Fire Earth

Earth is fighting to stay alive. Mass dieoffs, triggered by anthropogenic assault and fallout of planetary defense systems offsetting the impact, could begin anytime!

Archive for July 19th, 2013

Now you see it, now you don’t …

Posted by feww on July 19, 2013

Beijing Buried in Beige Again

beijing buried in Beige
Heavy smog shrouds Beijing again, – July 18, 2013. Source: Xinhua. Image may be subject to copyright. More images…

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Beijing AQI: Beijing Real-time Air Quality Index (AQI). Source: http://aqicn.org/

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Air Pollution Index.

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Global Land Surface Third Warmest June on Record

Posted by feww on July 19, 2013

Earth’s land surface was 1.05°C above 20th century average

The global land surface temperature rose 1.05°C (1.89°F) above the 20th century average of 13.3°C (55.9°F), marking the third warmest June on record, according to NOAA.

  • The June global sea surface temperature was 0.48°C  above the 20th century average of 16.4°C, the 10th warmest June in the 134-year period of record.
  • June’s combined average temperature for land and ocean surfaces for 2013 tied with 2006 as the fifth highest on record, at 0.64°C above the 20th century average of 15.5°C.
  • The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for the January–June period (year-to-date) was 0.59°C above the 20th century average of 13.5°C, tying with 2003 as the seventh warmest similar period on record.
  • The United States experienced its 15th-warmest June on record.
  • Monthly average records for June were broken over much of N Canada, far NW Russia, the Philippines, S Japan, portion of SW China and part of Africa.

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January–June Global Land and Ocean plot. Source: NOAA/NCDC

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January–June Global Hemisphere plot. Source: NOAA/NCDC

Latest data may be accessed via the Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page.

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Motown Collapsing

Posted by feww on July 19, 2013

Detroit becomes largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy 

The city of Detroit, a metonym for the American automobile industry, has become the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy, with debts of up to $20bn.

Since January 2010, at least eight cities, towns and counties have filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in a federal court. The list includes Boise County (Idaho), Stockton, Mammoth Lake and San Bernardino (California), Jefferson County (Alabama), Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), Central Falls (Rhode Island) and Detroit (Michigan).

“The fiscal realities confronting Detroit have been ignored for too long. I’m making this tough decision so the people of Detroit will have the basic services they deserve and so we can start to put Detroit on a solid financial footing that will allow it to grow and prosper in the future,” said Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. “This is a difficult step, but the only viable option to address a problem that has been six decades in the making.”


“It is clear that the financial emergency in Detroit cannot be successfully addressed outside of such a filing, and it is the only reasonable alternative that is available,” Snyder said in the letter authorizing Detroit’s emergency manager to seek federal bankruptcy protection for the City. “In other words, the City’s financial emergency cannot be satisfactorily rectified in a reasonable period of time absent this filing.”

Detroit population has shrunk from over 2 million in the 1950s to about 713,000 in 2011. The city reported  the highest violent crime rate among all major US cities, with more than 15,000 reported crimes in 2011.

The public services are in a state of near collapse. About 80,000 properties are abandoned or condemned, with only 53% of owners paying their 2011 property taxes.

After 60 years of decline, large parts of the City can only improve by being razed to the ground.

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  • San Bernardino. The city of San Bernardino became the third California city in two weeks to file bankruptcy protection in the face of a $45-million budget shortfall, reports said.
  • Atwater. The small Central California city of Atwater (Pop: ~28,000) has declared A fiscal emergency, which could translate to the state’s fourth municipal bankruptcy this year, said a report.
  • North Las Vegas, Nevada. The Nevada city of North Las Vegas, described as “ground zero for foreclosures” was officially declared as a disaster area on June 23.

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