The New York Times reported yesterday that Norwegian scientists have determined that the Arctic ice cap could disappear during the summer months as early as 2050. Their study based in part on measuring the thickness of the ice sheet suggests that this accelerated melting would speed the process of global warming. Still Cooking Triple digit temperatures have continued to scorch vast areas of southeastern Europe. In Greece, temperatures have hit 109 F fueling more than 150 wildfires that have been burning through the country. In Turkey, many government offices remain closed.
Meteorologists expect the extreme heat to finally break by the end of the week.
A powerful summer storm caused severe flash flooding at the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor early Monday morning. As a safety precaution officials decided to close the only functioning reactor. In 1986 Chernobyl was ground zero for the planets worst nuclear accident as an explosion and resulting fire spewed contamination for hundreds of miles. Russian leaders have agreed to permanently shut down the reactor by the end of the year. During the past week heavy rains across northern Bangladesh have triggered a series of flash floods that have left more than 34,000 people stranded.