>Man Made Globull Warming my arse! HISTORIC SNOW HITS JAPAN A strong, winter-like Arctic front has been gripping Eastern Asia in recent days. Focusing in on Japan, the country’s northern prefecture of Hokkaido was hit by historic snowfall on Wednesday, November 24. In Nayoro City, Hokkaido, for example, cars have been buried after flurries touched 60cm (1.97ft) — this reading is four times the normal amount, and it busted a new record for the month of November. More impressive records fell elsewhere: “Although it’s still November, unprecedented heavy snow is hitting Northern Japan’s Hokkaido,” wrote Sayaka Mori on Twitter. “77cm (2.53ft) of snow fell in 24 hours (Tue-Wed) in Shumarinai, making it the heaviest since records started in 1981 (for any month of the year),” she added. SPAIN ISSUES ‘COLD WEATHER ALERTS’–RESTARTS COAL POWER PLANT TO COPE Ten Spanish regions were on alert for snowfall this week as the country braced for an early taste of winter. The strong Arctic front –which arrived Monday, a month ahead of the start of astronomical winter– forced Spanish authorities to place four regions on orange alerts for snow (the second-highest level), and an additional six on yellow alerts (the third-highest). Snow has been falling at increasingly low altitudes, reports elpais.com, with accumulations recorded below 800 m (2,600 ft) in the northernmost reaches of the country. According to Spain’s traffic authority DTG, restrictions were introduced on 750 km of roads across 10 provinces due to the buildup of snow.