For the first time in 146 years, the National Weather Service documented no snow on the ground in Chicago, the US, in January and February — a record that worried people about climate change.

Because the snow measurement is taken at 6 a.m. at O’Hare International Airport, small amounts of snow that may have fallen later in the day and melted were not recorded, said Amy Seeley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The weather service has been keeping data on snow on the ground for 146 years.

The least amount of snow in a Chicago January was in 1928 with 0.2 inches. This January had 0.5 inches. This February is tied for the least amount of snow with 1987 and 1998, with all of them having just a trace of snow, Seeley said.

Some experts predicted another “snowpocalypse” this winter, but other analysts predicted a warmer-than-average winter because of the warm summer and autumn in 2016.

Zealandia — an underwater continent?

A group of geologists believes New Zealand and several surrounding islands, including New Caledonia, should be reclassified as part of an eighth continent called Zealandia. The archipelago, or group of islands, is currently grouped with Australia in the Australasia region. But scientists think there is enough geological evidence to give New Zealand its own continent designation. The islands are connected by submerged continental crust. That crust, or outermost layer of earth, is separate and distinct from Australia and Antarctica. About 94 percent of that 1.9 million-square-mile land mass (approximately the area of India) is underwater. Still, the geologists argue that the area should count as its own continent. “Zealandia illustrates that the large and obvious in natural science can be overlooked,” researchers wrote in their study of the region, called “Zealandia: Earth’s Hidden Continent.” It was published in the Geological Society of America’s journal, GSA Today.

Published in Dawn, Young World March 4th, 2017