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2012: The year in natural disasters

Can't keep up with constant natural disasters and extreme weather events? One website captures all from the last year on a splendid interactive map with photos. Includes bubble clouds and spiders.
Written by Mark Halper, Contributor
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Bubble trouble? The CBC 2012 natural disaster and extreme weather online compilation includes pictures of the bubble clouds that spooked Saskatchewan residents in June.

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Natural disasters and extreme weather events happening so constantly that you can't keep up with them?

Don't fret. The Canadian Broadcasting Company has put together a splendid online compilation of all the year's planetary shaking and baking, rocking and rolling, soaking and roasting, and freezing and wheezing. You can find it by clicking here.

If you like to keep track of floods, hurricanes, avalanches, freak snow falls, volcanoes, tsunamis and deadly heat waves, this CBC web page is for you, whether or not you believe it's tied into man made climate change.

It's all there: A spider infestation in Australia; winter golf in Winnipeg along with golf ball sized hail stones in Calgary (there's 2012's most paradoxical golf juxtaposition); Superstorm Sandy, and much, much more. Even Saskatchewan bubble clouds. Sliceable and diceable by category and geography, and neatly presented chronologically across an interactive map of the world.

Good for the whole family, and void only where Internet trouble flares up.

May 2013's installment be a little less interesting!

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A disastrous day in the life of a planet. The icons on CBC's interactive map of the world change as you scroll across a timeline, and allow you to drill in for recaps and photos. Above is a glimpse from the summer. Click the link in story or below to operate.

Photo: Bubble clouds by Craig Lindsay via Wikimedia. Interactive map from CBC website.

More looks back at 2012, plus melting, on SmartPlanet:

A flood of SmartPlanet Sandy tales here

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com

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