Accumulation on Switzerland’s glaciers from last winter expected to all be gone by Monday amid ‘enormous’ melt rates across Alps
Swiss glaciers are set to lose an enormous amount of ice due to the heatwave battering Europe, according to the head of Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (Glamos).
The snow and ice accumulated last winter by Switzerland’s glaciers is expected to have all melted away by Monday, marking the alarming second-earliest arrival on record of the tipping point known as glacier loss day.
Continue reading...Uruguay are out of the World Cup again and it’s no one’s fault but their own. “3 million dreams,” the banner said high in the stand in Guadalajara; instead it was a recurring nightmare. Divided and dysfunctional, led by a man who barely even says buenos dias to his players, and unable to get beyond a draw against Saudi Arabia or Cape Verde, they needed something big against Spain. But they could only manage two shots on target all night, neither of which came before the 80th minute or carried even the slightest threat.
Spain meanwhile had just one, and that didn’t carry much of a threat either. But a dreadful mistake from Fernando Muslera allowed Alex Baena’s shot to slip into the net just before half-time break. Uruguay fought but didn’t play much football and so they fell. For the second World Cup in a row they failed to get out of their group; and if four years ago that could be explained by the teams in their group – South Korea, Ghana and Portugal – and they had only been eliminated on goals scored, this time the opponents only made it worse, demanding a far deeper analysis.
Continue reading...For a few days at least, the Blue Sharks can scent Argentinian blood. What a scene they presented at the end after drawing for a third time and improbably, magnificently, qualifying from Group H as runners-up. Their players and head coach, Bubista, huddled round a mobile phone to watch the closing stages of Uruguay’s defeat to Spain. They erupted en masse upon learning the outcome and can look ahead to a last-32 meeting with Lionel Messi and company in Miami. Messi’s meeting with this World Cup’s new cult hero, the goalkeeper Vozinha, could be one for the ages.
It would have been a travesty if Saudi Arabia, who made minimal impact despite requiring a win to progress, had snuck home here. What an insipid display this was from Giorgios Donis’s side, the gargantuan investment in their local league clearly yet to reap benefits at international level. The only surprise was that they were not picked off by one of Cape Verde’s numerous second-half counters. Anyone watching this tournament is pumped with advertisements for Fifa’s worldwide partner Aramco, the majority Saudi state-owned oil company, but their national team appear to need powering by alternative energy.
Continue reading...Uruguay’s exit means England through to knockouts
Thomas Tuchel’s side face Panama on Saturday
England’s place in the last 32 of the World Cup has been confirmed after results in Group H ensured Thomas Tuchel’s side would, at worst, qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.
Uruguay’s defeat to Spain, coupled with Cape Verde’s draw with Saudi Arabia, left Marcelo Bielsa’s side in third and with an inferior record to England. With third-placed South Korea, Senegal and Scotland already unable to match England’s points tally, that was enough to confirm progression for Tuchel’s team.
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