Mega Deluge Submerges Southern Thailand

UPDATE at 06:30UTC

Death Toll From Flooding and Landslide Reaches 35

Major flooding have hit the Thai provinces of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Surat Thani, Trang, Chumphon, Songkhla, Krabi and Phangnga, Satun and Narathiwat, displacing or affecting up to 2 million people and submerging about 150,000 hectares of farmland, Bangkok Post reported.

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At least 30 killed, 100 missing, 1.2 million affected as mudslides bury vast swathes of southern Thailand

Thai government has declared about 90 districts in 8 southern provinces  as disaster areas.

Many sensible countries are advising their citizens NOT to travel to Thailand.

Torrents of muddy water have killed at least 30 people, left more than a 100 missing and injured hundreds more. Up to a 1,000 homes, schools, offices, stores and temples, as well as thousands of roads and bridges have been destroyed or damaged, as of posting.

Tens of thousands of people , including many tourists, have been evacuated.

Muddy waters reached to the tops of palm trees, as deadly landslides destroyed homes and bridges and roads were washed away, leaving many areas cut off.” Source: AFP. Image may be subject to copyright.

Damage Estimate

Floodwaters have almost completely submerged all palm oil plantation areas as well as fruit orchards, Bangkok Post reported. Image may be subject to copyright.
[NOTE:  rai = 1,600 m²]

Unseasonal Heavy Rain Floods Southern Thailand

A powerful storm over the Malay Peninsula dumped up to 1,300 mm (51 inches) over southern Thailand. TRMM satellite image shows rainfall for March 23–30, 2011. Source: NASA-EO

World on Fire

US: Highest No. of Wildfires (y-t-d)

US Wildfires: 50-percent more fires than the 10 year average

Fueled by dry weather (drought conditions) and wind, between January 1, 2011 and March 1, 2011 at least 9,760 fires consumed more than 230,000 acres. [10-year average: 6,205 fires; 153,877 acres]

States currently reporting large fires:

• Florida
• Texas
• Virginia
  
• New Mexico
• Total no of new and active large fires: ~ 45

National Fire Activity:

• Initial attack activity: Moderate (271 new fires)
• New large fires: 7
• Large fires contained: 14
• Uncontained large fires: 12

Active Fire Mapping: USDA Forest Service. Click image to enlarge.

Wildfires have destroyed at least 80 homes in Texas and scorched some 300 square kilometers.

“From Feb. 21 through Feb. 28, the Texas Forest Service responded to 63 fires on nearly 140,000 acres — mostly in the Panhandle and Rolling Plains.” Source

Destroyed by Wildfire:

• Potter County, north of Amarillo: 30,000 acres and 30 homes
• Motley County:  40,000 acres consumed, and the entire town of Matador had to be  evacuated

Fire bans were imposed  in 144 Texas counties as of Feb. 28, the Forest Service reported.

MODIS Rapid Response System Global Fire Maps

Latest fire map available: 02/20/11 – 03/01/11 (2011051-2011060). Each of these fire maps accumulates the locations of the fires detected by MODIS on board the Terra and Aqua satellites over a 10-day period. Each colored dot indicates a location where MODIS detected at least one fire during the compositing period. Color ranges from red where the fire count is low to yellow where number of fires is large. The compositing periods are referenced by their start and end dates (julian day). The duration of each compositing period was set to 10 days. Compositing periods are reset every year to make year-to-year comparisons straightforward. The first compositing period of each year starts on January 1. The last compositing period of each year includes a few days from the next year. SOURCE: MODIS . Click image to enlarge.

Large Wildfires in Florida

Three large wildfires burning out of control in eastern Florida forced the authorities to close major routes, including Highway 1 and Interstate 95 on February 28, 2011 as MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite took this image. SOURCE: NASA-EO. Click image to enlarge.

MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite detected fires burning in southern Texas and Louisiana on March 1, 2011. Source: NASA-EO. Click image to enlarge.

Related News Links:

• 16,000-acre wildfire: Firefighter’s face burned
• West Texas deals with wildfire devastation

FIRE-EARTH Links:

• U-S Attacked by Continued Severe Weather
• Climate Forcing: Positive Feedback Mega Loop
• Global Climate Extremes INTENSIFYING

• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2011-2012 MegaDisasters
• Earth: Wounded and Feverish

• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• FEWW DISASTER FORECAST 2011
• 2011 Much More Disastrous
• 2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010
• Megadisasters Loom
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

China Drought: Mega Disaster Unfolding

Lifestyle Wars: People Losing to Planet

Human-induced Extreme Weather Causing Food Scarcity, Sending Prices Rocketing

A dying cornfield in Jinan, capital of east China’s Shandong Province, Jan. 18, 2011. (Xinhua/Zhu Zheng). Image may be subject to copyright.

Severe drought threatens wheat crop in China, world’s largest wheat producer: FAO

“Minimal rainfall or snow this winter has crippled China’s major agricultural regions, leaving many of them parched. Crop production has fallen sharply, as the worst drought in six decades, shows no sign of letting up.” Source.

A severe drought has persisted in China’s northern territories for several months. In Hebei province, the farmers haven’t seen any rain for 5 months.

In Henan province the drought control authorities have warned of  prolonged drought.

“East China’s Shandong Province, one of the country’s major grain producers, is bracing for its worst drought in 200 years.” Source.

Shandong has received only 12mm of rain since September 2010.

Water Shortages

A villager said, “The water is no longer suitable for drinking. We wash clothes with it. “

Locals have to fetch water ten kilometers away.

It’s far from enough. Source

How Bad?

Up to 13 million acres of China’s 35 million acres of wheat fields have been affected by the drought. Some 2.6 million people and 2.8 million head of livestock face severe shortages of drinking water, FAO reported.

Rocketing Food Prices

In January, wholesale food prices climbed to their highest monthly figure on record, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

Why are food prices rocketing?

Droughts and Deluge

• Canada’s planting season was disrupted by floods.
• Australia’s wheat and sugar cane crops were destroyed by mega flooding.
• Russia imposed a ban on exports of wheat after severe drought and wildfires destroyed harvests.

China’s Big Appetite

“China’s grain situation is critical to the rest of the world — if they are forced to go out on the market to procure adequate supplies for their population, it could send huge shock waves through the world’s grain markets,” said Robert S. Zeigler, the director general of the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños, in the Philippines.

Wheat Futures US cents/bushel

1 month

12 months

Corn Futures US cents/bushel

1 month

12 months

Source: Digital look via BBC. Images may be subject to copyright. Click images to enlarge.

Winter Storms Hit the U-S

Both the West and East Coasts of the U-S Hit by Winter Storms as Drought Persists in the South

States of Emergency have now been declared in California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Maine, New Jersey, Delaware and Massachusetts in the Past 72 hours in response to major rainstorms, severe snowstorms and persistent drought.

The D.C. area could see about 10 inches of snow, beginning Sunday, The National Weather Services said.

As the major snowstorm buffets the region, forecasters believe the worst may be yet to come.

Click images to enlarge

• Update Image
  

• Click HERE to Animate Image. (Source: SSEC/Wisc-Uni)
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• Update Image

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• Update image [See inset for validity]

Latest Seasonal Assessment – During the past several weeks, drought coverage increased or intensified across much of the Southwest, southern Plains, and the Florida peninsula. In contrast, continued precipitation improved drought conditions across the central Appalachians and Ohio Valley, with impacts easing across West Virginia, northern Virginia, and western Maryland. Further west, precipitation ameliorated drought conditions in southern Oregon and northeastern California. With moderate to strong La Niña conditions expected to continue through the northern hemisphere winter season, strong consideration was given in this outlook to climate anomalies associated with the cold ENSO phase. Therefore, drought expansion or intensification is expected across the Gulf Coast and southern Atlantic states, particularly in Florida. To the north, storm systems frequently translate across the Ohio Valley region into New England during La Niña winters, increasing the odds for drought improvement from eastern Arkansas and western Tennessee northward into the eastern Corn Belt. A similar precipitation anomaly dipole exists across the western U.S., with increased odds for above median precipitation in the Northwest contrasting with greater chances of below median precipitation for the Southwest and southern Rockies. Due to this consideration, continued improvement is expected for remaining drought areas in northern California and western Wyoming, while drought expansion or intensification is forecasted for the desert Southwest and portions of the central and southern High Plains. Increased odds for above median precipitation during the rainy season in Hawaii favor improvement across the western islands, but significant improvement of long term drought conditions on the eastern islands is more uncertain. [Source: NWS/ CPC]

Click Below for 31 Day Animations

• Northern Hemisphere
• United States and Canada
• Alaska
• Europe/Asia

Snow Cover Animations:

• Snow Water Equivalent: Season — Two weeks — One Day
• Snow Depth: Season — Two weeks — One Day
• Average Snowpack Temp: Season — Two weeks — One Day
  
• SWE Change: Season — Two weeks — One Day
• Snow Precipitation: Season — Two weeks — One Day
• Snow Melt: Season — Two weeks — One Day
• Blowing Snow Sublimation: Season — Two weeks — One Day
  
• Surface Sublimation: Season — Two weeks — One Day
• Non-Snow Precipitation: Season — Two weeks — One Da

Related Links:

• It Never Rains in Southern California
• California Rainfall Nears December Record
• Calif Rainstorm, Mid-Atlantic Snowstorm Update
• Global Snow and Ice – NH

• FIRE-EARTH Weather Links
• Satellite Imagery Page

Other Related Links

• NEW Snowstorm to Hit Upper Midwest
• Michigan: A 2010 Disaster Area
• Wisconsin Wind Chill Temps to Drop to -33ºC
• Your World Under Siege
• Megadisasters Loom

• Winter Officially Starts Today!

• 2010 Disasters
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Index of Human Impact on Nature (HIoN) March 2008
• 2010: The Year of Disasters
• Earth’s Human Induced Antiphase Nears Completion

• FEWW DISASTER FORECAST 2011
• Earth: Wounded and Feverish
• 2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010

European Weather

• The Third Worst Kind: Airline Passengers
• Europe Freezing to Death!
• Arctic Blast Hits Britain Again
• Transitory Impact of AO is the ‘Good News’
• United Kingdom of Ice

• Europe Freezes Over 3 Weeks Early
• When Disasters Strike
• 100MPH Winds Batter Britain

• IF Nature Had a List of Extreme Dislikes
• How many are up there polluting our skies?

NEW Snowstorm to Hit Upper Midwest

… as  Drought Persists in the South, Southeast

By this time next year, extreme climate could devastate parts of the U-S, leading to famines, epidemics and civil strife

USDA declares parts of 16 states as natural disaster areas due to drought

Drought continues to increase in intensity and coverage across the southern and central Plains,and parts of the southeast,  NWS/CPC forecast.

Drought will persist and expand from central and southern Texas eastward along and near the Gulf Coast through the southern Atlantic Seaboard.

Drought is forecast to also persist in the central and southern Plains, and expand into south-central Nebraska and northwestern Kansas, and from the southern Rockies, central Great Basin into central Nevada… Read full forecast here.

Meanwhile…

NEW Snowstorm pushes  more snow toward the upper Midwest

“Snow will develop today ahead of a storm system dropping down into the Plains. The heaviest snow is expected to fall from central Minnesota down through northeast Iowa and northwest Illinois. 3 to 5 inches of snow is expected to fall over this area by Thursday morning with lesser amounts to the northeast across western Wisconsin.” NWS – Weather Forecast Office.

Related Links:

• Michigan: A 2010 Disaster Area
• Wisconsin Wind Chill Temps to Drop to -33ºC
• Your World Under Siege

• Megadisasters Loom

• 2010 Disasters
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Index of Human Impact on Nature (HIoN) March 2008
• 2010: The Year of Disasters
• Earth’s Human Induced Antiphase Nears Completion

• FEWW DISASTER FORECAST 2011
• Earth: Wounded and Feverish
• 2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010

Calif Record-breaking Heat Wave Continues

2nd Heat Wave in a Month Hits SoCal

L.A. heat wave breaks all time record

A scorching heat wave sent temps soaring to a record high of 45ºC (113ºF) in downtown Los Angeles.

Previous record of 44.4ºC (112ºF) was set in June 1990. Temperature records for the L.A. area started in 1877.

Max Temps. Click Image to enlarge and update. (24-Hr FE ED).

Tremendous power demand yesterday caused several transformers to explode resulting in a massive power blackout, which left about 30,000 people in Los Angeles area without electricity today,  L.A. Department of Water and Power said.

“At the Santa Fe Dam, NWS’s online tracking system recorded a high of 116 degrees at 2:57 p.m.,” According to a report.

Three-digit temperatures are stretching as far north as the state capital, Sacramento, reports say.

Related Links

• Earth: Wounded and Feverish
• Drought and Deluge

• 20 Nations Facing Record Temps
• Drought and Deluge: Major Mechanisms Of Collapse
• Decadal Temp Avg Up by 74 pct on 1990s
• Will it be drought?
• A Heated Planet on Fire!

Ethanol Dries You Out

US: One drought away from food crisis

Alcohol Dries You Out and Eats Through Your Food Security

Disturbing facts about ethanol production in the US:

• In 2008, the United States was responsible for 52 percent of ethanol production in the world production, fermenting mostly corn to 9 billion gallons (~34.1 billion liters)  of fuel ethanol.

• Ethanol production rose by 38.5 percent in 2008 compared to the previous year (from 6.5 billion gallons, or 24.6 billion liters in 2007).

• United States imported an addition 557 million gallons of ethanol in 2008, from Brazil, Jamaica,  El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica.

• Federal mandates encourage more ethanol production [not less overall consumption.]

• The U.S. target for  for 2015 is 15 billion gallons, though it’s difficult to see where the industry is planning to get the water from.  [Data from the Renewable Fuels Association.]

• As of January 2009, at least 170 ethanol biorefineries were operating in the United States with 24 additional ones (new location or expanding plants) being planned.

• Corn is a thirsty crop requiring about 109 gallons of water for each pound (910 liters of water for each kg) of corn (shelled maize).  [Other estimates include 20 inches of soil moisture per acre of maize planted, producing about 150 bushels of corn per acre). Most of the water usually comes from the rain.

• Research performed at Cornell University showed that 26.1 pounds of corn is needed to produce a gallon of ethanol (3.13kg of corn per liter).

• Based on various sources, fresh water consumption is increasing globally by at least 1.2 percent per year, and the rate is rising.

• Typical ethanol plants use about 4.2 gallons of water to make one gallon of ethanol, says the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. However, the ethanol  industry insists the water requirement is ‘only’ a ratio of 3 to 1.

• Annual harvest of corn in the US (2008) was 12,101 million bushels (307.37 MMT). [Source: USDA]

• Total amount of corn used to produce ethanol in 2008 was a staggering 3,600 million bushels (91.44MMT),  or 29.75 percent of the annual US corn harvest.[Source: USDA]

• Total amount of water needed to produce 15 billion gallons of ethanol, the US production target for 2015, is about 22 million-million gallons (83.5 trillion liters). That is about a fifth of the estimated volume of water in Lake Erie.

Notes:

1. A bushel of shelled maize (corn) weighs 56 pounds ( 25.40 kg).
2. MMT = Million Metric Tons.
3. FEWW calculations show that about 14.28 percent of the ethanol produced in the US in 2008 came from milo, other feedstocks, biomass, cheese whey and beverage waste.