MISERY AND HARDSHIP IN WINTER WONDERLAND

by Mark McFadden

The icy grip of Arctic winds and record snowfall has a tight hold on Europe, as the mercury plunges to -30c in the east of the continent. As Europeans have endured extreme sub-zero temperatures stretching from Moscow to Milan, it may seem that the current climate change consensus is flawed. Global warming skeptics need not smirk. Climatologists at the Journal of Geophysical Research suggest that the prolonged snowfalls only reinforce the concept of global warming. The extensive melting of Arctic sea ice has most likely interfered with the normal air pressure regimes, resulting in a persistent high pressure which consequently results in the cooling of Europe.

Ukraine is no stranger to harsh, central European winters. However the 12,000 homeless on the streets of the Ukrainian capital Kiev have fallen victim to the bitter cold. Combined with the nation’s high incidence of alcoholism, this winter is proving to be Herculean challenge to the city’s emergency services. However the three thousand hospitalisations in the past fortnight are attributed to a tipple too much. The capital’s hospitals struggle to deal with frostbite-ridden patients, resorting to treatments such as amputations.

Comparatively mild Southern Europe has also been blighted by this polar episode. Night-time temperatures have frequently measured -21c in Milan. As flights are grounded and trains cancelled owing to increasingly treacherous conditions, the Italian government, along with European neighbours, has faced another challenge; gas shortages. Approximately forty percent of European supply is provided by the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, which has stated that its supplies cannot satisfy the massive increase in demand for energy. Italian industry faces a restriction upon energy usage in order to safeguard limited supply, as the country’s infrastructure edges towards the brink.

Whilst snowfall and freezing temperatures have eased temporarily, meteorologists fear that the persistent Arctic high pressure region looks set to stay for the next fortnight. As governments grapple with an overloaded energy infrastructure, echoes of the 2009 Ukrainian-Gazprom gas dispute linger. As supply shortages parallel those inflicted by Gazprom’s defiant pipeline shutdown of the 2009 dispute, the Arctic conditions may provide a backdrop to renewed disputes, as the state-owned gas giant sells its European customers short.