AGATON Displaces More Than 200,000 in Philippines

EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENTS
CLIMATE-RELATED DISASTERS
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Tropical Depression AGATON kills or injures 100 people, affecting at least 830,000 others

Tropical Depression AGATON [locally known as “Lingling”] has claimed dozens of lives, leaving dozens more injured or missing, and affecting  more than 830,000 others.

AGATON dumped significant amounts of rain on Mindanao island group and parts of the island of Samar over three days, triggering widespread flooding and landslides, which impacted many hundreds of towns and villages across 15 provinces, said National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Many of the victims had already lost their homes to Super Typhoon HAIYAN in November.

About 207,000 people have lost their homes and are being moved to evacuation centers.

Thailand Imposes 60-Day Emergency Rule Over Unrest

Emergency Rule
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Anti-government protesters continue to block parts of the capital to force PM to resign

Protesters are demanding PM Yingluck Shinawatra’s resignation, accusing the government of being run by exiled former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, the brother of the current prime minister.

Ms Yingluck has refused to resign, but instead has called an election on 2 February to placate the protesters.

“The cabinet decided to invoke the emergency decree to take care of the situation and to enforce the law,” said Deputy Prime Minister, media reported.

Officials say the decree , which covers the date of the general election in February, could be used to ban protest marches.

Annual Slaughter of Dolphins Continues in Japan

CRIMES AGAINST NATURE
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Japanese fishermen slaughter dozens of dolphins after driving them into killing area

At least 30 dolphins were slaughtered by Japanese fishermen after being herded by boat engines and nets into a killing area of the Taiji cove in Wakayama prefecture, reported Reuters.

The dolphins were from a group of more than 200 captured and held in the cove since Friday, said the report.

Fishermen hunt dolphins in the shallows of a cove in Taiji, western Japan, January 21, 2014. Japanese fishermen drove a large group of dolphins into the shallows and killed at least 30 on Tuesday, hiding themselves behind a tarpaulin, as the annual dolphin hunt that sparked protest in the West entered its final stages. Every year the fishermen of Taiji, in western Wakayama prefecture, drive hundreds of dolphins into a cove, select some for sale to marine parks, release some and kill the rest for meat.  Credit: REUTERS/Adrian Mylne. More images…

Related Links

• Japan Starts Annual Mass Killing of Whales  January 6, 2014

Look for the Cracks!

NOTE: At least two of the links posted below have previously been censored by Google and WordPress

ONGOING NUCLEAR DISASTER
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Fukushima Farce: Look for the cracks and ya shall find them at the and of the brook!

A day or so after FIRE-EARTH Editor suggested radioactive leaks inside the No. 3 reactor building most probably came from cracks in the containment vessel, the plant operator TEPCO says they suspect the leak originates from around an opening in the containment vessel which connects to a steam pipe.

TEPCO says the area around the opening had previously been sealed with resin, but the substance likely deteriorated after being exposed to the heat from the melted fuel and salt from sea water poured into the vessels immediately after the disaster to cool down the chamber.

Technicians are now planning to locate the racks in the containment vessel and seal them, TEPCO said. [DO NOT use the same type of resin!!! Editor.]

Once they have sealed the cracks, they can refill the vessel with water and remove the melted fuel, at least in theory.

However, they cannot enter the reactor building without being exposed to cosmic levels of radiation.

On October 18, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [and Google/Wordpress censored]: Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima

On November 7, 2013 FIRE-EARTH said [and Google/Wordpress censored]: Scale of potential catastrophe at Fukushima could dwarf a limited nuclear war.

Related Links

• “Radioactive River” Flowing at Fukushima No. 3 Reactor January 20, 2014

• Fukushima Radiation Level 8 Times* Govt Standard: TEPCO January 13, 2014
• Record Radiation Detected at Fukushima [AGAIN] December 22, 2013
• Japan Renews Nuke Ambitions Despite Fukushima, Common Sense December 14, 2013
• Record Outdoor Radiation Level Detected at Nuked Fukushima Plant December 9, 2013
• TEPCO Continues to Contaminate the World October 3, 2013
• 80 Percent Chance of Major Catastrophe at Fukushima NPP November 7, 2013
• Crimes Against Nature: Water Overflows from 12 Fukushima Barriers October 21, 2013
• Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima October 18, 2013
• Fukushima Fatal Farce Turns Deadlier September 1, 2013

For additional links to the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima, search blog content.

Ecological Disaster Declared for Forest Canopy near Jakarta, Indonesia

ANTHROPOGENIC HAZARDS
ECOLOGICAL DISASTERS: DEFORESTATION
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Jakarta floods due to ecological disaster: Environment Minister

“The floods that we now face are all a result of an ecological damage. Our ecology has been completely destroyed,” said Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya, while visiting the devastated are in Bogor on Monday.

“Everything happens because of human behavior which is not environmentally friendly, especially in Ciliwung, where garbage is being dumped into the river,” he said.

The destruction has occurred upstream area of Ciliwung river that runs through the capital, Jakarta, where flooding has already forced more than 65,000 people to flee their homes.

In the Ciliwung Watershed, the forest coverage has decreased from 9.4 percent in 2000 to 2.3 percent in 2010, or a 400-fold drop in the past 10 years.

Balthasar asserts that the flooding in Jakarta and landslides in nearby areas are caused by the ecological devastation in Ciliwung, including the increasing areas of critical land plagued with high levels of erosion and sedimentation, as well as high fluctuation of water flow between the dry and rainy seasons.

“The rate of ecological damage or environmental degradation in Indonesia year to year has been alarming. It was evident from the decrease in the forest coverage from 49.37 percent in 2008 to 47.73 percent in 2012, or degraded by 1.64 percent within four years,” reported Antara

Balthazar has also blamed the ecological disaster in the area on the locals who dump their waste into the river.

Related Links

• Floods Destroy or Damage Thousands of Homes in Indonesia January 20, 2014
• Tens of Thousands Displaced in Indonesia Floods, Landslides  January 19, 2014

State of Emergency Declared in France’s Flood-Ravaged Var Region

EXTREME CLIMATIC EVENTS
CLIMATE-RELATED DISASTERS
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French government declares a national emergency in the flood-hit Var after thousands flee their homes

French Prime Minister proclaimed a state of national emergency during a visit to the town of La Londe-les-Maures, where rising floodwaters have already inundated up to a thousand homes, killing several people.

“We’ll come to the rescue, that’s what we’re here for,” he said, adding that more than 500 firefighters and 200 police personnel had been sent to the town to help residents.