2014: Year Five of Human-Enhanced Natural Disasters

LIMITS TO IGNORANCE!

Earth is fighting to stay alive. IF she loses the fight…

For every single step taken to restore the natural life support services, humans take 6,400 steps in the opposite direction, destroying the planet’s ability to maintain life.—EDRO

How long did you think your world would last?

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• 800 Days and Counting Down:  December 30, 2013
• Index of Human Impact on Nature
• Human Impact
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• As of July 1,  2013, the CASF Index of Human Impact on Nature (HIoN) was 323!
• RAPID CHANGE IN PROGRESS! July 4, 2012

Dead or Wounded in 2014

Syria Death Toll

According to various estimates, more than 130,000 people have been killed in Syria and about 2.5 million people have fled their homes since the Saudi-backed destabilization of the country began in March 2011.

Iraq Death Toll

The 2014 death toll in Iraq climbed above the 9,500 mark with about 20,000 wounded in hundreds of violent attacks throughout the war-torn country.

Pakistan Death Toll

About 1,550 people were killed and 4,100 others wounded in hundreds of bomb attacks across Pakistan in 2013.

South Sudan Death Toll

“Thousands” of people have been killed in South Sudan and more than 120,000 others displaced, since heavy fighting began on 15 December, 2013  in South Sudan’s capital Juba and quickly spread to four other states, said UN.

Tap Water Catches Fire in North Dakota

FRACKED IN NORTH DAKOTA
.

N.D. resident sets tap water on fire

Jacob Haughney, who works in North Dakota oil fields, has made a video in which he sets his tap water on fire with a lighter.

There’s “nothing like a refreshing glass of fire…  First time I did it, it was a huge fireball [and] took up the entire sink—so that’s why I’m a little jumpy doing it. I don’t want to blow up the bathroom here,” he explains, laughing during the demonstration.

How to set tap water on fire in two steps, as shown by the N.D. resident Jacob Haughney.

High concentration of methane in the water may be responsible  for the flammable water, according to the experts.

North Dakota has experienced a fracking boom over the past few years. It’s currently the second largest oil-producing state in the US, with about 912,000 barrels of shale gas per day.

Gasland 2010

In the 2010 award winning documentary “Gasland 2010,”  filmmaker Josh Fox travel across 32 states meeting other rural residents on the front lines of fracking. “He discovers toxic streams, ruined aquifers, dying livestock, brutal illnesses, and kitchen sinks that burst into flame.”

GASLAND Trailer 2010

West Nile Virus Outbreak Kills Tens of Thousands of Birds

MASS DIE OFF of BIRDS
.

Unprecedented wintertime outbreak of West Nile virus caused mass die off of birds: Officials

An unusual wintertime outbreak of West Nile virus in Utah killed at least 27 bald eagles in December and more than 20,000 water birds since November, said the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Officials discovered the dead or dying birds in northern and central Utah. The sick bald eagles, which died during treatment, all displayed similar symptoms including head tremors, seizures, paralysis in the wings, and weakness in legs and feet.

This undated photo released by the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Northern Utah shows a bald eagle that was brought into the center for treatment, but eventually died.  Credit: Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah/via AP.

The eagles most probably contracted the disease after preying on sick or dead water birds, namely Eared Grebe [Black-neck Grebe], that were infected by the West Nile virus, according to Leslie McFarlane, a Utah wildlife disease coordinator.

“This is really kind of undocumented. Eagles have been known to feed on birds infected with West Nile virus but the transmission hasn’t happened on this large of a scale. And the total number of birds we’re talking about is on a grand scale that may not have been seen before,” she said.

“Some 20,000 of the water birds have died in and around the Great Salt Lake since November in an outbreak that may be a record in North America, McFarlane said. Initial testing suggested an infectious bacterial disease such as avian cholera caused the deaths, but findings released on Tuesday showed West Nile virus was the culprit,” said a report quoting McFarlane.

The fall is quite long in Utah, and provides for an extended breeding season for mosquitoes into late October, she said; however, it may be impossible to determine whether grebes contracted the disease in the state, or were infected by West Nile virus migrating there.

Up to 1,200 bald eagles migrate to wintering grounds in Utah each year, and the death toll could rise, said McFarlane.

“Worst Ever” Heatwave Turns Deadly in Argentina

EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENT
.

Soaring temperatures leave at least a dozen dead, hundreds hospitalized in Argentina

A major heatwave affecting Argentina has broken seasonal temperature records, leaving at least a dozen people dead, with hundreds more requiring hospitalization in the past week.

Temperature have soared to as much 46ºC (115ºF) in the northern provinces, the highest ever for the season since records began more than 100 years ago.

The worst affected area is the province of Santiago del Estero (population: 900,000), and its six neighboring provinces of Catamarca, Chaco, Salta, Santa Fe, Córdoba and Tucumán.

Rising Average Temperatures

The provinces are located in the flat lands of the Gran Chaco, a hot and semi-arid lowland in the Río de la Plata basin.

The climate across the region is subtropical with a dry season and high temperatures dominating throughout the year. The annual average temperature has risen from 21.5ºC in the 1970s to more than 24°C in the past few years, with the daily summer temperature maxima rising to 50ºC.

Meantime, the temperatures in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires have climbed to about 39ºC, with the electricity demands continuing to set record highs, leading to power cuts due to energy shortages.

The power cuts are compounding the impact of heat as people are prevented from using fans and air conditioning.