MNN - Mother Nature Network

Feb. 3, 1931: In the worst natural disaster in New Zealand's history, an earthquake strikes at Hawke's Bay, killing 256 and registering a magnitude of 7.6.

 

Feb. 3, 1936: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses a group of 2,000 hunters, fishermen and conservationists at the North American Wildlife Conference in Washington, D.C. The meeting prompts the formation of the National Wildlife Federation, which today has 4 million members in 47 state-affiliate organizations.

 

Feb. 3, 1947: The Yukon village of Snag, Alaska, records the all-time lowest temperature for North America at 81 below zero on the Fahrenheit scale.

 

Feb. 3, 2010: A ballot initiative to roll back California's climate change measures is set for the November election. Proposition 23 would have suspended a 2006 state law that commits the state to major rollbacks in greenhouse emissions. It is revealed that oil companies provide an estimated 90 percent of the campaign funding for the law. The measure fails on Election Day.

 

Feb. 3, 2012:  Drew Barrymore stars in "Big Miracle," Hollywood’s take on the epic rescue attempt of three gray whales in the Arctic ice near Barrow, Alaska.

 

 

This feature is compiled by Peter Dykstra, an MNN contributor and publisher of Environmental Health News and The Daily Climate.