2011 Disaster Calendar – October

On May 15, 2011 symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began: Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016

2011 – 2012: A Time for Mega Disasters

U.S., the world, stake the future on high-energy strategies. Energy models’ simulations show all such strategies ending in collapse. EDRO

2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010 – FIRE-EARTH Forecast (September 13, 2010)

• Nearly all of the anthropogenic and human-enhanced disasters that will occur on the planet in the 2011-2012 period would have been preventable.

• Humans continued to devour energy at a rate of 17.3terrawatt in 2011, when maximum ‘safe’ limit was less than 1.9terrawatt.

FIRST PHASE of GLOBAL CIVIC COLLAPSE STARTING as FORECAST.

2011 Disaster Calendar

January 2011 | February 2011 | March 2011 | April 2011 | May 2011 | June 2011 | July 2011 | August 2011 | September 2011 | October 2011 |

[October 1, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,628 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Philippines. Typhoon NALGAE (Quiel) made landfall in Isabela around 9 am local time packing maximum sustained winds of 160 kph with gusts of up to 195 kph.
• The typhoon slammed into Isabela province, northern Luzon, bringing strong winds and torrential rains to the region that was devastated by typhoon NESAT earlier.
• Residents in Luzon’s flooded coastal towns were told to evacuate immediately as NALGAE was expected to trigger a new deluge in the heels of NESAT which struck the region 5 days ago.
• At least 3 people including 2 children were killed in storm related incidents in Bulacan province, reports said.
• “Residents of Hagonoy, Bulacan are suffering the brunt of typhoons Quiel and ‘Pedring’ as the town is practically without water and food.”
• “People walked 10 kilometers in chest-high water in search of drinking water as the town remained without electricity to supply power for pumping stations of a local water district.”

Other Disasters

• Texas, USA. At least 6,000 acres have been charred and 73 more structures destroyed by Texas wildfires since the last update two days ago (dated September 29, 20110.
• TABLE. YTD Texas wildfire stats by TFS as of October 1, 2011. [The acreage  burnt includes about 3 million acres of pasture land.]

• Texas drought-related losses YTD: At least $10 billion
• Wildfire claims more than $150 million in Texas agricultural losses

• Thailand. All 16 districts of Ayutthaya province in central Thailand have been declared disaster areas due to severe flooding.
• Many riverside communities were submerged under more than two meters of water as the Lop Buri River surged, a report said.
• “Flooding started in Ayutthaya on Sept 4 and has affected more than 224,000 residents. Run-off from the North is raising levels of the Chao Phraya, Pasak, Lop Buri and Noi rivers.”
• Delaware, USA. The White House has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Delaware because of the damage caused by Hurricane Irene during the period of August 25-31, 2011.
• District of Columbia, USA.  The White House has declared a major disaster exists in the District of Columbia because of the damage caused by Hurricane Irene during the period of August 26 to September 1, 2011
• Wall Street, USA. At least 700 demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street protest movement have been arrested on New York’s Brooklyn Bridge across the East River, on their way to Brooklyn park, reports said.
• The protesters say they are defending 99% of the US population against the wealthiest 1%.
• “Some of the protesters said police had allowed them on to the roadway and were escorting them across when they were surrounded and the arrests began,” a report said.
• “This was not a protest against the NYPD. This was a protest of the 99% against the disproportionate power of the 1%,” a protester told the reporters.
• “We are not anarchists. We are not hooligans. I am a 48-year-old man. The top 1% control 50% of the wealth in the USA.”
• Scores of other protests have also sprung up in other US cities in sympathy with the objectives of Occupy Wall Street movement, with the largest being held in Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and Los Angeles, reports said.
• More than 2,000 people marched to NY City’s police headquarters on Friday to protest against the police conduct and earlier mass arrests.

[October 2, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,627 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Luzon, Philippines. At least 3 million Filipinos have been affected by 2 typhoons.Two powerful, back-to-back typhoons have left at least 60 people dead and many missing.
• About 3 million people have been affected by the widespread flooding spawned by the storms.
• Most of the victims refuse to evacuate flooded homes fearing looters, as Philippines government considers forced evacuations.
• Large areas in  many provinces have become isolated because roads are submereged under chest-high floodwater.
• “The damage bill from Typhoon Nesat stood at 6.7 billion pesos ($155 million), the disaster agency said. More than 180,000 people fled to shelters in dozens of towns north of Manila. There was no initial damage estimate for Nalgae.” Said a report.
• “We are seeing a mass exodus of people looking for food,” said the representative of World Vision’s, an international aid agency.“Survivors have no means to cook food. They may have money but there’s just nothing to buy.”
• Flood intensity was compounded by excess water from dams, as the authorities opened the floodgates to “release water from three dams in the Agno Basin as well as in Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela.” a report said.
• There’s strong probability that a third typhoon may hit Luzon later this week.
• Thailand. Thailand declared two provinces as disaster areas, as flooding in the Central Plain region intensified, reports said.
• The declaration covered the entire province of Ayutthaya and a large section “of Phichit province where the Lop Buri River has overflowed, leaving many riverside communities underwater.”

• Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, SW China. Flooding triggered by Typhoon NESAT which slammed into the island province of Hainan two days ago, a report said.
• “Water from heavy downpours brought by Nesat has entered major river courses in the region, where more than 2 million people have been affected by the typhoon.“
• NESAT was the strongest typhoon to hit the region since 2005, forcing the evacuation of more than 130,000 people, the report quoted the authorities as saying.
• The typhoon has destroyed thousands of homes across 24 counties in Guangxi and damaged more than a quarter of million hectares of farmland.
• Algeria. Flooding in Algeria has left at least 10 people dead and two others missing, the authorities said
• Flash floods spawned by several days of torrential downpours have deluged at least two towns southwest of the capital Algiers destroying or damaging about a thousand  homes.

[October 3, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,626 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Planet Earth. In March 2011 FIRE-EARTH said: “Large ozone depletion in the Arctic is currently occurring because of unusually low temperatures, according to extensive measurements carried out throughout the Arctic and Subarctic regions, which are coordinated by Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research.”
• In April 2011 FIRE-EARTH said: “Ozone-depleting chemicals such as the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and extended cold stratospheric temperatures have depleted 40% of the ozone in the stratosphere this week, against a previous high of 30%.”
• Atmospheric researcher Dr. Markus Rex of AWI was quoted as saying that the damage to the Arctic ozone layer is “unparalleled.”
• “Such massive ozone loss has so far never occurred in the northern hemisphere, which is densely populated even at high latitudes,” Rex said.
• A group of researchers at JPL are now saying the risk is growing for  the Arctic hole becoming an annual event and spreading.
• “The chemical ozone destruction over the Arctic in early 2011 was, for the first time in the observational record, comparable to that in the Antarctic ozone hole,” according to a JPL report.
• “More acute Arctic ozone destruction could exacerbate biological risks from increased ultraviolet radiation exposure, especially if the vortex shifted over densely populated mid-latitudes, as it did in April 2011,” they wrote in a report published in the journal Nature.
• The Antarctic ozone hole appearing over the South Pole has been recorded every summer/fall since 1979.

Other Disasters

• Wisconsin , USA. [UPDATE ] The U.S.  Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared agricultural disasters in 16 northern Wisconsin because of losses caused by winter thaw and late, cold, wet spring conditions that occurred Jan. 1 – June 30, 2011. The extreme weather included more than 10 inches of snowfall in April.
• The counties designated as primary disaster areas are Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas, Florence, Forest, Iron, Oneida and Vilas.
• The following counties are contiguous: Burnett, Langlade, Lincoln, Marinette, Oconto, Price, Sawyer and Washburn.
• Michigan. Three counties in Michigan were also listed as contiguous disaster areas: Dickinson, Gogebic and Iron.
  
• Minnesota. Three counties in Minnesota were also listed as contiguous disaster areas: Carlton, Pine and St. Louis.
• Colorado, USA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated a total of eight counties in Colorado as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by drought that began Jan. 1, 2011 and continue.
• The counties listed as primary and contiguous disaster areas are Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert, Jefferson, Park, El Paso, Lincoln and Teller.
• Colorado, USA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 5 counties in Colorado as a natural disaster area due to losses caused by high winds, hail and a tornado that occurred June 14 – June 19, 2011.
• The counties listed as primary and contiguous disaster areas are Kit Carson, Logan, Phillips, Washington and Yuma.
• Kansas. Cheyenne County in Kansas was also listed as a contiguous disaster area.
• Nebraska. Chase and Dundy counties in Nebraska were also listed as a contiguous disaster areas.
• Delaware, USA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 3 counties in Delaware as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by drought and excessive heat that began June 1 – Aug. 30, 2011.
• The counties listed as primary and contiguous disaster areas are Kent, New Castle and Sussex.
• Maryland. Five counties in Maryland were also listed as contiguous disaster areas: Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Wicomico and Worcester.
• Thailand. Flooding in Thailand is the worst in at least five decades, officials said. The epic deluge has killed hundreds and inundated tens of thousands of hectares of farmland, affecting more than two million people this year so far.
• Pakistan. Floods have affected up to 10 million People in Pakistan, destroying at least 73 percent of the harvest, and causing large-scale livestock losses.
• ASIA. In Bangladesh, southern China, India, the Philippines, Vietnam ...  strong monsoon rains, which are among highest in the available records since 1929, and multiple storms are leaving behind trails of utter destruction, claiming thousands of lives, humans and animals, toppling millions of homes and destroying tens of millions of acres of fertile farmland. The survivors are often left without food and drinking water, facing exposure and disease. Major diseases, especially water-borne vectors, invariably follow in the heels of human-enhanced climatic disasters.

[October 4, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,625 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Punjab province, Pakistan. Death toll in Punjab’s dengue outbreak has risen to at least 162 with about 1,300 patients  hospitalized.
• About 550 new cases of dengue virus infection reported per day in the provincial capital Lahore alone.
• Punjab is Pakistan’s most populated province, home to about 57% of the nation’s population.
• South Africa. The tornado-stricken town of Duduza, southeast of Johannesburg is being declared a disaster area, said a report.
• The tornado killed at least one and injured more than 160 others, destroying up to a thousand homes.
• “Earlier on Sunday, a nine-year-old boy was killed and 42 people injured in a tornado in Ficksburg in the Free State.” Said the report.
• USA. Death toll from listeria-tainted Colorado cantaloupes has climbed to at least 18, with more than 100 people sickened across 19 states in the deadliest U.S. foodborne illness outbreak this century.
• Philippines. Death toll from typhoon NESAT [“Pedring”] has climbed to at least 66, leaving dozens injured and many still missing.
• The typhoon has affected about 3 million people in  more than 3,300 villages in 30 towns and 41 cities across 34 provinces, a report quoted the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council as saying.
• The typhoon destroyed about 6,300 homes and damaged about 38,000 more.
• More than 200,000 people remain in 500 evacuation centers.
• The typhoon also damaged or destroyed more than 60 bridges, dozens of roads and 300 schools.
• Mogadishu, Somalia. Death toll from a truck bomb in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu has climbed to at least 70, reports said.
• At least 42 others were wounded when a truck laden with explosives blew up in front of the Ministry of Education, AP reported officials as saying.
• Guizhou province, China. A gas explosion in a coalmine in  Guizhou province, SW China, has killed at least 16 miners with two others reported as missing, according to local officials.
• In 2010 at more than 2,433 people were killed in coalmine accidents in China, according to official statistics, the report said.
• Auckland, New Zealand. The latest measles outbreak in Auckland, New Zealand’s most polluted city, has infected at least 24 new victims, many of them children, in the past week.
• More than 200 cases of the infectious disease have been confirmed in Auckland since May, a report said.
• “You are more likely to get it in New Zealand now than you have been in the past 14 years.” Auckland’s Medical Officer of Health said.
• “Two-thirds of the cases have been in babies, infants, children and teenagers, and the disease has struck everywhere from early childhood centres to tertiary institutions.” Said the report.

[October 5, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,624 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• North America. The Great Lakes comprise of 5 freshwater lakes located on the United States border with Canada.  Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario form the largest collection of freshwater lakes on Earth by surface area, and the second by volume. The lakes hold more than a fifth of the world’s surface fresh water [~22,600 km³.]
• Tens of millions of people in the region including all of Chicago’s three million residents, and many others in the neighboring towns and suburbs, rely on Great Lakes water for life.
• Great Lakes coasts are being clogged by massive carpets of algal blooms, some as large as 1 meter thick and 20 km wide, fed by rich nutrients from farm run-off, while invasive mussels are consuming the food chain inside the lake, starving the fish.
• “Too much food is causing massive algal blooms in Lake Erie and other coastal systems, while too little food is making fish starve in Lake Huron’s offshore waters,” according to a report by the National Wildlife Federation.
• “Nutrient-rich runoff from farms is growing a huge crop of algae along the lakes’ coasts, but those nutrients aren’t making it out to the water in the middle of the lakes. Quagga mussels are consuming almost all of it, leaving nothing left in the water for fish to eat.”
• The feast-and-famine crises are plaguing the Lakes,  the report said, causing collapse of the food chain, declines in fish populations including lake whitefish and salmon, “and resurgence of toxic algae blooms and the Lake Erie ‘Dead Zone.’”
• Feast and Famine in the Great Lakes: How Nutrients and Invasive Species Interact to Overwhelm the Coasts and Starve Offshore Waters (pdf), details the links between massive algal blooms in Lake Erie which poses  serious  health threat to people and wildlife and a 95 percent decline in fish biomass in Lake Huron. Some of the report findings on how excessive nutrients are overwhelming coastal areas are listed below:
• This summer Lake Erie experienced the worst toxic algal bloom in recorded history
• The bloom, involving the toxic alga Microcystis, at one point extended across almost the entire western basin and into the central basin, and in some places was up to 2 feet thick.
• The toxic algae can sicken or even kill people. A toxin from the algae was measured in this summer’s bloom at 1,000 times the World Health Organization guidelines for drinking water.
• Algal blooms are significant, although so far less severe, in Saginaw Bay (Michigan), Green Bay (Wisconsin), and along the Lake Michigan coastline, among other areas, and federal agencies rate nearshore areas in all lakes but Lake Superior as “poor” for nutrient phosphorus concentrations.
• The report also documents how invasive zebra and quagga mussels have consumed much of the food in the offshore waters of the lakes, causing fish to starve:
• The biomass of prey fish (which are fed upon by predators such as salmon) in the open waters of Lake Huron has declined by 95 percent in just 15 years.
• The populations of the tiny freshwater shrimp at the base of the Great Lakes food web, Diporeia, have declined in Lake Michigan by 94 percent in 10 years.

[October 6, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,623 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• New Zealand. Dead birds have been found in a large oil slick that leaked from a stricken container ship stranded off New Zealand coast, authorities have admitted.
• The 236m long, 47,000 ton container vessel “Rena” has been declared a hazardous ship after it ran aground on Astrolabe Reef near Tauranga Harbor about 12 nautical miles (22 km) off the North Island of New Zealand, reports said.
• The vessel has 1,700 tons of heavy fuel oil on board, AFP reported.
• The authorities have admitted that a dispersant they were using on the massive oil slick that is leaking from the MV Rena was not effective, a report said.
• “It has the potential to be very, very serious indeed, simply because of the age of the ship, the damage that she’s sustained and the 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board.” Said Maritime New Zealand pollution response manager.

Other Disasters

• Maryland, USA. The White House has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Maryland following the damage caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee during the period of September 6-9, 2011.
• Counties worst affected by the storm remnants were Anne Arundel, Cecil, Charles, and Prince George’s.
• Nebraska, USA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated Chase and Keith counties in Nebraska as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by severe storms with excessive rain, hail and high winds that occurred June 16 – June 21, 2011. 
• The following counties in Nebraska were included in the disaster declaration because they are contiguous: Arthur, Dundy, Hayes, McPherson, Deuel, Garden, Lincoln and Perkins.
•  Colorado. The following counties in Colorado were also included in the disaster declaration because they are contiguous: Phillips, Sedgwick and Yuma.
• New England, USA. Mysterious seal deaths. At least 49 dead seals have washed up on beaches across New England in northern Massachusetts, New Hampshire and southern Maine last week, a report said.
• “The densest cluster of seal deaths has been along New Hampshire’s 18-mile coast, where 17 seal carcasses have been recovered since Friday, said Tony Lacasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium in Boston.”
• Thailand. Death toll in Thai floods have climbed to at least 244, with dozens of others reported as missing.
• Heavy monsoon rain since late July 25 has triggered  flooding in 59 of the country’s 77 provinces, with 28 of them currently remaining inundated, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported.
• SEA. Mega deluges have submerged vast areas in Cambodia, Southern China, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, killing hundreds of people and affecting about 10 million across the region.
• Millions of acres of crops have bee destroyed; tens of thousands of farm animals have perished; economic losses are mounting; civic collapses loom.
• Pakistan. Up to 10 Million People Affected in Pakistan Floods
• Philippines. Death toll from back-to-back typhoons in the Philippines has climbed to at least 90, reports said.
• 3 million Filipinos affected by 2 typhoons

[October 7, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,622 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Rhode Island, USA. The entire state of Rhode Island, which includes five counties, has been  designated as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by Tropical Storm Irene on Aug. 26-28, 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported.
• The following counties in Connecticut and Massachusetts were added to the disaster list because they are contiguous:
• Connecticut: New London and Windham counties
• Massachusetts: Bristol, Norfolk and Worcester counties
• Connecticut, USA. Seven counties in the state of Connecticut have been designated as primary and contiguous Natural Disaster Areas by USDA.
• The designation follows losses caused by Tropical Storm Irene on Aug. 28-29, 2011.
• The following counties in Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island weer also declared as natural disaster areas because they are contiguous:
• Massachusetts:  Berkshire, Hampden and Worcester
• New York. Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester
• Rhode Island: Kent, Providence, Washington

Other Disasters

• Listeria Outbreak, USA. At least 21 people have died and 109 others sickened in 23 states in the listeriosis outbreak linked to tainted Colorado cantaloupes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• The deaths have occurred in Colorado (5), New Mexico (5), Kansas (2), Texas(2), and 1 each in Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.

• Texas, USA. The following table is a wildfire damage update provided by Texas Forrest Service (TFS). YTD Texas wildfire stats by TFS as of October 7, 2011. [The acreage  burnt includes about 3.1 million acres of pasture land.]

• Funafuti, Tuvalu (Pacific Ocean). The world’s fourth-smallest nation located  south of the Equator, has declared a state of emergency because it is running out of water.
• Tuvalu, a cluster of small islands about 3,200 km NE of NZ, has a combined land mass of 25 sq km with its highest point rising just 5m above sea level.
• The islands have a population of just over 10,000 on nine sinking atolls.
• Tokelau islands. The 1,400  or so residents of Tokelau islands (colonial name:  The Union Islands) are also left with very little drinking water.
• The islands consist of 3 tropical coral atolls with a total land mass of 10 km², located north of the Samoan Islands and east of Tuvalu.
• The two island nations depend on rain for their drinking water. The ongoing La Nina has caused a severe drought in the past six months.

[October 8, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,621 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Bangkok, Thailand. Rising floodwaters have killed or injured hundreds of people, destroyed thousands of homes across Thailand and are now threatening the capital Bangkok, the Prime Minister has warned.
• Floodwater has also destroyed millions of acres of crops, toppled bridges, severed rail links, shut dozens of highways and inundated the city of Ayutthaya.
• Government may be unable to cope because “the water volume is extraordinary and is beyond expectations.” Thailand’s new Prime Minister said, “it is now going to have a direct impact on Bangkok.”
• The floods which have triggered massive mudslides have killed at least 253 people, injured scores more and affected more than 8 million people in 60 of the country’s 77 provinces since late July, Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said.

Other Disasters

• Philippines.  Combined toll from two deadly typhoons, NESAT and NALGAE, which struck the Philippines last week  have climbed to at least 95, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
• Some than 85 are injured and 34 missing, the agency reported.
• The heaviest flooding occurred in the three rice-producing provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac, affecting more than 3 million people.
• About 110,000 people have been displaced.
• The government had earlier declared several provinces as disaster areas.
• Central African Republic. A cholera outbreak in the Central African Republic has claimed 16 lives, with 57 other cases reported, AFP said.

[October 9, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,620 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Manitoba, Canada. About 50,000 acres of land have been consumed by wildfires in southeastern Manitoba forcing more than 500 people to move to shelters.
• Dry conditions and winds of up to 90 kmh helped spread the fire covering an area 40 km long and six km wide near the town of Bissett,  a report said.
• “Fires also raged outside the southeastern Manitoba communities of Lac du Bonnet and Stuartburn, where a state of emergency was declared and 60 people were asked to leave for safety.”
• Alberta, Canada. At least 12 fires are burning across Alberta, including a large fire north of Fort McMurray, which started in May.
• McMurray fire has consumed more than 700,000 hectares,  fire officials said: “We expect that fire to be burning up until, probably, the next couple of months.”
• “We’ve had just about 950,000 hectares of Alberta burn this year, and last year at this time we only had 80,000, so that’s quite a significant difference.”
• Cairo, Egypt. Clashes between Coptic Christians and the security forces in Cairo have left at least 23 people dead and 150 injured, reports said.
• About 10 percent of Egypt’s 81 million population are Christians.
• “The only beneficiary of these events and acts of violence are the enemies of the January revolution and the enemies of the Egyptian people, both Muslim and Christian,” said the country’s Prime Minister.

[October 10, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,619 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Thailand. Hundreds of people have been killed or injured in the country’s worst flooding in living memory.
• The reported death toll stands at 270, as of posting.
• Flooding and mudslides triggered by more than 10 weeks of heavy monsoon rains have devastated at least 30 of Thailand’s 77 provinces, officials said.
• About 1.5 million hectares of farmland is deluged.
• Up to a million homes have been destroyed or damaged.
• About 5 million people have been affected so far.
• Floodwaters threaten to swamp the capital Bangkok (Metro Population:~ 14.6 million).
• “The Chao Phraya river running through the capital, already high because of water coming from overflowing dams in the north, could be swollen from around October 13 by further heavy rain plus high sea tides affecting its estuary,” a report said.
• The forecast for the main rice crop has been slashed by about 20 percent  to 21 million tons due to flood damage, the report cited the commerce ministry as saying.
• “In Thailand’s ancient capital Ayutthaya, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) upriver of the capital, historic temples have been swamped and a large industrial estate, home to a slew of Japanese electronics and auto parts makers including car giant Honda, has been flooded. “AFP said.
• The government has ordered various agencies to prepare to evacuate people from 10 central provinces.
• Philippines. Death toll from the two powerful typhoons that tore across northern Luzon, Philippines has climbed to at least 102, with 26 others missing, officials have said.
• Typhoon NESAT hit the Philippines on September 27,  followed on October 1 by Typhoon NALGAE, causing $360 million in crop damage alone.
• The flooding and mudslides are expected to continue for at least a month.
• Cambodia. The country’s worst flooding this century has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, leaving more than 200 people dead since the beginning of September.
• Vietnam. At least 24 deaths have been reported from flooding in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
• “Flooding across the fertile Mekong Delta helped drive rice prices to a three-year high in Vietnam [in late September,] traders said, which will add to inflation problems. The delta produces more than half of Vietnam’s rice and 90 percent of its exportable grain.” Said a report.

[October 11, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,618 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Sindh Province, Pakistan. Heavy monsoon and severe flooding in Pakistan have affected about 9 million people since August, mostly in southern Pakistan’s Sindh province.
• “Official estimates indicate that, as of 27 September, over 8.9 million people have been affected and at least 880 000 hectares of standing crops have been damaged. The affected crop land represents 3.7 percent of the total national cropped area.” FAO said.
• “The affected crop land represents 3.7 percent of the total national cropped area. However, damage to the current paddy crop is moderate and is estimated by FAO and Pakistan’s space agency (SUPARCO), as of 20 September, at about 252 700 tonnes, or 2.5 percent of the normal national production.”
• Floods have also destroyed or damage about 1.5 million houses.
• Some 20,000 irrigation structures have also been destroyed.
• About 92,000 livestock have perished, and FIVE million surviving animals are at risk.
• Severe losses of crop, livestock and grain stock, as well as wholesale damage to housing and infrastructure have left at least 2.75 million people in immediate need of food [and shelter] assistance, especially in Sindh province, FAO report cited a joint UN-Government assessment.

Other Disasters

• UK. The nuclear inspector has given the green light to the decrepit and potentially catastrophic nuclear energy industry in the UK.
• “I remain confident that our UK nuclear facilities have no fundamental safety weaknesses (but) no matter how high our standards, the quest for improvement must never stop,” said the head of UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
• See also: US Nuke Plants Threatened by Extreme Heat

[October 12, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,617 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Washington, USA. The Obama Admin Forcing the World to the Brink of New War for Oil, Fresh Water and Food.
• Obama Admin has accused Iranian government of plotting to assassinate Saudi Ambassador to US, a charge which the Iranians have denied.
• Iranian government says US is using the trumped-up assassination plot to divert attention from internal problems.
• Turki al-Faisal, a Saudi prince and a close friend of GW Bush, who was also a former ambassador to Washington and a former head of the Saudi intelligence service, is threatening the Iranians with retaliation. He told a conference in London: “The burden of proof and the amount of evidence in the case is overwhelming, and clearly shows official Iranian responsibility for this. This is unacceptable. Somebody in Iran will have to pay the price.”
• The Saudi King Abdullah is on record as having repeatedly urged the US to attack Iran.

Other Disasters

• Central America. A deadly tropical storm has pounded Central America killing about 2 dozen people.
• Guatemala has issued a red alert after at least 13 people were killed from heavy rains, flooding and mudslides triggered by TD 12-E.
• “So far the official statistics of damages are: 130 thousand people affected by the rains, 2,660 people have suffered damages, 3,546 people are in shelters and 346 houses have been damaged.”
• More casualties have been reported in El Salvador, Mexico and Nicaragua.
• Mexico. Hurricane JOVA, now a tropical depression, has killed at least 2 people in the port city of Manzanillo, Mexico, while rising river levels in the state Tabasco (southern Mexico) forced 75,000 people to evacuate as Tropical Depression 12-E dumped several inches of rain in the region.
• Iowa, USA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 60 of Iowa’s 99 counties as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by the combined effects of severe storms, excessive rain, flooding, flash flooding, hail, high winds, lightning, tornadoes, landslides, mudslides, excessive heat and drought that began April 1, 2011, and continuing.
• List of 27 Iowa counties designated as Primary Disaster Areas. Source: USDA. 
• List of 33 Iowa counties designated as Contiguous Disaster Areas. Source: USDA.

• Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota, USA. The following counties bordering the state of Iowa have also been designated as contiguous disaster areas:
• Illinois: Hancock, Henderson, Mercer and Rock Island counties.
• Missouri: Atchison, Mercer, Schuyler, Clark, Nodaway, Scotland, Harrison, Putnam and Worth counties.
• Nebraska: Burt, Dakota, Sarpy, Cass, Otoe and Thurston counties.
• South Dakota: Union County.

[October 13, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,616 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Louisiana, USA.The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated the entire state of Louisiana, which includes 64 parishes, as natural disaster areas due the combined effects of severe storms, tornadoes, severe spring flooding, Tropical Storm Lee, widespread drought and excessive heat that began Jan. 1, 2011, and continues.
• Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas. The following bordering counties in the states of Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas have also been designated as disaster areas because they are contiguous.
• Arkansas: Ashley, Columbia, Miller, Chicot, Lafayette and Union counties.
• Mississippi: Adams, Issaquena, Pike, Amite, Jefferson, Walthall, Claiborne, Marion, Warren, Hancock, Pearl River and Wilkinson counties. Adams, Issaquena, Pike, Amite, Jefferson, Walthall, Claiborne, Marion, Warren, Hancock, Pearl River and Wilkinson counties.
• Texas: Cass, Marion, Panola, Harrison, Newton, Sabine, Jefferson, Orange and Shelby counties.

Other Disasters

• Washington, USA. A total of 26 counties in Washington state have been designated as Natural Disaster Areas due to losses caused by frosts, freezes, extreme cold, high winds and excessive snow that occurred Nov. 10, 2010, through March 25, 2011, USDA reported.
• The primary disaster areas are: Benton, Grant, Okanogan, Chelan, Island, Skagit, Clallam, King, Snohomish, Douglas, Kittitas, Walla Walla, Franklin, Klickitat and Yakima counties.
• The list of contiguous disaster areas include the following counties: Adams, Kitsap, Skamania, Columbia, Lewis, Whatcom, Ferry, Lincoln, Whitman, Jefferson and Pierce.
• Oregon.  The following counties in the state of Oregon have also been included in the disaster designation because they are contiguous: Gilliam, Morrow, Umatilla, Hood River, Sherman and Wasco.
• South Dakota, USA. USDA has designated a total of 17 counties in South Dakota as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by flooding that began April 1, 2011, and continues.
• Primary Disaster Areas: Clay, Marshall and Sanborn counties.
• Contiguous Disaster Areas: Aurora, Beadle, Brown, Davison, Day, Hanson, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Lincoln, Miner, Roberts, Turner, Union and Yankton counties.
• Nebraska and North Dakota. The following counties in Nebraska and North Dakota have also been designated as disaster areas because they are contiguous.
• Nebraska: Cedar and Dixon counties.
• North Dakota: Richland and Sargent counties.
• Indiana, USA. USDA has designated a total of 37 counties in Indiana as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by excessive rain, flooding and flash flooding that occurred April 1 – July 7, 2011.
• List of Primary Disaster Ares: Dearborn, Grant, Huntington, Ohio, Lake, Knox, Lake, Porter, Vigo and Wells counties.
• List of Contiguous Disaster Areas: Adams, Allen, Blackford, Clay, Daviess, Delaware, Franklin, Fulton, Gibson, Greene, Howard, Jasper, Jay, Kosciusko, La Porte, Madison, Miami, Newton, Parke, Pike, Ripley, Starke, Sullivan, Switzerland, Tipton, Vermillion and Whitley counties.
• Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio. The following counties in Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio states have also been included in the disaster designation list because they are contiguous.
• Illinois: Clark, Crawford, Kankakee, Wabash, Cook, Edgar, Lawrence and Will.
• Kentucky: Boone.
• Ohio: Butler and Hamilton.

• Philippines. Death toll from tropical cyclone BANYAN (local name: Ramon) that struck the Philippines has risen to about a dozen.
• BANYAN, now a tropical depression, has affected about 30,000 people (about 10,000 victims have been moved to evacuation centers) in scores of villages and towns, most of which are still impassible, reports said.
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Death toll from the country’s worst flooding this century has risen to about 250.
• The floods have inundated about 400,000 hectares  of rice paddies
• Damaged or destroyed up to 300,000 homes affecting 2 million people
• Forced the government to cancel the nation’s biggest annual festival [The cancellation may be a good thing, since at least 350 people were killed and over 1,000 others injured in a stampede on a crowded, narrow bridge in the capital Phnom Penh during the same event last year. See entry for November 23, in 2010 Disaster Calendar.]
• Hanoi, Vietnam. At least 43 people are now dead in Vietnam’s worst flooding this century, the government said.
• The floods have also inundated tens of thousands of hectares of crops and damaged or destroyed about 75,000 homes.
• Alaska, USA. A mysterious disease has struck ring seals along Alaska’s coast, killing scores of them since July, authorities have revealed.
• “About 100 of the diseased animals have been found near Barrow, the nation’s northernmost community, and half of those have died, the borough biologists reported.”
• “Elsewhere in the sprawling borough, villagers have reported 146 ringed seals hauling themselves onto beaches, and many of those were diseased, the biologists said.”
• Dead walruses have also been found at Point Hope with similar symptoms, which includes “sometimes-bleeding lesions on the hind flippers, irritated skin around the nose and eyes and patchy hair loss on the animals’ fur coats.”
• Various species of seals and Pacific walruses depend on floating summer sea ice which are disappearing because of rapid warming in the Arctic, federal agencies have said.
• See also: Cause of death unknown for whales found in Alaska river

[October 14, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,615 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Wellington, New Zealand. Thousands of tourists have been exposed to measles in Wellington, New Zealand.
• The virus carrier worked at three branches of Kaffee Eis, and attended the busy Mills Extreme Gym in Wellington, New Zealand, a report said.
• Measles epidemic in Auckland, New Zealand has already claimed several lives, the exact number of which appears to be a state secret.
• Measles is a highly infectious disease that can have serious complications including pneumonia and brain damage, and is potentially fatal.
• See also entry for October 4, 2011.
• England. Thousands of children in England are being sexually abused by “gangs,” the country’s deputy children’s commissioner has said.
• About 10,000 children may be affected by the sexual abuse, according to some estimates, however the true figure could be much higher, the report said.
• “Right now thousands of children are being horrifically abused by gangs … Threats are made against them and their families.” Said the children’s commissioner.
• “Children are being failed up and down the country – in every village, town and city.”

[October 15, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,614 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Mississippi, USA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared 69 of Mississippi’s 82 counties as agricultural disaster areas due to losses crop losses caused by “unprecedented drought” that began in January and lasted through August.
• Gov. Haley Barbour had asked the federal government to designate the entire state as a disaster area, saying all 82 counties had suffered from an “unprecedented drought.”
• “Friday’s declaration comes two months after 27 counties were declared disaster areas because of severe flooding in May that caused an estimated $444 million in crop losses and $8.3 million in agricultural building damages.” Said a report.

Other Disasters

• New Jersey, USA. The White House has declared a major disaster exists in the State of New Jersey because of the damage caused by the Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee during the period of September 6-11, 2011.
• The worst hit areas were the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren.
• Thailand. At least 297 people are confirmed dead and two others missing in the Thailand floods that have submerged the upper part of the country since late July.
• At least 61 of Thailand’s 77 provinces have been affected by flooding since the deluge triggered by heavy monsoon rain began three months ago.
• Currently 25 provinces are flooded with more than 4 million acres  of farmland submerged under as much as several meters of water in the worst-hit areas.
• Up to 9 million people have been affected directly.
• About one million homes have been destroyed or damaged.
• The main Chao Phraya River that runs through Bangkok is  at record levels, but government insists that the capital city is “safe.”
• The communities of Ayutthaya and Nakhon Sawan north of Bangkok are completely submerged.
• Mexico, Central America. The week-long torrential rains caused by Hurricanes Irwin and Jova, tropical depression 12-E and two additional storm fronts have wreaked havoc across a large region spanning half dozen countries.
• The death toll in Mexico and Central America has risen to at least 50.
• Some 100,000 people in Mexico and Central America are facing flooding as Hurricane Jova and a tropical depression unleash torrential rains over the region,” the UN news center reported.
• The affected countries are Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
• El Salvador. Salvadorian President has declared a state of national emergency as severe flooding hit the coastal areas. Up to 70,000 people are being evacuated from areas prone to flooding and landslides.
• Guatemala. Torrential rains, severe flooding and mudslides have  destroyed or damaged thousands of homes in the provinces of Quetzaltenango, Santa Rosa and Escuintla, affecting about 60,000 Guatemalans.  Many people are reported as missing, but no figures were available as of posting.

[October 16, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,613 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• The United States of Disasters.  More disasters have hit the United States during Obama’s thousand days in office than at any other comparable period in history. The federal government has issued 228 major disaster declarations since Obama took office a thousand days ago. The numbers have been rising progressively  from 59  in 2009 to 81 last year and a record 88 major disasters this year so far. The average number of major disaster declarations between 1953 and 2010 was 34 per year. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared agricultural disasters in more than 3,500 counties this year alone.

This blog endorses neither of the two political mafia families!

[October 17, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,612 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica. About 90 people have now been reported dead in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua due to Hurricane JOAH,  tropical depression 12-E and two additional storm fronts that brought torrential rains to Mexico and Central America, triggering flooding and mudslides.
• Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from affected areas.
• Many people are reported missing in the region, but no figures have been reported as of posting.
• Bangkok, Thailand. At least 310 people have been killed or reported missing in Thailand worst flooding in living memory in decades and three others remain missing, Thai authorities said.
• At least 61 of Thailand’s 77 provinces have been affected by flooding since the deluge triggered by heavy monsoon rain began three months ago.
• Currently 27 provinces are flooded with more than 4 million acres  of farmland submerged under as much as several meters of water in the worst-hit areas, and with no sign of waters receding.
• Up to 9 million people have been affected directly.
• About one million homes have been destroyed or damaged.
• The main Chao Phraya River that runs through Bangkok is  still at record levels, but government insists that the capital city is “safe.”
• The communities of Ayutthaya and Nakhon Sawan north of Bangkok are completely submerged.
• Floods have forced about 10 large industrial parks employing a total of more than a million to close.
• The official estimate for damage caused by flooding and mudslides in the country, where several provinces are utterly devastated, is put at $3.3 billion so far.

Other Disasters

• Uttar Pradesh, India. At least 430 people including 336 children have died from an outbreak of encephalitis in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, officials have said.
• “The situation is grim and the epidemic is worse than previous years and with so many patients there are no empty beds at the hospital,” said K.P. Kushwaha, chief pediatrician at the BRD Medical College in the state’s hardest-hit Gorakhpur district, AFP reported.
• “We count such cases since January but most of these casualties have occurred since July.”
• More than 2,400 patients have been admitted to state  hospitals in the region so far this year of which at least 430 have died, he added.

[October 18, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,611 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Iron Range (Minnesota), USA. At least 19 more people have died from mesothelioma, a rare and always fatal form of lung cancer, since the 63 reported by Minnesota state health officials last year.
• Caused only by exposure to asbestos fibers, mesothelioma takes about 30 years after exposure to show up.
• Previously it was believed that the Iron Range mesothelioma cases were caused by exposure to commercial asbestos, however, researchers now say that asbestos-like fibers from mining taconite rocks may be responsible for the  fatal disease.
• “Early results also show that 1,681 taconite workers, of about 46,000 who ever worked in the industry, developed some sort of lung cancer. Again, it’s not clear if that rate is higher than normal, and it may never be clear if the cancers were caused by exposure to taconite dust, smoking or a combination of factors.” Said a report.
• “It’s estimated about 80,000 workers have been involved in mining since the first operations began in Minnesota in the late 1800s. Researchers are focusing on the roughly 46,000 people born since 1920 who worked in the production of taconite — a low-concentrate iron ore that has been mined and processed in Minnesota since the 1950s.”

Other Disasters

• Punjab, Pakistan. Death toll from dengue fever in Lahore has climbed to 274, a report said.
• About 28,400 cases of dengue have been reported in Punjab, with more than 17,000 in Lahore alone, the report said.
• Currently more than 330 cases of infection are reported daily.
• Bangkok, Thailand. Death toll from flooding in Thailand has climbed to at least 315, amid growing fears that flood barriers protecting the capital Bangkok will fail, reports said.
• Flooding has affected about half a million square kilometer of Thailand (total area: 513,115 sq km).
• More than a million homes have been destroyed or damaged by flooding, affecting up to 10 million people in 61 of Thailand’s 77 provinces.
• Floodwaters have also inundated “14,172 factories in 20 provinces, affecting 663,218 workers,” according to a senior official.
• Floods have forced about 10 large industrial parks employing a total of more than a million to close.
• About 270,000 workers and residents have been evacuated from the Navanakorn industrial park, located north of Bangkok, after flood protection barriers failed swamping the large estate. The industrial estate was declared “safe” by the authorities on Monday.
• Vietnam. Death toll from has climbed to at last 55 from devastating floods in central and southern provinces of Vietnam, with dozens of people reported injured.
• Record flooding caused by the Mekong river have inundated about 200,000 buildings, “damaging 1,455 km of dykes and 1,300 km of roads,” and destroying tens of thousands of hectares of rice paddies, aquatic farms, sugarcane fields and other cropland, reports said.
• At least 50,000 people have been evacuated from various provinces.
• Central America. Two separate low-pressure weather systems are wreaking havoc across Central America, one moving from the Pacific and the other from the Caribbean. The combined reported death toll from torrential rains, flooding and mudslides in Central America  (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua) and Mexico is reaching 100.
• At least 750,000 people have been displaced as up to 120cm (~ 47 inches) of rain is dumped over the region since last week.
• Honduras. Honduran government has declared a state of emergency in the southern portion of the country.
• Nicaragua. Nicaraguan President has declared a state of emergency as 130,000 people are evacuated. The capital Managua is threatened by flooding as Lake Xolotlan continues to overflow.
• Guatemala. Reported death toll from flooding in Guatemala has climbed to at least 38. The toll is expected to rise, officials said.
• El Salvador. About 40 people are reported dead or missing, with 35,000 others evacuated so far as the government declares a “major emergency.”

[October 19, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,610 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Puerto Rico. The White House has declared Puerto Rico a major disaster area following the damage caused by Tropical Storm Maria.
• Flooding and landslides caused by Tropical Storm María during the period of September 8-14, 2011 caused substantial damage to buildings and public infrastructure in the island, which had already been severely affected by Hurricane Irene.
• Worst affected parts of the northeastern Caribbean island were the municipalities of Juana Díaz, Naguabo and Yabucoa, the WH said in a statement.
• California, USA. The Bay Area is reportedly the epicenter of a liver cancer epidemic, which is largely caused by hepatitis B viral infection (HBV).
• HBV infection can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer and liver failure.
• The virus can survive outside of the body for up to 7 days.
• More cases of liver cancer are found in Santa Clara and San Francisco counties than anywhere in the US.
• Called a “silent killer,” HBV is responsible for about 80 percent of liver cancers.
• Liver cancer is deadly, with the five-year survival rate after diagnosis put at 15 percent.
• HBV is100 times more infectious than HIV.
• “San Francisco has about 14 cases of liver cancer per 100,000 residents every year, compared with 9.5 cases per 100,000 people nationwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
• About 35,000 people in Santa Clara County live with chronic HBV, a quarter of whom will die from liver cancer.

[October 20, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,609 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Planetary Scale Disasters. The 2011 Antarctic ozone hole peaked at 26.02 million square kilometers on September 12, exposing 26.02 million square kilometers (10.05 million sq miles) of the Southern Hemisphere to harmful ultraviolet radiation, NOAA reported.
• The ozone hole reached its minimum of the season on October 9 when ozone levels dropped to 102 Dobson units.
• The ozone layer which helps protect the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation is depleted by persisting manmade chemicals that reside in the atmosphere and help destroy the ozone.

[October 21, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,608 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Queensland, Australia. Queensland has  declared the  western portion of the state a disaster area, as record rains drench north.
• “Queensland’s weather has turned extreme, with a natural disaster zone declared in the west,” a report said.
• Fires have consumed more than 4,000km² (one million acres)  of grazing and grassland in the Australian state of Queensland.
• Raging fires sparked by lightning  across west central Queensland last week have left thousands of cattle to starve.
• Fires have blackened about 40 farms in Barcaldine region, consuming between 80 and 100 per cent of the grazing land in 10 farms, and prompting the state’s Agriculture Minister to declare the region a disaster area.
• “About 10 per cent of the shire has been burnt,” Barcaldine Mayor said. “There are real fears cattle will perish.”
• The fires have destroyed the cattle farming infrastructure, reducing “thousands of kilometers of fencing, water tanks and sheds” to ashes.
• Three major fires are still burning in the region, two said to be uncontained.
• “On the northeast coast, flood warnings were issued by the Weather Bureau for rivers and streams between Cooktown and Cardwell after some places recorded 500mm of rain for the week.”

[October 22, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,607 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Bangkok, Thailand. Widespread flooding is expected to submerge much of Thailand’s capital within the next four to five days, experts said.
• The authorities are opening dozens of flood gates along the canals that crisscross the capital city in order to speed up the outflow of floodwaters to the sea.
• Flooding has affected about half a million square kilometer of Thailand (total area: 513,115 sq km).
• More than a million homes have been destroyed or damaged by floods, affecting up to 10 million people in 62 of Thailand’s 77 provinces.
• Twenty-eight provinces are currently inundated, with some areas expected to remain submerged for many weeks.
• The reported death toll has climbed to at least 356, with more reported missing.
• The floods have submerged dozens of industrial parks north of Bangkok, destroying about 20,000 factories in 20 provinces, leaving up to a million Thais out of work.
• Floodwaters have submerged more than 4 million acres  of farmland, and ruined about 2 million tons of milled rice.
• The mounting cost of damage is approaching at least $4 billion.
• Bangkok accounts for 41 percent of Thailand’s economy, and any worsening of flood situation could accelerate the city’s collapse.

Other Disasters

• Vietnam. Severe flooding in Vietnam’s central and southern regions have left  at least 59 people dead and forced thousands of others to abandon their homes.
• Flooding has destroyed or damaged about 200,000 homes and tens of thousands of hectares of rice paddies and crop fields.
• Cambodia. Widespread flooding in Cambodia has affected 17 of the country’s 24 provinces, leaving more than 250 people dead or missing and forced the evacuation of about 250,000 people.
• About 200,000 hectares of rice paddies have been destroyed,  the National Committee for Disaster Management reported.
• Myanmar. Flooding in central Myanmar has left at least 200 people dead or missing since Wednesday, a report said.

[October 23, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,606 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Van, Turkey. Many people have been killed in a powerful earthquake that shook the south-eastern Turkish city of Van, a local official told NTV news channel.
• A powerful earthquake measuring 7.2Mw struck eastern Turkey Sunday, destroying buildings and killing many in two cities, officials said.
• Casualties were reported in the city of Van as well as the neighboring town of Ercis.
• “There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed, there is too much destruction,” Zulfikar Arapoglu, the mayor of Ercis told NTV television. “We need urgent aid, we need medics.”
• More than 50 people were treated for injuries at the state hospital in Van, Anatolia news agency reported.
• At least a dozen significant aftershocks have since struck the disaster area, Turkey’s Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute  at Bogazici University reported.
• The quake magnitude was downgraded from magnitude 7.6 to 7.3 and later 7.2Mw [depth: 20km] by USGS. Kandilli observatory, however, recorded the event as a magnitude 6.6 shock [depth: 5km.]

[October 24, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,605 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Canada, New Zealand and Europe. As the world population approaches 7 billion (some models suggest the 7 billion mark has already been surpassed), outbreaks of measles are intensifying in various regions across the world.
• Measles is a highly infectious disease that can have serious complications including pneumonia and brain damage, and is potentially fatal.
• The measles outbreak in Canada, Europe and New Zealand are intensifying.  The infection is occurring in both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, reports said, causing concern over vaccine effectiveness.
• Quebec is experiencing the largest measles outbreak in the Americas since 2000. Some 727 cases were reported between Jan. 1 and Aug. 3,  this year, of which 34 percent occurred among vaccinated individuals.
• In the 2000 measles pandemic, some 40 million cases of infection were reported, killing nearly 2 percent of the patients, or about 800,000 people.
• Since about 1870s, measles has killed an estimated 200 million people worldwide.
• Europe. About 30,000 cases of measles have been reported in Europe this year, with France being the worst hit country.
• New Zealand.  At least 358 cases of measles have been reported in New Zealand so far this year.

[October 25, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,604 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Southeast Asia. Widespread flooding in SE Asia including Cambodia, LAO People’s Democratic Republic, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, has destroyed millions of hectares of rice paddies and cropland, with the Mekong river basin hit the hardest.
• Heavy monsoon rains heavy rains since mid-July in some areas have claimed hundreds of lives, displaced  millions of people and destroyed homes, infrastructure and agriculture.
• “In addition, loss of livestock and poultry is reported and significant numbers are considered to be at risk.” FAO reported.
• “There are concerns of serious food shortages in the affected communities due to the difficulties in delivering food assistance.”
• Thailand. Floods have inundated more than two third of the country (62 of Thailand’s 77 provinces), claiming about 360 lives, destroying or damaging at least a million homes, displacing 2.4 million people and affecting up to 10 million more.
• Thailand is world’s largest rice exporter and was forecast to export about 10.6 million tons (or 31 percent of the global trade) of the grain this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
• About 1.6 million hectares of standing crops (12.5 percent of total national cropped area) is destroyed or damaged according to the latest official estimates released last week. The actual figures could be as high as 3 million hectares or nearly a quarter of the total national cropped area.
• “According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, nearly 9.9 million heads of livestock are at risk. It is expected that this estimate will rise in the central plains as the flood waters are topped by water discharges from major dams which are beyond or almost at full capacity.” FAO said.
• The export price for grade B Thai white rice, Asia’s benchmark, has climbed by 13 percent so far this year to $625 per ton on October 19, reports said.

• Vietnam. The world’s second largest rice exporter, Vietnam , have seen at least 0.5 percent of its total national cropped areas inundated.
• Cambodia. As of 14 October, at least 1.2 million people were  severely affected by the flooding, which has destroyed thousands of homes and inundated at least 332,000 hectares of rice fields (“at least 158 447 hectares of the crop damaged from the current main wet season, which accounts for about 80 percent of the annual national production.”)
• Philippines. The world’s largest importer of rice has sustained damage to about  420,337 hectares of cropland, according to preliminary records, with losses estimated at about 728,379 tons of rice or 16 percent of the national production. “Overall, latest estimates indicate that about 4 million people have been affected and at least 485 000 hectares of standing crops, including rice, maize and high value commercial crops (HVCC) have been damaged or lost to the floods. The affected cropped area covers 6 percent of the total national cropped area. Additionally, nearly 3.3 million livestock and poultry have been affected.”
• Additionally, some 600,000 tons of milled rice were destroyed from two typhoons that struck the country earlier this year, officials said.
• LAO People’s Democratic Republic. About 430,000 people have been affected and at least 64 000 hectares of rice paddies have been damaged since the end of June, according to official estimates.  However, a detailed assessment of the crop losses is not yet available. Some areas that were affected by floods in June-July were replanted.

FIRE-EARTH models show an average decline of 22% in the global agricultural output in the next four years resulting in MASS DIE-OFFS. About 20 percent of the world population could perish by 2016.

[October 26, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,603 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok is now primed to  collapse. It’s no longer a matter of if but when the city would implode.
  • FIRE-EARTH Models show that back-to-back disasters could strike Thailand, targeting the country’s largest urban area and capital city, in the coming months until the region becomes mostly uninhabitable.
  • Bangkok is the center of a 20-million megalopolis, with more than 14.6 million people living in the metropolitan area.
  • Mesmerized by the 1980s and 1990s Asian investment boom, a large number of multinational corporations set up their regional headquarters in Bangkok. Many of these companies have been inundated and unable to function.
  • As of 2010, Bangkok was world’s 73rd largest city.
  • The urban sprawl of Bangkok Metropolitan Area extends into five neighboring provinces.
  • Bangkok accounts for about 41 percent of Thailand’s 587 billion dollar economy.
  • Located in the The Chao Phraya River basin, and split by a major river of the same name, Bangkok [aka, “Venice of the East”] is cross-crossed by a large system of canals and lies just two meters (6.5 ft) above sea level, with its southern periphery bordering the Bay of Bangkok.
  • The government has warned that a double whammy of   floodwaters from north running into the sea and high tides in the weekend could overwhelm the entire city, and linger for weeks.
  • “After assessing the situation, we expect floodwater to remain in Bangkok for around two weeks to one month before going into the sea,” Prime Minister Shinawatra said.
  • Floods have inundated more than two third of the country (62 of Thailand’s 77 provinces), claiming up to 400 lives, destroying or damaging at least a million homes, displacing 2.4 million people and affecting up to 10 million more.
  • Thailand is world’s largest rice exporter and was forecast to export about 10.6 million tons (or 31 percent of the global trade) of the grain this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
  • About 1.6 million hectares of standing crops (12.5 percent of total national cropped area) is destroyed or damaged according to the latest official estimates released last week. The actual figures could be as high as 3 million hectares or nearly a quarter of the total national cropped area.
  • “According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, nearly 9.9 million heads of livestock are at risk. It is expected that this estimate will rise in the central plains as the flood waters are topped by water discharges from major dams which are beyond or almost at full capacity.” FAO said.
  • The export price for grade B Thai white rice, Asia’s benchmark, has climbed by 13 percent so far this year to $625 per ton on October 19, reports said.
  • As of today, many grocery stores in the capital are rationing what little food is left on the shelves.
  • Drinking water has been contaminated in many areas, local reports said.
  • About a million people have so far sought medical attention with complaints ranging from skin rashes due to prolonged water exposure to diarrhea and other waterborne diseases.
  • Flooding has forced the closure of at least seven industrial parks bordering Bangkok.
  • The tourism industry, which employes 2.2 million people and accounts for 6 percent of Thailand’s economy, is also hit hard.
  • The cost of damage is estimated at 6 billion dollars and mounting.

  [NOTE: Specific details of this forecast, which include the mechanisms of collapse and timeline, are not included. SEE blog content for explanation.]

[October 27, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,602 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• North Dakota. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 52 counties in North Dakota as disaster areas due to losses caused by the combined effects of spring snowstorms, frosts and freezes in late spring and early fall, excessive rain, flooding, ground saturation, landslides, high winds, hail, tornadoes, periods of unseasonably cool spring temperatures, excessive summer heat and weather-related insects and diseases that occurred from Jan. 1, 2011, and continues.
• List of 42 counties that are designated as primary disaster areas.

• The 10 North Dakota counties designated as contiguous disaster areas are Adams, Burleigh, Emmons, Kidder, Logan, Morton, Sheridan, Sioux, Slope and Stark counties.

• Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota. The following 17 bordering counties in the states of Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota have also been designated as disaster areas:
• Click here

Other Global Disasters

• Mexico, Central America and Colombia. More than two weeks of torrential rains, triggering widespread flooding and mudslides and swamping up to 1,000 towns and cities in the region, have displaced or severely affected over a million people, destroying  their food stocks in southern Mexico and Central America.
• “In the Mexican state of Tabasco alone, over 250,000 people have been displaced by the floods and are demanding government aid,” a report said.
• Floodwaters have inundated tns of thousands of farms, destroying or damaging hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops in the region.
• “Drought, freezing temperatures, and floods have contributed to the loss of some 400,000 heads of cattle,” the report said.
• The region has also experienced  severe losses in the production of corn, beans and sorghum.
• Colombia. Torrential rains have again hit Colombia, killing at least 35 and severely affecting more than 100,000 people.
• The country hasn’t even remotely recovered from last year’s epic floods, which have contributed to devastating mudslides that have destroyed much of Colombia’s infrastructure over  large areas.
• Famine. Food shortages are forcing up prices, and leaving  thousands threatened with famine, the report said.
• “The price of tortillas, a staple in the Mexican diet, is expected to be 30 percent higher at the end of this year relative to 2010. The expectation for the rise in the price of corn is higher, 56 percent in comparison with last year. The price of beans is already 70 percent higher, and that of vegetable shortening 100 percent, sugar 40 percent, milk 50 percent, rice 130 percent, and bread 60 percent.”
• El Salvador. The Mega Deluge has destroyed more than 40 percent of the corn crop and 75 percent of the bean crop according to preliminary reports.
• Guatemala. At least 40,000 peasant farmers whose entire crops have been wiped out are now facing famine.
• Nicaragua. Mega floods have affected up to 150,000 people, displacing at least 10,000 villagers.

Many of the nearly 1,000 towns and cities that have been inundated across the vast geographical area, which  extends from Mexico to Colombia, would be unable to recover from the ongoing disasters and face certain collapse.

In fact, collapse is already occurring:

• Famine is already present in some parts of Mexico, the Torreón Catholic Diocese has reported.
• “Every day hundreds of displaced farmers and their families flock to this city in Coahuila state to ask for food that they can no longer afford to buy. And it is not just food: the cost of potable water is also on the rise, forcing families to turn to sources of drinking water that are contaminated by parasites and pollutants.”

• Minnesota, USA. Thirty-four counties in the state of Minnesota  have been designated as natural disaster areas due to the combine effects of excessive rain, excessive heat, high winds, tornadoes and an early fall frost that occurred during the period of April 1, 2011, through Sept. 15, 2001, USDA reported.
• List of the 11 Minnesota counties designated as primary disaster areas.  Source: USDA
• List of the Minnesota counties designated as disaster areas because they are contiguous.  Source: USDA

• North and South Dakota. The following counties in North and South Dakota have also been declared as disaster areas because they are contiguous:
• North Dakota: Richland County.
• South Dakota: Deuel, Grant and Roberts counties.

• Turkey. The powerful quake that struck eastern Turkey together with large swarms of aftershocks have now claimed at least 525 lives, injured 1,650 people and made thousands homeless, officials said.
• Hundreds are still missing under the rubble.
• Survivors are buffeted by freezing rain and snow in worsening conditions.
• There are severe shortages of tents and aid supplies, reports said.
• A major earthquake could yet strike Turkey in 2011/2012 with a certainty of 0.7 (P= 66%).

[October 28, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,601 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Liguria [and Tuscany,] Italy. Flash flooding and mudslides in the fishing villages of Cinque Terre, located in the mountainous portion of Italian Riviera, has obliterated two of the five communities.
• The two villages of Vernazza and Monterosso have all but been wiped out by torrents of mud and water poured down from the hills behind them.

• “Monterosso no longer exists,” Angelo Betta the village mayor told reporters, describing the event as an “unimaginable disaster.”

• Cinque Terre [“The Five Lands”] is composed of five villages: Corniglia, Manarola, Monterosso al Mare,  Riomaggiore and Vernazza.
• The villages and surrounding area are listed as a a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• The villages were cut off after flooding and mudslides destroyed the region’s  roads and bridges.
• Hundreds of thousands of international tourists flock to the villages each year.

Other Global Disasters

• Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A year after Mt. Merapi erupted, killing at least 300 people and destroying thousands of homes,   many thousands of people remain homeless, a report said.
• “Tens of thousands of people were made homeless by the lahar and the imposition of a 20-kilometer exclusion radius around the volcano’s crater. A year later, many are still living in temporary shelters, despite government pledges to build them new homes in safer areas.”
• “The eruptions last year displaced around 100 million cubic meters of volcanic ash around the mountain,” said the head of the Volcano Investigation and Technology Development Institution (BPPTK).

[October 29, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,600 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Majuro, Marshall Islands. The first case of dengue fever, an infectious tropical disease, was diagnosed at Majuro Hospital last week. The reported cases have now spiraled to at least 63, doubling in the past two days.
• Dengue fever is a virus-caused disease that is spread by mosquitoes.
• The disease’s flu-like symptoms include fatigue, fever, headache, nausea, swollen lymph nodes, vomiting, muscle aches, joint pains and a skin rash that resembles measles.
• The infection can develops into the life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever, or result in dengue shock syndrome, leading to dangerously low blood pressure.
• Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is a severe, potentially deadly infection spread by certain species of mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus).
• Symptoms of DHF are similar to  to those of dengue fever, but after several days the symptoms are followed by a shock -like state.
• Shock could cause death.
• DHF has killed hundreds of people in Pakistan, India, China and other SE Asian countries this year so far.
• Increases in temperature, precipitation, and humidity are exponentially boosting vector abundance and disease incidences throughout the world.

• Lahore, Pakistan. At least 31,036 cases of dengue fever have been recorded in Lahore alone, a report said.
•  Pakistan’s Health Department has “confirmed four deaths, including two from Lahore, due to Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) during the last 24 hours, which brought total figure of deaths to 290 in Punjab and 253 in Lahore.”
• “The dengue fever claimed four more lives on Friday, which brought the death count to 317 in the provincial metropolis.” Said the report.
• USA. Mosquito-Borne Dengue Fever Threat Spreading in the Americas: Dengue Fever Vulnerability in the United States
• Map and caption posted here.

• Global Impact. Dengue fever and its complications cause about 100 million infections, resulting in  500,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths annually in over 100 countries.
• Dengue incidences have multiplied by 30-fold in less than 5 decades globally.
• The worst hit areas are India, Pakistan, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and Africa.
• Currently, about 2.5 people are at risk of for dengue because of climate change.
• “Epidemic outbreaks during 2007 in Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, and Guyana affected hundreds of thousands,” NRDC report said.
• About 56 percent of Americans (175 million people, as of posting) live in counties where one or both of the mosquito species that can transmit dengue fever have become established.

[October 31, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,598 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Global Population. The world population reached 7 billion today, as estimated by the United Nation’s Population Division.
• The Effective World population: “To the one half of the world who live on less than 2-dollars a day (they receive 300 times less per capita energy than the US citizens) the world must look extremely overpopulated with an effective population of 57 billion! [The EU27 with per capita GDP of $29,900 would account for 21 billion and the United States—per capita GDP of $43,223—for 18 billion of the total effective population.]“
• The clueless humans have set yet another nightmarish milestone: Human demographics are now comparable in scale and quality to the bacterial growth dynamics.
• NOTES:
• October 31, 2011 was selected by the UN body as a symbolic date to mark the occasion.
• The estimate includes at least a 1-percent margin of error, experts say.
• Based on the US government Census Bureau’s world population clock, the seven billion mark will be reached in late March 2012 .
• According to the Population Reference Bureau, a private organization based in Washington, the 7 billion mark was reached earlier this month.
• Globally, an estimated 5 babies are born every second.

[NOTE: This listing is by no means exhaustive.]

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2011 Disaster Calendar

January 2011 | February 2011 | March 2011 | April 2011 | May 2011 | June 2011 | July 2011 | August 2011| September 2011 | October 2011 |

2010 Disaster Calendar

January 2010 | February 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 | May 2010 | June 2010 | July 2010 | August 2010 | September 2010 | October 2010 | November 2010 | December 2010

Related Links:

• Nature’s Warnings Exponentially Intensifying  Posted by edro on April 14, 2011
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Index of Human Impact on Nature (HIoN) March 2008
• 2010: The Year of Disasters
• Earth’s Human Induced Antiphase Nears Completion
• 2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010

“The antiphase will rapidly transform humans into vicious animals, fighting each other for water, food, fuel, land and all other dwindling natural resources. The fighting, in turn, enhances the positive feedbacks, accelerating the downward spiral.” —EDRO

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