The Little Ice Age brought colder winters to portions of Europe and North America . In the mid-17th century, glaciers in the Swiss Alps advanced, gradually engulfing farms and crushing entire villages ^{[ citation needed ]} . The River Thames and the canals and rivers of the Netherlands often froze over during the winter, and people skated and even held frost fairs on the ice. The first Thames frost fair was in 1607; the last in 1814, although changes to the bridges and the addition of an embankment affected the river flow and depth, hence the possibility of freezes. The freeze of the Golden Horn and the southern section of the Bosphorus took place in 1622. In 1658, a Swedish army marched across the Great Belt to Denmark to invade Copenhagen . The Baltic Sea froze over, enabling sledge rides from Poland to Sweden , with seasonal inns built on the way. ^[10] The winter of 1794/1795 was particularly harsh when the French invasion army under Pichegru could march on the frozen rivers of the Netherlands, whilst the Dutch fleet was fixed in the ice in Den Helder harbour. In the winter of 1780, New York Harbor froze, allowing people to walk from Manhattan to Staten Island . Sea ice surrounding Iceland extended for miles in every direction, closing that island's harbors to shipping. The severe winters affected human life in ways large and small. The population of Iceland fell by half, but this was perhaps also due to fluorosis caused by the eruption of the volcano Laki in 1783. ^[11] Iceland also suffered failures of cereal crops and people moved away from a grain-based diet. ^[12] The Norse colonies in Greenland starved and vanished (by the 15th century) as crops failed and livestock could not be maintained through increasingly harsh winters, though Jared Diamond noted that they had exceeded the agricultural carrying capacity before then. In North America, American Indians formed leagues in response to food shortages. ^[13] In south Europe, in Portugal, snow storms were much more frequent while today are rare. There are reports of heavy snows in the winters of 1665, 1744 and 1886 ^[14] .

Desertification is the degradation of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas, resulting primarily from natural activities and influenced by climatic variations. It is also a failure of the ecological succession process. A major impact of desertification is biodiversity loss and loss of productive capacity , for example, by transition from land dominated by shrublands to non-native grasslands . In the semi-arid regions of southern California, many coastal sage scrub and chaparral ecosystems have been replaced by non-native, invasive grasses due to the shortening of fire return intervals. This can create a monoculture of annual grass that cannot support the wide range of animals once found in the original ecosystem. In Madagascar 's central highland plateau, 10% of the entire country has been lost to desertification due to slash and burn agriculture by indigenous peoples. In Africa , if current trends of soil degradation continue, the continent will be able to feed only 25% of its population by 2025, according to UNU 's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa. ^[15] Globally, desertification claims a Nebraska-sized area of productive capacity each year. ^[16]

Hydroponics (from the Greek words hydro water and pono labor) is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, without soil . Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite , gravel , or mineral wool .

Plant physiology researchers discovered in the 19th century that plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water. In natural conditions, soil acts as a mineral nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is not essential to plant growth. When the mineral nutrients in the soil dissolve in water, plant roots are able to absorb them. When the required mineral nutrients are introduced into a plant's water supply artificially, soil is no longer required for the plant to thrive. Almost any terrestrial plant will grow with hydroponics. Hydroponics is also a standard technique in biology research and teaching.

4 June 2024 ?

The National Health Service declares a "critical incident" after several hospitals in London , including King's College Hospital , say they have cancelled appointments and turned away patients after a cyberattack on their Synnovis IT systems. (AP)

1 June 2024 ? 2023?24 UEFA Champions League

In association football , Real Madrid win a record 15th Champions League title after defeating Borussia Dortmund 2?0 in the final at Wembley Stadium in London , England . (CNN)

29 May 2024 ?

Four people are injured in a mass shooting in Dalston , London , UK. (BBC News)

25 May 2024 ? 2023?24 FA Cup

Manchester United win their 13th FA Cup title after beating the defending champions, Manchester City , by a score of 2?1 in the final at Wembley Stadium in London , England . ( The Guardian )

21 May 2024 ? Singapore Airlines Flight 321

A Singapore Airlines flight from London , England , to Singapore makes an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok , Thailand , after experiencing severe air turbulence over the Bay of Bengal , resulting in one death and at least 30 injuries. (BBC News)

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle , DL (22 May 1859 ? 7 July 1930) was an author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes , which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction , and for the adventures of Professor Challenger . He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels , plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859, in Edinburgh , Scotland, to an English father of Irish descent, Charles Altamont Doyle , and an Irish mother, nee Mary Foley, who had married in 1855. ^[17] Although he is now referred to as "Conan Doyle", the origin of this compound surname is uncertain. ^[18] Conan Doyle's father was a chronic alcoholic, and was the only member of his family who, apart from fathering a brilliant son, never accomplished anything of note.

The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by southeastern Europe , the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey ) and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits . The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara , and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean. These waters separate eastern Europe and western Asia . The Black Sea also connects to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch .

The Black Sea has a positive water balance , which results in a net outflow of water 300 km³ per year through the Bosphorus into the Aegean Sea (part of the Mediterranean Sea). Mediterranean water flows into the Black Sea as part of a 2-way hydrological exchange. The Black Sea outflow is less salinated and cool, therefore floats over the warm, relatively more salinated Mediterranean inflow. The Black Sea also receives river water from large Eurasian fluvial systems to the north of the Sea, of which the Don , Dnieper and Danube are the most significant.

In the past, the water level has varied significantly. Depending on the water level in the basin, more or less of the surrounding shelf and associated aprons are aerially exposed. At certain critical depths, it is possible for connections with surrounding water bodies to become established. It is through the most active of these connective routes, the Turkish Straits System (TSS), that the Black Sea joins the global ocean system. When this hydrological link is not present, the Black Sea is a lake, operating independently of the global ocean system. Currently the Black Sea water level is relatively high, thus water is being exchanged with the Mediterranean . The TSS connects the Black and Aegean Seas and comprises the Strait of Bosphorus Strait (Strait of Istanbul), the Marmara sea and the Strait of Dardanelles (Strait of Canakkale). The Black Sea also connects to the Sea of Azov via the Strait of Kerch

Primeval man stumbled along with peering eyes, and slow, uncertain footsteps. Now we walk briskly towards our unknown goal.

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle

(22nd May 1859 - 7th July 1930).

The Stark Munro Letters, 1894.

• ...that optimistic estimations of peak oil production forecast the global decline will begin by 2020 or later, and assume major investments in alternatives will occur before a crisis, without requiring major changes in the lifestyle of heavily oil-consuming nations. These models show the price of oil at first escalating and then retreating as other types of fuel and energy sources are used? ^[19]

• ...that if the Greenland ice-sheet melted through global warming, it would raise the global sea level by 7 meters, or 22 feet?

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