(CNN) -- Is the record-shattering heatwave that has been blamed for the death of thousands in Russia somehow related to the devastating flooding in Pakistan?
Are these disasters happening more frequently -- and are they a result of global warming?
Sometimes these connections can clearly be observed and understood. At other times they are more complex, taking place across time scales much longer than we are able to observe.
Muscovites will long remember the summer of 2010 as the hottest and most extreme weather summer in the city's long history. The all-time temperature record was set, and re-set, five different times during a two-week span from late July to early August. In that period the temperature climbed above 30 degrees Celsius (87 degrees Fahrenheit) for 29 consecutive days (and still counting).
NASA scientists have figured out what temporarily knocked out the X-ray detector on the agency's Swift space observatory earlier this summer: the strongest blast of X-rays ever recorded from beyond the Milky Way slammed into Swift unexpectedly, overwhelming the detector and puzzling mission handlers for a moment. But good luck sending a bill to the culprit for time lost; the X-rays were spawned 5 billion years ago during the violent explosion of a massive star as it turned into a black hole.
The gamma ray burst that struck on June 21 was the brightest light source ever recorded in X-ray wavelengths at that kind of distance, though in optical and ultraviolet wavelengths it was more or less ordinary. It was bright enough that the software that NASA uses to analyze the data from Swift simply shut down, as it was unable to keep up with the overwhelming number of photons bombarding the sensor. One researcher who helped write the software likened the burst to trying to measure the flow rate of a tsunami with a rain gauge and a bucket.
The software did resume capturing data shortly thereafter, recording the evolution of the burst and recovering the data that Swift detected during the software shutdown. From that, they were able to piece together a numerical picture of the intergalactic attack: 143,000 X-ray photons per second during peak brightness. By comparison, the brightest ongoing X-ray source in the sky is 500,000 times closer to us yet only sends 10,000 photons per second our way.
Dubbed GRB 100621A for those keeping score at home, the gamma ray burst was 5 times larger than the brightest one previously seen, and until it happened many thought such a bright burst wasn't likely or even possible.
Come 2012 there wouldn't be a store where you can pick up food for your family. If you want to survive your going to need to do what our ancestors did and that is hunt for your meal.
Its alot of work, but it is how you will need to survive.
So here we have a soldier, a general if you will who because of his feelings on the obama administration is basically told either your fired or you can resign.
This is a man who has had bullets rip by his head for this country, and fought to the brim for FREEDOM OF SPEECH. This is the kind of stuff that allows people to have their skewed views on the US goverment.
If you asked him why he felt this way you get an intelligent debate from a guy whos on the front lines who when he hears, no more troops looks around at his wounded and overworked and goes WTF. I mean honestly I dont feel like we should be in iraq, but we WENT THERE, we ENGAGED, we have to pull out effectively.
The fact this guy is let go because of his opinion, makes me wonder, are we really free? Can we truly feel free to speak our minds?
In 2012 you are not going to be able to go down to your local supermarket and grab a cut of beef you will have to do it yourself.
'I'm not a killer, I'm a butcher,' says Joshua Applestone as he prepares to sever the leg from a 90-pound half-pig flayed and displayed on a white tablecloth in the courtyard of a New York culinary cornerstone, the James Beard House. 'The slaughterhouse is a separate operation.' Applestone demonstrates hog-hacking during a Wusthof knife product launch on June 16, cleaving Boston butts from spare ribs in front of a packed house of chefs, knife makers, apprentice butchers, prep cooks, journalists and one lucky circling fly.
A butcher for six years at Fleisher's Meats in Kingston, N.Y.—and a vegan before that—Applestone carves the pork using only an 12-inch Wusthof Classic chef's knife and a cleaver. As he delves into the finer points of DIY dismemberment, outlined below, Applestone makes one final Wusthof whack to the bone. The pig's leg is nearly free, and Applestone slides the carcass to the edge of the table. He works the leg back and forth in a process quite similar to prying apart a pair of 2 x 4s held together by one last stubborn nail, except this time he's separating a sirloin tip with a possible future as prosciutto. 'We've been doing calcium counts on the animals lately. We want healthy, strong animals. If the bones break too easily, that's bad,' he says. The femur cracks free from the hip socket with the unmistakable sound of skeletal fracture, a snap loud enough to signal that this pig was at no risk for osteoporosis. As the breaking bone echoes across the crowded courtyard, Applestone says, possibly to himself, 'God, I love that sound.'
1. Pigs have seams
'This is the part nobody sees,' Applestone says as he separates the pig's belly from the loin. 'You can visit an organic farm, you can go apple-picking, do a tasting at a vineyard—but butchers work behind the scenes. Here,' he says, finishing a clean slice, 'we have before us a boneless belly, perfect for making bacon.' It's rare these days to butcher whole animals, but Applestone is amazed that the industry has moved away from the practice. 'It's so easy, and so much fun,' he says. (Applestone teaches comprehensive eight-week training courses at Fleisher's, for $10,000, and he's booked into 2011.) The key to making effortless cuts is to work the blade between natural clefts within the animal's musculature—a sweet spot behind the fifth rib, for instance. Applestone slices a hunk of hog in half and turns the freshly cut faces toward the audience, revealing (in beef terms) a perfect raw ribeye side by side against a strip. He points the knife toward the marbled white ribbons running through each cut, and says, 'See that difference in the intramuscular fat? That's just the way they're built.'
2. Knives off the table
'We really blow through the animals,' Applestone says. His butchers cut carcass on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In races, they've determined the top chop speed to be about 37 to 44 seconds per ounce. To work safely at that pace, all blades must be off the table, ideally kept in an aluminum-lined scabbard, which Applestone wears askew on his hip like a tool belt. 'If you're just starting off, you don't need a scabbard,' Applestone says, 'Though the swashbuckling aspect of it is great fun.' He also wears an apron with a metal chest plate, an accessory he determined necessary after accidentally stabbing himself in the chest. His reaction at the time? 'Don't call my wife.'
3. Match the blade to the butchery
'The knives that you use to chop vegetables won't work for raw meat,' Applestone says. 'To have all your bases covered, you need a 5-inch stiff boning knife, a 7-inch stiff boning knife and a 12-inch butcher knife. Start with a stiff knife and then go on to something more flexible as your skills increase.' Applestone actually forgot his boning knife for the trip down from Kingston on June 16th, and couldn't find a quick replacement from local restaurant supply houses. Tapping into what he calls 'the fraternity of butchers,' he ended up borrowing what passes for a boning knife at an unnamed elite Manhattan restaurant: A hacksaw with a dull blade. 'It just shows you how far this industry has fallen,' he says, sawing with visible labor through spare ribs. 'There used to be a butcher on every corner.' A Wusthof representative pointed out that the company makes well-regarded stiff boning knives in the 5- and 7-inch variety.
4. Don't get slick
'Grip your knife like someone is trying to take it away from you—that's how tight your grip should be,' Applestone says. 'I'm a wood-handle kind of guy, but for first-time butchers, I always suggest plastic handles. They're easier to grip and to clean.' He advises that you have towels on hand to wipe your hands, because the handle will get slippery. It's possible to slide your hand from the handle out into the blade area, Applestone says. The resulting laceration, or any cut sustained while butchering, should be rinsed immediately in running water and treated with an antibiotic salve. 'We like using oregano oil or tea-tree oil,' Applestone says. 'Do not attempt home butchering when you've come home from a 10-hour workday,' he says. 'Do it on a weekend when you have time and are rested.'
'You'll need a good honing or sharpening steel,' Applestone says. 'Watch a few knife-sharpening videos online. It's a physical thing—hard to describe, much easier to watch.' Have knives professionally sharpened whenever they seem to be dragging or not holding an edge. 'You may cut yourself,' he says, 'and a slice from a sharp knife is much preferable to a jagged rip from a dull one.'
As for general workplace safety, it's a good idea to wedge a damp rag under the cutting board to hold it steady. 'Know where your kids are,' Applestone says. 'Short ones, in particular, are eye-level with the knife tip.' When not in use, store knives in a drawer that's either child-proofed or out-of-reach. On personal safety: 'Always know where your opposite hand is. It seems obvious, but this is the way most bad cuts happen.'
A few weeks ago, the River Greta was in full flow as Britain recovered from the long, cold and snowy winter.
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But today, the torrent has become a trickle - with children able to walk along the Greta's river bed in a stunning corner of Teesdale, County Durham.
The waterway, a tributary to the River Tees, rises in the Pennine Hills and flows over a bed of porous limestone. During dry spells, the Greta disappears below the ground, reducing the bed to a pile of stones.
Last week United Utilities issued drought warnings across the North West after six of the driest consecutive months in 70 years.
Millions of people could have hosepipe warnings within weeks unless the rains return.
Sally Thornton, 51, of Bowes, County Durham said: 'I walk by the river most days with my dog and it is usually high and the water runs very fast. In the past I've seen it flood, but now the river has dried up very suddenly, it's amazing.
'Kids are having fun playing in it for now, but I wonder if we'll be having a hosepipe ban this summer.'
According to the government Centre for Hydrology and Ecology, north west England and Wales have had only sparse rainfall since December.
Reservoirs, lakes and rivers across the North West are at their lowest for mid June since the 1960s.
Thirlmere, in the Lake District, is only half full, while Haweswater is 30 per cent below capacity. Levels in Coniston and other lakes are dropping.
The threat of a drought in the North West follows three exceptionally wet summers. Last November, Cockermouth in Cumbria saw some of the worst floods in a century.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: 'In North West England, without substantial rainfall, there is a risk of drought this summer that could impact on both the environment and water supplies.
'In Wales, South West and central England, there is also a risk to the environment if below average rainfall continues and there is a return to hot, dry conditions.
'For the rest of England, the risk of drought remains low, but this could change if the weather remains dry.'
The sunshine enjoyed by much of England and Wales over the last few days will continue until the weekend for much of the country, according to the Met Office.
Like a green ribbon snaking its way out into space this stunning image shows the famous Southern Lights from a rather unusual angle - above.
Taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), this picture shows the aurora australis against the backdrop of Earth's horizon.
These ever-shifting displays are most visible near the North (aurora borealis) and South (aurora australis) Poles.
The ISS was over the Southern Indian Ocean at an altitude of 350 km, with the astronauts looking towards Antarctica and the South Pole.
Dense cloud cover is dimly visible below the aurora. The curvature of the Earth’s horizon can be clearly seen as well as the faint blue line of the upper atmosphere.
The most commonly observed colour of aurora is green, caused by photons (light) emitted by excited oxygen atoms at wavelengths centered at 0.558 micrometers, or millionths of a metre.
Visible light is reflected from healthy (green) plant leaves at approximately the same wavelength.
Red aurora are generated by light emitted at a longer wavelength (0.630 micrometers), and other colours such as blue and purple are also sometimes observed.
While aurora are generally only visible close to the poles, severe magnetic storms impacting the Earth’s magnetic field can shift them towards the equator.
The Solstice event for June 2010 (June 21 at 4:28 am Pacific) is a truly remarkable celestial alignment. The Sun opposes Pluto, and Saturn opposes the conjoining Jupiter and Uranus. Amazingly these two oppositions are square to each other forming a Grand Square (or Grand Cross). In many ways, this alignment is the strongest celestial event we have witnessed in years.
Exactly five days after the Solstice, there will be a Lunar Eclipse conjuncting the Galactic Center and Pluto (Jun 26, 4:30 am Pacific). The eclipse will focus the energy of these events upon the the transmutational energy of the Source. Both events will be strong opportunities for prayer, ceremony, and focusing our attention and intention for the next steps we take on our journey together.
[Updated at 9:41 a.m.] Government fire spokesman Eric Neitzel told CNN affiliate KPHO that overnight higher humidity and lower temperatures allowed firefighters to 'make some good progress on the line' and protect structures.
KTVK's website www.azfamily.com says authorities shut down part of Highway 89 Sunday because of visibility issues caused by the fire, as the Schultz Fire was producing a huge plume of smoke that could be seen for miles. But by Monday morning, Neitzel told KPHO the cooperative overnight weather, including calmer winds, were making the smoke '[lay] down...so you don't see the big tower of smoke.'
[Posted at 7:45 a.m.] A wildfire raging near Flagstaff, Arizona, has grown to more than 5,000 acres, shutting down part of U.S. Route 89, and it is wholly uncontained, according to the Coconino County website.
The Schultz Fire ignited late Sunday morning. It has caused the Coconino County Sheriff's office to evacuate at least 748 properties, including an animal shelter and the Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments. The Sheriff's office is recommending that nearby residents put together evacuation kits.
The blaze spread so quickly, it caught some locals off guard.
'It's something that unless you've lived through it, I don't think you can imagine,' evacuee Patti Vorhees told CNN affiliate KTVK as she packed up her pets and left. 'You literally take your prescriptions, your animals and the clothes on your back.'
The Red Cross has set up a shelter at Mt. Elden Middle School in Flagstaff.
The Coconino County website says the U.S. Forest Service and several local fire departments are responding with about 300 firefighters, eight air tankers and five helicopters mustered to put out the blaze. A Type One Incident Management Team was slated to arrive Sunday night. The U.S. Fire Administration website says that's a self-contained team of 35-50 highly-trained personnel deployed to manage incidents of 'national significant.'
High winds in the area haven't helped. The winds have both stoked the flames and caused emergency crews to ground the air tankers for 5 1/2 hours Sunday afternoon. CNN meteorologist Sean Morris says gusty southwesterly winds, from 20-30 mph, will blow through the area through Tuesday, then calm by Wednesday morning. There's a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the area beginning on Thursday, says Morris.
KTVK's website www.azfamily.com says authorities shut down part of Highway 89 because of visibility issues caused by the fire, as the Schultz Fire is producing a huge plume of smoke that can be seen for miles.
The Schultz Fire is the second large wildfire to break out in the Flagstaff area this weekend. The Hardy Fire started early Saturday afternoon. But the Hardy Fire is much smaller, at 300 acres, and firefighters have been able to contain 30 percent of it. The Flagstaff Fire Department initially had ordered evacuations of two neighborhoods and the Cococino Humane Society because of the Hardy Fire, but those evacuation orders have been rescinded, said the Coconino County website.
