Global Disasters/ Significant Events – Sept. 6, 2013

Drought 2013: Agricultural Disaster Declared in 1,336 Counties Across the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated a total of 1,336 counties across 29 states as agricultural disaster areas, so far this year.

The designations include both primary and contiguous disaster areas.

Map of the U.S. Drought Disaster areas as of September 4, 2013. At least 1,336 counties, or 42.5% of all U.S. counties¹, were designated as agricultural disaster areas² due to the ongoing drought. [The figure includes both primary and contiguous disaster designations.] Source: USDA. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.

1. [U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.]
2. Agriculture officials declare disaster when crop damage has exceeded 30 percent.

Related Links

• Agricultural Disasters Declared for 180 U.S. Counties August 29, 2013
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index

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The Disaster President Signs Arkansas Disaster Declaration

The Disaster President has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Arkansas due to severe storms and flooding during the period of August 8-14, 2013.

Most of the losses and damage caused by the severe storms and flooding occurred in the counties of Benton, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Marion and Newton.

Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments, FEMA has said.

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S. Korea bans seafood from eastern Japan

The South Korean government has banned imports of seafood products from 8 prefectures in eastern Japan due to the threat of radioactive contamination from toxic water leaks at Fukushima nuclear plant.

The ban, announced on Friday, will take effect on Monday, September 9, 2013, and will apply to ALL seafood imports from fisheries in 8 prefectures: Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, Aomori, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma.

“The measures are due to the sharply increased concern in the public about the flow of hundreds of metric tons of contaminated water into the ocean at the site of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan,” a spokesman for the South Korean Prime Minister’s office said.

“The officials also say the country will ask for test certificates if even a trace of radioactivity is found in fish, dairy products and other foods from anywhere in Japan,” said a report.

China banned imports of seafood products, dairy and vegetable from at least 5 Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima, immediately after the triple meltdown at Fukushima nuclear plant on March 11, 2011.

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Middle East Narrowly Escaped Major War Tuesday: Russian Expert

Russian expert says Mideast made narrow escape from major war Tuesday

By Itar-Tass World Service writer Tamara Zamyatina

MOSCOW, September 3 (Itar-Tass) – Launching of two ballistic missiles in the Mediterranean water area testifies to the ongoing U.S. preparations for air strikes against Syria, a top-rank Russian military expert said in an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass Tuesday night.

Original Photo: The mushroom cloud from XX-11 IvyMike (Fusion Bomb). Public domain photo. Source: United States Department of Energy Inset: Tomahawk Block IV Cruise Missiles. Image source: EDRO. Image added by FIRE-EARTH.

The U.S. and Israel actually wanted to watch the reaction to the launch on the part of Russia, China and Iran, said Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, Ret. From 1996 through to 2001, Gen Ivashov was chief of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Main Department for International Defense Cooperation. He is President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems at present.

He believes that the missiles were launched for the purposes of reconnaissance.

“The thing is ballistic missiles won’t be used if the U.S. and their allies begin an intervention in Syria,” Gen Ivashov said. “While a cruise missile can hit directly not only the target as such but even a separate element of it, a ballistic missile very definitely won’t hit the target due to the impact dispersal effect. Hence it’s inefficient for the purpose.”

“Those who launched the two ballistic missiles towards Syria obviously hoped Iran would consider this launch as an attack on Damascus, its ally,” Gen Ivashov went on. “The Pentagon clearly wanted to see if the Iranians would respond to this by delivering a ballistic missile strike at Israel.”

“The provocation would have thus played into Binyamin Netanyahu’s hands and would have helped him to convince his nation Israel should throw its shoulder into a joint aerospace operation conducted by the U.S., Turkey and Saudi Arabia against Syria,” he said.

“Had Iran responded to the challenge, the U.S. would have gotten weighty reasons for attacking Syria by way of support for Israel as its ally, since Barack Obama still doesn’t have congressional support for an operation against the Syrian government either among the rank-and-file Americans or in the Gongress. In the meantime, the necessity of defending Israel would offer an important argument for shaping up public opinion in favor of ousting the Bashar al-Assad regime.”

“From the angle of view of military strategy, the launch of ballistic missiles compels Syria and Iran to bring into full-scale action all the tracking systems they have,” Gen Ivashov said. “Air defense systems, too, start reacting to missile launches.”

“When this happens, the U.S. warships, aircraft, and ground-based tracking systems immediately do the computerized identification of all the locations in Syria and Iran where combat operations control is exercised from – their working frequencies, the places where radar stations are deployed, their coordinates, technical characteristics, and so on.”

“Right after that, radio-electronic jamming of the enemy’s combat control networks goes into action. It is followed by string missile strikes, with the data on location of the enemy’s control and command systems loaded into the programs.”

“As a result, the Syrian and Iranian Armed Forces should lose control and coordination and lose the war eventually,” Gen Ivashov said.

This is a technological side of the provocation but there is a political side to the missile launch, too.

“Israel is demonstrating blatant disregard for the norms of international law,” Gen Ivashov said. “The Israeli Defense Ministry did not issue a warning to the countries, the ships of which were cruising in the Mediterranean at the moment. More than that, Israel has a bigger arsenal of nukes than France although it is not a member of the world nuclear club.”

“Nonetheless, Israeli government was prepared to set the machine of a major war in the Middle East into motion Tuesday – with support from the Pentagon,” he said.

Another Russian military expert commented earlier this year on the role that an element of spontaneity may play in triggering a large-scale armed conflict.

Major-General Pavel Zolotaryov, Ret., a deputy director of the Moscow-based Institute for the U.S. and Canada Studies made the comment in spring 2013 with regard to the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. “The Korean crisis may pose a danger to the world due a possibility of haphazard developments,” he said.

“When two countries, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea keep their Armed Forces in a huge tension, a factor of spontaneity can play a very bad role,” Gen Zolotaryov said. “Suppose someone has a nervous breakdown and fires a shot and then unpredictable developments start snowballing.”

A risk of a chain of haphazard events is looming in the situation around Syria, too.  [http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c39/863249.html]

Related Links

The Next Phase of Collapse: Wars initiated by Israel/US for Hegemony Over World’s Resources Posted by edro on March 10, 2008

Corn Belt Drought Intensifies

Late growing season drought intensifies in Iowa, neighboring states: Report

Severe drought in Iowa increased to 32.07 percent up from 22.4 percent a week earlier, with 63.24 percent of the state covered in moderate drought or worse.

“After such an ideal start to the growing season, the past two months have been much drier than usual, with temperatures slowly increasing,” said David Miskus of U.S. Drought Monitor.

• Precipitation in central Iowa and northern Missouri was only 5 to 25 percent of normal, and as little as a tenth of an inch of rain.

• Iowa recorded its warmest week since July 2012, with highs of 104 degrees Fahrenheit at Des Moines and Fort Madison on Aug. 30.

• Iowa experienced its seventh driest August in 141 years of records, following the ninth driest July.

• Crop and pasture conditions began to deteriorate rapidly once heat was added to the dryness.

Small areas of severe drought also showed up in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin this week.

• Drought also expanded or intensified in Mississippi, Oklahoma and on the Hawaiian island of Maui, during the week.

The portion of the drought-stricken areas in the U.S. corn belt increased from 45 to 52 percent during the week ending September 3, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s meteorologist Brad Rippey, the report said.

• Soybeans in drought also increased in the last week, from 38 to 42 percent.
• Corn and soybeans in drought bottomed out in July at 17 and 8 percent, respectively.
• Cattle in drought increased one percent to 53 percent.

“Given that U.S. producers planted an estimated 97.4 million acres of corn and 77.2 million acres of soybeans in 2013, current drought figures suggest that more than 50 million acres (nearly 80,000 square miles) of corn and some 32 million acres (more than 50,000 square miles) of soybeans are presently being affected by drought,” Rippey said.

“According to USDA, nearly one-sixth of the U.S. corn (16 percent) and soybeans (15 percent) were rated in very poor to poor condition on September 1. A year ago, near the height of the Drought of 2012, very poor to poor ratings stood at 52 percent of the corn and 37 percent of the soybeans.”

As Midwest continued to dry out, parts of the Southwest and West saw scattered improvements from the monsoon season.

Overall, the portion of the contiguous United States in moderate to exceptional drought crept up to 50.09 percent from 50.04 percent a week earlier.

• The total land area in moderate drought increased to 17.69 percent, up from 16.67 previously.

• The area in exceptional drought shrank to 1.25 percent, down 0.07 percent from last week.

Related Links

• U.S. Drought Expands Mainly in the South, High Plains August 29, 2013
• Agricultural Disasters Declared for 180 U.S. Counties August 29, 2013
• US: Drought Disaster 2013 [Index Page]
• Agricultural Disasters Index