Warm weather wrecks bears' winter slumber

[OnyxCollie]

MOSCOW, Nov 15 (Reuters Life!) - Insomniac bears are roaming the forests of southwestern Siberia scaring local people as the weather stays too warm for the animals to fall into their usual winter slumber.

The furry mammals escape harsh winters by going to sleep in October-November for around six months, but in the snowless Kemerovo region where the weather is unseasonably warm, bears have no desire yet to hibernate.

"Due to weather conditions, bears didn't go into the winter sleep in time," said Tatiana Maslova, chief expert at a regional environmental agency in the city of Kemerovo, about 3,500 km (2,190 miles) southeast of Moscow.

<snip>

Russian media reported that in the Kemerovo region and other areas, normally cold and snowy by now, there are fresh buds on trees and some flowers have blossomed for the second time this year.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061115/od_nm/russia_bears1_dc_1

No mention in the article as to why it is so warm. Hmm, something to ponder...

[Selatius]

1. It's only going to get worse as the amount of CO2 increases in the atmosphere.

But the oil companies insist that more studying needs to be done.

[OnyxCollie]

2. We're watching the world end before our eyes.

Either our children, or our children's children, will likely see the exctinction of birds and sea life, an increase in hurricanes, melting ice caps, and a depleted ozone.

Welcome to Hell.