[Heavy snow collapses buildings in New Zealand] | Stuff.co.nz

Southland got the worst of the wintry blast, and emergency management teams were assessing buildings in Invercargill last night.

The roof of Wren's paint shop, in Yarrow St, caved in yesterday under the heavy snow.

The roof of the Windsor New World supermarket had also partially collapsed, and Farmers department store and The Warehouse both had sagging roofs, Civil Defence spokeswoman Adrienne Henderson said.

They followed the Saturday morning collapse of the $10 million Stadium Southland's roof, which sent dozens of tennis players running for their lives.

[2008: Heavy snow collapses 354,000 houses in China]

According to the latest official statistics, snow-related catastrophes killed 107 people and caused 111.1 billion yuan in direct losses. In all, 21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have been affected. A total of 354,000 houses collapsed and 1.5 million people were evacuated.

NZ - Cold weather kills tens of thousands of lambs

"We could really use some 'local' warming in Southland," said Mr Nicolson, who farms sheep at Waimatua, southeast of Invercargill.

Professor wins award for controversy

S[T]FU professor Mark Jaccard is the recipient of the 2010 Nora and Ted Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy.

Jaccard is an environmental economist whose work on sustainable energy and climate policy has garnered national and international acclaim and protest.
...
He says greenhouse gas emissions will not decline unless climate policies are dominated by strong emissions pricing and regulations.