Namibia: Freezing cold grips South - by Catherine Sasman

A New Era correspondent at Keetmanshoop, Anneline van Wyk, writes that parents complained that their children refused to go to school and some employers reported absenteeism, as a result of the prevailing cold. Originally, the absenteeism had been attributed to the World Cup that is currently running in South Africa, but employers have realised that the cold is to blame.

“This cold is interfering with my productivity. My prospective clients claim it is too cold for appointments. Seriously, it has never been this cold in our town, as long as I can remember,” Imeldha Janse, a sales advisor of an insurance company said.

The administration’s lame lame-duck climate strategy | Grist

In short, I don't see it happening. It's not completely out of the realm of the possibility, if Obama suddenly developed a serious Machiavellian streak and Senate Dems have his back. But that would be unprecedented and wildly out of character. So if it's gonna happen it's gonna happen now, and only if Harry Reid gets some spine and risks his career, which would also be wildly out of character. It doesn't look good.

Les Deux Alpes Resort News : Bouquetin struggle to survive a hard winter

Now, it seems that in the Cerces region numbers are dwindling following a particularly harsh winter. Rangers from the Ecrins National Park have recorded 70 deaths of bouquetin (also known as ibex) over the winter and have found as many as 50 bodies in recent weeks. Considering the total population in the park was recorded at just 300 in 2008, this is a large proportion of the bouquetin population and is thought to be the highest death rate in 20 years.

What's the carbon footprint of ... a cup of tea or coffee? | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Green tea really is greener: the milk in a cup of white tea or coffee creates more CO2 than boiling the water.

Cutting greenhouse gases will be no quick fix for our weather, scientists say | Environment | guardian.co.uk

UK study predicts increased floods and droughts will continue for decades after global temperatures are stabilised
...
The model showed that, while temperatures dropped sharply as CO2 was reduced, the disruption to precipitation continued for several decades.