Global Disasters/ Significant Events – December 3, 2015

Momotombo Volcano Erupts – First Time Since 1905

The 1,299-meter high Momotobo volcano, a famous Nicaraguan symbol, has erupted for the first time since 1905, spewing lava and ejecting plumes of smoke and ash into the air.

“The Momotombo Volcano took a permanent place in Nicaraguan history in 1609 when a violent eruption made the inhabitants of the old colonial city of León (León Viejo) decide to move their city away from the foot of the volcano. The city of León has been rebuilt some 30 kilometers westward, but Momotombo still continues to threaten smaller settlements located around its immediate perimeter.”

A large geothermal field is located on the southern flank of the volcano, featuring a Geothermic Plant.

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“Massive application” to prospect for oil in the SW Pacific Ocean

ION Geophysical, a Texas-based company, has applied to prospect 1.6 million square kilometers offshore of New Zealand in what is said to be the biggest petroleum application made to the government.

[The target area, about six times the size of New Zealand landmass, includes regions that are tectonically hyperactive and seismologically super unstable. Editor]

“I’ve never seen anything of this scale before,” said Green Party’s energy and resources spokesperson. This is “massive application.”

German Intel warns of Saudi Arabia destabilizing role

The German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) has warned of Saudi Arabia’s increasingly “destabilizing role” in the Arab world in an official memo, reported Spiegel Online.

“The previous conservative diplomatic stance held by the older members of the royal family has now been replaced by an impulsive interventionist policy,” according to BND

“The new defense minister Mohammed bin Salman, who is the son of King Salman, is playing a  critical role.”

King Salman and his son are desperate to become “ruler of the Arab world.” They are trying to expand Saudi Arabia’s regional influence via a new foreign policy agenda with “a strong military component and new regional alliances,” write the BND analysts.

 

Two More Mass Shootings in Terrorland: Dozens Killed or Wounded

Updated to include the fatal mass shooting in Savannah, Georgia Wednesday

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14 Killed, 17 wounded in San Bernardino shooting

San Bernandino police say they have identified two people killed in a gun battle with police in Redlands, California as Syed Rizwan Farook, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen, and 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik.

This follows earlier news that two shooters had opened fire at a party in the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, killing at least 14 people and leaving 17 others wounded. The shooters were heavily armed, and their motive remains unknown, according to local reports.

The male shooter, Farook, had worked for the county health department for five years, and left the party “under some circumstances that were described as angry,” police said.

Mass Shooting in Georgia

A shooter in Savannah, Georgia killed a woman and left three others wounded early Wednesday morning, according to a news bulletin issued by Savannah Metro Police.

Mass Shooting in Colorado Springs

The two mass shootings on Wednesday follow yet another mass shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. Robert L. Dear, a 57-year-old man, was arrested on Saturday in connection with the shooting, which left three people dead and nine others wounded.

More than 1 Mass Shooting per day in 2015 in US

The following is a 2015 list of Mass Shootings in Terrorland, in which at least four people were shot in a single event. Some 355 mass shootings have occurred so far this year, a total of 336 days.

• Cited lists of known mass shootings in 2015

Key Gun Violence Statistics

Every day, 297 people in the U.S. are shot in murders, assaults, suicides & suicide attempts, unintentional shootings, and police intervention, of whom 90 die.

Every day, 90 people die from gun violence:

• 31 are murdered
• 55 kill themselves
• 2 are killed unintentionally
• 1 is killed by police intervention
• 1 intent unknown.

Each year, 32,514 people die from gun violence:

• 11,294 people are murdered
• 19,992 people kill themselves
• 561 people are killed unintentionally
• 414 are killed by police intervention
• 254 die but intent is not known

Each year 2,677 kids die from gun violence:

• 1,671 children and teens are murdered
• 827 children and teens kill themselves
• 124 children and teens killed unintentionally
• 25 are killed by police intervention
• 30 die but the intent was unknown

 

Crop Disasters Declared in the Carolinas

18 Counties in the Carolinas designated as crop disaster areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 18 counties in the Carolinas as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding that occurred from Oct. 1, 2015, and continues.

Those areas are

• South Carolina. Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Chester, Fairfield, Greenville, Laurens, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, Union and York counties.

• North Carolina. Cleveland, Henderson, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania counties.

Crop Disasters 2015

Beginning January 7, 2015 USDA has declared crop disasters in at least 3,890 counties and county equivalents across 46 States [as well as Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands]: Those states are Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

• About 99 percent of the 2015 crop disaster designations have been due to drought so far this year.

Crop Disasters 2014

In 2014, USDA declared crop disasters in at least 2,904 counties across 44 states. Most of the designations were due to drought.

Those states were:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan. Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. [FIRE-EARTH has documented all of the above listings. See blog content.]

Notes:
i. USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop.

ii. The counties designated as agricultural disaster areas, as listed above, include both primary and contiguous disaster areas.

iii. Some counties may have been designated as crop disaster areas more than once due to multiple disasters.

iv. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.

Related Links

• Crop Disasters Declared in Kansas December 3, 2015
• Multiple Crop Disasters Declared in Michigan and Ohio November 26, 2015
• Multiple Crop Disasters Declared in Six U.S. States November 22, 2015
• Crop Disasters Declared in Puerto Rico November 13, 2015
• Crop Disasters Declared in 10 U.S. States November 5, 2015
• Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index

Crop Disasters Declared in Kansas

7 Counties in Kansas designated as crop disaster areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared 7 counties in the state of Kansas as crop disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain, high winds, and hail that occurred on Sept. 10, 2015.

Those areas are Barton, Ellsworth, Pawnee, Rice, Rush, Stafford and Russell counties.

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Dec. 2, 2015.

Related Links

• Multiple Crop Disasters Declared in Michigan and Ohio November 26, 2015