issue of the NHS, granny-tax and cash-for-access. But here comes another one of my silly questions.

Last quarter's growth figure has just been downgraded by the Office of Budget Responsibility to -0.3%. The OBR said they "still expect the economy to avoid a technical recession with positive growth in the first quarter of 2012, although another fall cannot be ruled out given the volatility of quarterly output estimates." Total growth for 2012 is expected to be a shaky 0.8%, so the first quarter's figure is estimated to be minuscule.

Here you can buy everything you need at Malmo's first supermarket - organic style. Vegetables, fruit, fresh fish or meat, as well as frozen products. And if your bag is too heavy to manage, then you can borrow one of the shop's transport bikes and cycle to the hotel with your food. Travel from London Stansted and Edinburgh to Malmö with Ryanair via Malmö Airport - only 30 minutes from the city centre.