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

Dangerous heat spreads to Mid-Atlantic

Heat Warnings/Advisories in Effect for Half the U.S. Population

Much of the Eastern, Southern and Mid-Section U.S. Experiencing Dangerous Heat

As oppressive heat gripped much of the eastern U.S. spreading into the Capital, triple-digit temperatures and heat indices hovered around the 115-degree mark, and air quality took a nosedive.

• In Wichita, Kansas the temperature exceeded 100 degrees for the 20th consecutive day.
• In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, temperatures hovered around 100 degrees for the 14th consecutive day.

Heat Warnings and Advisories issued Monday for a large portion of the U.S. mid-section have been extended to the Mid-Atlantic states, as moist air from the Gulf of Mexico combined with dangerously high   “temperatures to perpetuate the dangerous heat illness threat across the South and East.” NWS said.

“Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories are in effect today from parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas eastward across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and the Gulf States to the northern Eastern Seaboard and Mid-Atlantic. Triple digit high temperatures and high humidity are expected for the Nation’s Capital.”

U.S. Max Temp Forecast for July 13-14.

Max Heat Index and Probability Forecast – July 13, 2011

Image Source: NOAA/HPC. Click image to enlarge.

U.S. Weather Summary

• Severe weather forecast for wide areas from the central High Plains across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys into the Mid-Atlantic Coast.
• Heavy rain over flooded river valleys across the northern and central Plains could exacerbate ongoing flooding.
• Flash Flooding possible over parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, Utah and Colorado.

Weather Forecast Map July 12, 2011. Click to enlarge.

Air Quality

Air quality alerts are in effect in parts of Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as of posting

Severe Weather

Severe weather extending from southeastern Wyoming to the Mid-Atlantic Coast, including parts of 14 states is possible today, NWS said.

“Parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina are at Slight Risk for severe weather. Another Slight Risk area covers most of Montana and the fringe area of north-central Idaho.”

Wednesday and Thursday Forecast: Parts of Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska are also at Slight Risk for severe weather, NWS said.

SPC received 526 reports of severe weather on Monday: 474 reports of high winds and 52 reports of large hail. [Report was later filtered to 351/318/33.]

Related Links

• Dangerous heat, exceptional drought, severe storms, major flooding
• Mega Heatwaves Could Kill Thousands in the U.S.
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Brace for the Worst Ever
• WARNING: Global Disasters to Intensify
• Global Climate Extremes INTENSIFYING

20 Nations Facing Record Temps

Japan Feeling the Heat

Japan facing its hottest summer with Kyoto recording 39.9ºC (103.8ºF) today, and 128 other cities higher than 35ºC.

Japan’s  hottest summer since records began in 1898 has claimed about 700 lives [150 deaths confirmed by govt in mid August due to heatstroke and another 496 dying from heat-related complications,] with 50,000 others hospitalized from heatstroke.

The country’s average temperature between June and August was 1.64ºC (2.95ºF) higher than the 30-year average calculated between 1971 and 2000.

Since early August, many parts of the country has experienced temperatures above 35ºC, Japan’s Meteorological Agency earlier reported.

“It can be said that weather was abnormal in this summer,” an agency official said.

Their earlier forecast for the temperature to exceed 35ºC in many parts of the country has proven right.

The intense heatwave has also killed up to 1,200 cows, about 660 pigs and as many as half a million chicken, according to a report.

“The latest survey does not cover Miyazaki Prefecture, which was hit by foot-and-mouth disease among its livestock and was forced to slaughter around 289,000 cows and pigs. The prefecture announced the end of the outbreak last week.”

NOTE: The hottest ever temperature recorded in Japan was 40.9ºC  in Kumagaya city,  Saitama prefecture (state) in August 16, 2007.

List of countries with record temperatures in summer 2010  (A-Z)

• Ascension Island
• Belarus
• Burma
• Chad
• Colombia
• Cyprus
• Finland
• Iraq
• Kuwait
• Niger
• Pakistan
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Russia
• Saudi Arabia
• Solomon Islands
• Sudan
• Ukraine
• United States

Related Links:

• Will it be drought?
• ‘Google Civilization’ Collapsing from Disinformation
• Drought and Deluge: Major Mechanisms Of Collapse

• Decadal Temp Avg Up by 74 pct on 1990s
• Drought and Deluge [Index Page]
• Land Use And Topsoil

Earth: Wounded and Feverish

103-degrees in Central Park, LaGuardia, Newark

Fire-Earth forecast last month:

June 2010 could also prove be the warmest on record, by a large margin

Max Temperature Forecast

Click image to update.

Daily Map of the Earth Temperatures

Click image to enlarge and update.

National Weather Service (Warnings and Advisories)

Click image to enter portal.

Record-Breaking Heat Hits NYC and NJ

Central Park hit a scorching 103 degrees, breaking a record set in 1999. Newark reached 103, a new all-time high.  Record highs were also set at Newark (103 degrees), LaGuardia (103 degress) and JFK (101 degrees) airports.

Heat Reaches Dangerous Levels in Salem County, NJ

Heatwave grips Salem County, NJ, as Temperature soars above 100 degrees

• Dangerous heat tightened its grip on Salem County today as the mercury soared to the century mark here.

13 FDNY Injuries In Battle Against Stifling Temps

Thirteen firefighters suffered heat related injuries including dehydration and exhaustion as soaring temperatures made their work more difficult. More…

Heatwave Along East Coast kills One

“A heatwave along America’s East Coast has left one person dead and sent temperatures soaring into the triple digits, creating dangerous conditions from North Carolina to Boston.” More …

• Heat wave maintains grip on Louisville, Indiana
• Soaring Temperature May Press Utility Companies In Eastern U.S

Weather Forecast

Click image to enlarge and update.

103 degrees in Central Virginia: “Too darn hot to make hay”

The 103-degree recorded at McCormick Observatory is  “a harbinger of weather to come,” officials said.

“The last time we saw a temperature that high at McCormick was Aug. 1, 1999, when it was 105 degrees,” said Jerry Stenger, director of the University of Virginia’s climatology office. “It’s not a day to be in the roofing trade, that’s for sure. It may not reach that high, but it doesn’t look like we’ll see much relief from above-average temperatures for awhile.”

That’s bad news for farmers across the state who have been hard hit by the heat, Virginia Farm Bureau officials said.

“One more week without rainfall and we will be in an extremely critical situation. All crops have stopped growing and are in survival mode. This includes all row crops, alfalfa and grass hay,” said Jon Repair, of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Agency in Rockbridge County. More…

Large part of China gripped by soaring heat

“In Wenzhou City, in east China’s Zhejiang Province, residents are also suffering from the hot weather, with temperatures climbing up to 41 degrees Celsius (105.8ºF).” More…

Related Links

• May Global Temperature Warmest on Record
• Weather
• Satellite imagery

Australian Coal and the Planet

Australia is in the grip of a heatwave

Australia is about to experience some of the hottest temperatures anywhere on the planet!

Quote of the Day:

“Switzerland finances construction of coal plants, Sweden builds them, and Australia exports coal and sets atmospheric carbon dioxide goals so large as to guarantee destruction of much of the life on the planet.” ~ James Hansen, NASA Climatologist.

The above quote is from a letter to Michelle and Barack Obama written by Hanson on December 29, 2008.

Now the $64 trillion question

Why isn’t Hansen advocating a smart option like a low-energy path for the economy?

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