Drought, Extreme Heat Cripple China, Japan, S. Korea

Drought and extreme heat plague many parts of  China, as heat dome hovers over east Asia

Record temperatures, many of them above 40ºC, are seriously affecting people, killing poultry and livestock and destroying crops across east Asia.

Original caption: A farmer shows the dried-up rice fields in Hejia Village of Yongxin County, east China’s Jiangxi Province, Aug. 9, 2013. Lingering drought has caused severe damage to agricultural products, leaving millions of people short of drinking water in many parts of China. (Xinhua/Zhou Ke). More images…

Up to a staggering 10 percent of the population, an estimated 130 million people, have been affected by drought in the south, southwest, central, east and southeast, and by extreme heat in central and eastern China.

Original caption: An excavator is used for seeking water on a riverbed in Shuangfeng County of Loudi City, central China’s Hunan Province, Aug. 8, 2013. Regions in Hunan Province were hit by a severe drought this summer due to lingering high temperatures and lack of rainfall, leaving about 1.5 million people short of drinking water. (Xinhua/Bai Yu). More images …

More than 10 million people and at least as many livestock are short of drinking water, in the worst affected regions including Jiangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan and Zhejiang Provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

A villager prepares to pump water from a deep cave in Motou Village of Quanzhou County, Guilin City, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Aug. 9, 2013. (Xinhua/Lu Bo’an. More images…

  Original caption: Soldiers carry water for local residents in Zhoushan City, east China’s Zhejiang Province, Aug. 11, 2013. A lingering drought has left 417,000 people short of drinking water in the province. The Zhejiang provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters raised the drought emergency response system to level-3 on Sunday. (Xinhua/Xu Yu). More images…

Japan

In western Japan the mercury rose to 40.7ºC causing more heatstroke and heat related illnesses. More than 30,000 people have been hospitalized since May this year, a rise of 10 percent compared with last year.

Weather authorities have issued several alerts, advising people to reduce exposure to the sun and remain well-hydrated.

South Korea

“The entire Korean Peninsula is sweltering with average daily temperature reaching just under 33 degrees in Seoul. The heat has killed tens thousands of chickens and fish, a serious blow to the poultry and fish farming industry,” said a report.

Meantime, the country faces serious power shortages this week as temperatures are forecast to rise pushing up demand for power, while six of the SK’s nuclear plants r4emain off-line.

“If one nuclear reactor stops its operation all of a sudden, we may have to start rolling power blackouts like we did on September 15, 2011,” Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick told reporters.

SK’s power demand is forecast to peak at about “80,500 megawatts (MW) in the next three days while its power supply capacity is seen at 77,440 MW the energy ministry said in a statement. With all the possible power-saving and supplying measures, the supply surplus could be raised to 1,800 MW but that would still not be enough,” said a report.

The heatwave is forecast to linger in East Asia until at least next week.

Related Links

• Major Catastrophe Unfolding in China
• China’s Latest Drought Disaster Figures
• Shanghai Sets Yet Another Record High Temp August 7, 2013

ANDREA Makes Landfall in Florida Big Bend

TS ANDREA brings heavy rainfall

Tropical Storm ANDREA made landfall near the Big Bend of Florida, and continued moving northeast at 17 mph with sustained winds of about 17mph.

Andrea is expected to accelerate as it moves up along the East Coast through Saturday, bringing heavy rainfall, minor storm surge, strong rip currents, and isolated tornadoes, said NOAA.

Tropical Storm ANDREA – 120-hour Rainfall Forecast (inches). Specialized WPC Precipitation Forecasts.

The Land of Rising Heat

Global Disasters/ Significant Events

2012 warmest year on record for continental U.S.

The Lower 48 experienced its warmest year on record in 2012 as the average temperature rose to 12.9°C (55.3°F), some 1.8°C (3.2°F) above the 20^th century average, and 0.6°C (1.0°F) above 1998, the previous warmest year, NOAA reported.

Every state in the contiguous U.S. had an above-average annual temperature for 2012. Nineteen states had a record warm year and an additional 26 states had one of their 10 warmest. Source: NOAA

Other Highlights

• 2012 was the 2nd most extreme year on record for the country, according the U.S. Climate Extremes Index. “The index, which evaluates extremes in temperature and precipitation, as well as landfalling tropical cyclones, was nearly twice the average value and second only to 1998. To date, 2012 has seen 11 disasters that have reached the $1 billion threshold in losses, to include Sandy, Isaac, and tornado outbreaks experienced in the Great Plains, Texas and Southeast/Ohio Valley.”
• The average precipitation total for the contiguous U.S. for 2012 was 67.5 cm (26.57 inches), 6.5 cm (2.57 in) below average.
• The 2012 drought plagued 61 percent of the U.S. at its peak in July. “The dry conditions proved ideal for wildfires in the West, charring 9.2 million acres — the third highest on record.”

Annual Extremes: Several locations throughout the United States experienced temperature and precipitation extremes in 2012. Most striking was the number of locations across the country that broke their average annual temperature record. These records were primarily driven by extremely warm maximum day time temperatures or daily highs, especially during the spring and summer months. More than a dozen of these locations also experienced their driest year on record. In those areas, the combination of the extreme warm and dry period resulted in a drought comparable to the drought episodes of the 1950s. Source: NOAA/NCDC

Significant weather and climate events- Preliminary

Significant weather and climate events- preliminary

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

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DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,158 Days Left 

[January 9, 2013] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,158 Days Left to the most Fateful Day in Human History
• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

Disaster Calendar – 28 May 2012

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,388 Days Left

[28 May 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,388 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History…

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

Australia: The Lost Continent?

Human Induced Planetary Antiphase Series

How Much Longer Could Australians Cope?

Australia on catastrophic fires warning

Fire authorities in South Australia have declared a catastrophic fire danger for two districts,  the Flinders and North-West Pastoral districts.

The catastrophic fire warning comes in the wake of February’s bushfires, which killed at least 173 people across Victoria.

Extreme temperatures, low humidity and strong winds arte forecast. The temperature in some parts of Australia have topped 40 C, setting new records for November.

Weekly highest maximum temperature for Australia

Tropical OLR and Wind Anomalies During the Last 30 Days

Positive OLR anomalies (suppressed convection and precipitation, red shading) were present over
Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Source: ENSO Cycle: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions Update prepared by Climate Prediction Center / NCEP 16 November 2009

Fire Warning UPDATE: Officials downgraded the warnings to severe, 3rd highest on their new scale, Thursday morning.

Related Links:

• Australia: World’s Smallest Continental Dust Bowl
• Could Dust Storms Bury Sydney, Australia?
• Australia: What can burn, will!

• Australia: Uranium Dust Threat Real?
• And dust to dust …
• Australia declares ‘natural’ disaster [again]
• The Australian Clean Energy Ruse
• Stick the Policies, Stop the Climate Change!
• Australian fires toll may exceed 200

Links to HIPAP and Collapse:

• Nature’s ‘Deselection’ Engine Revving Up!
• Murphy’s law has no time vector!
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• State of the World
• Earth’s Human Induced Antiphase Nears Completion

• The Death of Homo Sapiens Sapiens (Part 1)
• Food Crisis
• Failing Ecosystems
• A Most Powerful Mechanism of Collapse
• Failing Ecosystems

• Point of NO return
• Human Impact on Nature
• Is a Future Possible?
• Can Humans Enter the Next Phase of the Future?
• Emerging Scenarios

• Giga Trends
• The First Wave of the World’s Collapsing Cities
• Nuking Earth for Lifestyle
• Volcanoes Killed Off Dinosaurs
• Climate Change Spreads “Deadly Dozen” Diseases

• Burning Earth
• The Rape of Proserpina