Week 52

 Week 52

Climate

fire

snow

new battery (for the Passat €300,00)

The world has gone mad

Climate/average temperatures

In the mid-90's there is a blue stripe - that was 1997, when we were living in Burdaard and had the (last ever?) Elfstedentocht in our backyard.

The climate barcode consists of vertical lines, each stripe representing a year in the long temperature measurement series in De Bilt. Since 1901, the temperature has been recorded daily here. The color of the stripes indicates the annual average temperature. Blue shades correspond to relatively cool years, red shades to relatively warm years.


from NOS

Last year, the Netherlands was less warm than the two previous record-breaking years. Nevertheless, 2025 was still among the ten warmest years since records began in 1901, reports the KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute).

That top ten now includes seven of the past ten years. "This clearly shows that we're in a period of climate warming," says KNMI researcher Karin van der Wiel. "If the climate weren't changing, the ten warmest years would be evenly distributed across the entire timeline."

Of course, if the Gulf Stream (AMOC) collapses then there will probably be an Elfstedentocht every year...

From Utrecht University

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), of which the Gulf Stream is a part, appears to be more unstable than previously thought. If the Gulf Stream weakens, Europe will become the odd one out on a warming planet: it will warm less than other regions, or may even become colder, especially in winter. And this will happen while the rest of the world continues to warm. How this could change the climate in Europe has been investigated in a new study.

https://www.uu.nl/en/publication/what-will-happen-to-europe-if-the-gulf-stream-weakens-significantly


If the circulation weakens, Northwestern Europe would experience the most pronounced cooling. Under global warming of +2°C, a cold extreme that currently occurs once every ten years in the Netherlands could drop to -20°C — around fifteen degrees colder than in the pre-industrial climate, according to the same climate model. In Scotland the cold extreme could reach -30°C, a full 23 degrees colder than in the late 19th century.



Idle thoughts...

Turn off the garbage. Turn on your mind.

Today, Bulgaria officially starts using the euro. 1/1/2026

Fire in a church in Amsterdam





New Year's Eve

A Citizen Alert came through on our phones on New Year's Eve...saying that  the normal emergency number was extrememly busy and that there are other numbers to use, including for the fire service.


From News & Views EU Alive

New Year’s Eve 2025 turned chaotic in the Netherlands, with widespread fireworks-related incidents, violence against emergency services, and a devastating fire that gutted a historic Amsterdam church.

Police described the night as marked by “unprecedented” aggression, deploying maximum forces and arresting around 250 people nationwide.

Two fatalities occurred from fireworks accidents: a 38-year-old man in Aalsmeer, near Amsterdam, and a 17-year-old boy in Nijmegen, in the east of the country. Dozens more were injured, many seriously, including a surge in burn and eye trauma cases. Hospitals reported double the usual patients in some areas, with children particularly affected – Rotterdam’s eye hospital treated numerous minors, and Groningen’s burn center admitted 19 patients, including 10 under 15.

Violence targeted police, firefighters, and paramedics, with fireworks, stones, and even petrol bombs thrown in cities like Breda, The Hague, and Amsterdam. Riot police intervened repeatedly, and emergency calls spiked: firefighters handled nearly 4,300 incidents nationwide, up 4% from the previous year.In a separate but emblematic incident, the iconic neo-Gothic Vondelkerk (also known as Wondelkerk) in Amsterdam, built in 1872–1880 by renowned architect Pierre Cuypers near Vondelpark, was engulfed in flames shortly after midnight on 1 January.

The blaze caused the tower and roof to collapse, rendering the deconsecrated cultural venue—long used for events—unsalvageable, though walls remained standing. Nearby residents were evacuated, and power was cut to aid firefighting efforts. Authorities are investigating the cause, with no injuries reported from the fire itself.


I guess it is now official, the world has gone mad...

...but we still have our daily walks with Boeke...

Ben left for Bangkok even though the flight was delayed because of the snow...

We had deer in our front yard yesterday
















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