Flooding, Drought and Wildfires Ravage China

Tens of thousands evacuated as extreme rain events swamp central China

More than a million people have been affected in central China’s Hunan province, as storms dumped 200+mm of rain in less than 24 hours.

Floods have claimed at least a dozen lives, leaving many others injured, damaging or destroying thousands of homes, and forcing the authorities to evacuate more than  30,000 people.

In Yunnan province, more than 700 people are desperately attempting to control a major wildfire on Mt. Laoyingshan on the outskirts of Lijiang, said to be a popular tourist destination.

There were no details available concerning the extent of damage or the number of casualties, as of posting.

The blaze is one of a dozen or so significant wildfires aided by the severe drought in southwest, north and northeast China in the recent weeks.

Severe Geological Event in South China

A significant land subsidence in Maohe Village, Liuzhou City, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, caused buildings to collapse, affecting an area of about 7 hectares, and forcing the authorities to evacuate more than 1,700 villagers.

Original caption: Photo taken on May 10, 2012 shows collapsed wall in the Maohe Village in Liunan District, Liuzhou City of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A severe geologic hazard hit Maohe Village in Guangxi on Thursday, affecting an area of about 100 mu (66,667 square meters) and forcing more than 1,700 villagers to be evacuated to safe places. Several buildings have collapsed in the disaster, local sources said. (Xinhua/Li Bin). Image may be subject to copyright. More images…

Other Global Disasters, Significant Events

• In the first 4 months of 2012, China’s railways carried
  • 606 million passengers (up 2.8 percent YoY)
  • 785.34 million tons of coal (up 6.6 percent)
  • 35.96 million tons of grain (increase of 15 percent)
  • 1.33 billion tons of cargo (up 3.8 percent)

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

Disaster Declared in Idaho Counties after Landslides and Flooding

Disaster Calendar 2012 – April 5

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,441 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

100-year rainfall records broken in Idaho and Bonner counties, Id

Extreme rain events have caused damaging landslides and closed roads throughout Shoshone, Idaho and Bonner counties, Id., prompting Governor Otter to declare a state of emergency.

• Idaho, USA.  Extreme rain events have supersaturated the soil triggering multiple landslides, causing  widespread damage to infrastructure, closing roads throughout Shoshone, Idaho and Bonner counties, Id., and prompting Governor Otter to declare a state of emergency. 
  • “The landslides and flooding have damaged multiple roads in all three counties, causing residents and first responders to detour extensively around the closed roads. The landslide on Leitch Creek Road in Idaho County deposited an estimated 80,000 cubic yards of debris across the road, making it impassable for some time,”  said a report.

Significant Events

• Mississippi, USA.  “March temperatures were above average across the entire NWS Jackson forecast area, with a new monthly average temperature record set at 3 of 6 area climate sites.”  NWS reported.
  • Warmest March on Record reported at
    • Greenwood (64.8ºF)
    • Hattiesburg (68.0)
    • Vicksburg/Tallulah (66.2)
  • 2nd Warmest at
    • Greenville (64.3)
  • 3rd Warmest
    • Jackson (66.3)
  • 4th Warmest
    • Meridian (65.0)

• Current U.S. Drought Monitor

Other Disasters

• Texas, USA.  The City of Forney (aka, the Antique Capital of Texas) in Kaufman County has been declare a disaster area after a tornado touchdown in downtown area mid afternoon Tuesday.
  • The twister damaged or destroyed about 100 structures,  and  a dozen people injured.

• China.   Exceptional, extreme and severe levels of drought have spread to 13 Chinese provinces, leaving about 8 million people and 5 million heads of livestock without sufficient drinking water.
  
  • The worst affected provinces include Yunnan, Sichuan [a major farming area,] Hebei, Shanxi and Gansu, the Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said. 
    
  • “The drought has also dried up reservoirs and threatened spring planting, affecting 60.1 million mu (4 million hectares) of crop land as of Thursday.“
• Buenos Aires, Argentina. Torrential rains and hail storms across Buenos Aires have left at least twelve people dead and many injured, reports said.

• England, UK.  Following two years of very low winter rainfall, large parts of England are officially in drought.
  • The drought has forced seven water companies throughout the UK to impose a temporary use bans (locally known as hosepipe bans).
  • “Dry winters can be particularly harmful because winter rain normally tops up groundwater and reservoirs. East Anglia, the South East and parts of Yorkshire are currently in drought, and other parts of the country  are affected. If the dry weather continues, more restrictions are likely to be necessary.” UK govt said.
• Current situation: “East Anglia, the south east of England and south and east Yorkshire are in drought. . In parts of the Midlands, the south west of England and Wales some river flows are very low for the time of year and there are some noticeable impacts on the environment, but public water supplies are not affected.
• “England and Wales had 38 per cent of the long term average rainfall in March. This ranged from 29 per cent in Wales to 68 per cent in our Anglian region. With dry weather affecting many regions this week, soil moisture deficits have continued to increase. River flows remain exceptionally low for the time of year in many areas. Groundwater levels continue to decrease and remain lower than at the same time in March 1976 in parts of Shropshire, the Chilterns, and the North Downs.”

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

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

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

China Drought

• Terraforming China Posted  on April 2, 2012
• China’s War on Nature Intensifies Posted on March 23, 2012
• Drought and Deluge Index

Worsening Drought Chokes China’s Yunnan Province

3 years of severe drought in Yunnan affecting 6.31 million people

More than 6.31 million people in 91 counties of Yunnan province in SW China have been affected by a persistent drought, with at least 3.1 million people and 1.55 million livestock short of drinking water, according to provincial civil affairs authorities.

Disaster Calendar 2012 – February 25

[February 25, 2012]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,481 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Yunnan Province, China.  More than 6.31 million people in 91 counties of Yunnan province in SW China have been affected by a persistent drought, which has lasted for three years, leaving at least 3.15 million people and 1.55 million livestock short of drinking water, according to provincial civil affairs authorities, a report said.

Original caption:  Photo taken on Feb. 24, 2012 shows cracked land in a pond at Fanglang Village in Malong County of southwest China’s Yunnan Province. A brutal drought has wracked the province since late last year, leaving at least 3.15 million people without sufficient supplies of drinking water as of Monday, according to government statistics. (Xinhua/Lin Yiguang). Image may be subject to copyright. More Photos …

Original caption:  Pupils queue up to get water at a primary school in Luogong Village, Luliang County of southwest China’s Yunnan Province, Feb. 21, 2012. Every pupil at the school can get 1.5 liter distributed water, which is carried from five kilometers away everyday. A severe drought has lingered in Yunnan for three consecutive years, disrupting the lives of 6.3 million people in the province this year. (Xinhua/Lin Yiguang).  Image may be subject to copyright. More Photos … 

Other Global Drought Events

• Thailand.  The deepening drought in Thailand has spread to 15 of the country’s 77 provinces, officials said.
  • Ten of the drought stricken provinces are in the north:  Chiang Rai, Kampaeng Phet, Lampang, Lamphun, Nan,  Phayao, Phitsanulok, Phrae, Sukhothai and Uttaradit.
  • The other 5 province are Chanthaburi and Chachoengsao (east), Loei ( northeast), Phetchaburi and Suphan Buri (central Thailand).
  • Some 6,768 villages in 109 districts within the 15 provinces are in drought.
    
  • Some 63 districts in 11 provinces were declared drought disaster zones on February 9, 2012.

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

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

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

Global Drought 2012

• Worsening Texas Drought May Stay Many Years Posted on September 30, 2011
• Drought Declared in SE England‎ Posted on February 21, 2012
• HUNGER: States of Emergency Declared Across the Sahel Posted on February 20, 2012
• Ten Colorado Counties Declared Disaster Areas Posted on February 19, 2012
• Texas Drought Causes Urban Forest Die-off Posted on February 16, 2012
• Thailand Drought Deepens Posted on February 9, 2012

Ten Colorado Counties Declared Disaster Areas

Continuing drought causes agricultural disaster in Colorado

Ten Colorado counties have been designated as agricultural disaster areas due to losses caused by drought that began  October 1, 2011, and continues, USDA reported.

Disaster Calendar 2012 – February 19

[February 19, 2012]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,487 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Colorado, USA.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated ten counties in the state of Colorado as agricultural disaster areas due to losses caused by drought that occurred from October 1, 2011, and continues.
  • Primary Disaster Area:  Lincoln County.
  • Contiguous Disaster Areas:  Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Crowley, Elbert, El Paso, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Pueblo and Washington counties.

Other Global Disasters

• Negros, Philippines. Death toll and the number of people missing from a strong earthquake, measuring 6.7Mw, and several significant aftershocks that struck Philippines Negros Region on February 6 has climbed to at least 113, the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
  • About 120 people were injured in the quakes.
  • The quakes destroyed more than 6,300 houses and damaged 9,200 others.
  • About 5,000 families are currently in evacuation centers, a report said.

• Yunnan province, China. A severe drought has destroyed or damaged about 400,000 hectares (~ one million acres) of crops in Southwest China’s Yunnan province, local reports said.
  • The direct economic losses is estimated at more than 600 million yuan.
  • The drought has affected about 6.3 million people in 91 counties in the province, reports said.
  • More than 2.4 million people and 1.55 million livestock are short of drinking water.

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

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

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

• Disaster declaration renewed in Texas
• Volcanic Emissions: Hawaii County Declared Disaster Area
• Indiana, Michigan and Washington Declared Disaster Areas

China’s Drought Turning Critical

Drought: Turning up the heat in E China

No rain for East China anytime soon: Forecasters

Drought is wreaking havoc across Central, South and East China. Many of the vast regions lakes, stricken by the worst drought in living memory, have dried up affecting tens of millions of people and millions of their livestock. There’s no prospect for early rain, forecasters say.

The drought that has affected 35 million people across 5 provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, according to the country’s Meteorological officials.

“Among them, about 4.23 million are experiencing difficulties in finding drinking water and 5.06 million are in need of assistance,” said a report.

China Drought Monitor – Worsening Drought Conditions (January 10, 2011)

Source: Division of Climate Impact Assessment/NCC/CMA

“Since early January, precipitation in Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan provinces has been about 40 percent to 60 percent less than the same period last year, causing a 60-day drought, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.”

“China’s two largest fresh water lakes – Dongting Lake in Hunan and Poyang Lake in Jiangxi – are both drying up dramatically and, by Friday, 34.83 million people had been affected in the five provinces, the ministry said, citing reports from local civil affairs departments.” The report added.

The drought has affected about 4 million hectares (10 million acres) of crops, pushing up the vegetable prices by  “19 percent from May 23 to May 27,” according to the Baishazhou Market in Wuhan, capital of drought-hit Hubei in Central China.” The report added. 

Once A Lake!

Dried lake near Shijiao town of Qingyuan City, south China’s Guangdong Province.  (Xinhua/Li Zuomiao). Image may be subject to copyright.

The central government has ordered the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River to discharge more water to help irrigate some of the drought stricken croplands downstream; however, the  dam will run out of water if there is no rainfall before June 10, the Three Gorges Corporation has told China Daily.

Related News

• Provinces in southern China brace for drought
• No rain expected to ease China’s Yangtze drought  
• Drought hitting Chaohu Lake in E China
• China’s “land of fish and rice” parched by drought

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.

Climate Change Causing China Drought

Drought in southwestern China caused by climate change: Chinese experts

Chinese meteorologists say the ongoing severe drought in southwest China is caused by climate change.

The drought has left more between 18 and 62 million people and 11.7 million to more that 20 million livestock with insufficient drinking water “over a region encompassing the southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the municipality of Chongqing, data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed.”

[Note: the figures vary widely depending on each day’s published definition of “affected by drought” and “short of drinking water.” See also data entries in 2010: Year One of Human-Enhanced Disasters.]

A parched reservoir in Green Pool Dame at Shilin County, Kunming City, Yunnan Province (February 2, 2010). Photo:AFP/Getty Images. Image may be subject to copyright. Click image to enlarge.

“The direct reason for the drought is light rain and high temperatures,” Ren Fuming, a leading expert at China’s National Climate Center, told Outlook Weekly, a popular magazine in China, Xinhua said.

Zhang Peiqun, another senior meteorologist with the center, who agrees with Ren Fumings, aid the rainfall in worst-affected Yunnan province is the lowest in living memory while the average temperature since the beginning of winter has been the highest on record.

“The decreased rainfall during the rainy season led to less water in store and high temperatures resulted in greater evaporation, directly causing the severe drought,” Zhang said.

Zhang believes complicated ocean currents and anomalous atmospheric circulation are responsible for the drought. [See: Kelvin waves in Your Worst Fears About El Niño.]

“Zhang said the lingering cold air mass that formed last September in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau had fenced off the warm and moist currents from the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, and at the same time the cold air from the north has had difficulty reaching the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau hinterland.” Xinhua reported.

“The cold and warm currents can’t converge to produce rain, so there is little rain,” Zhang said.

Sun Honglie, director of the national expert committee on climate change, said he believed the drought was was caused by anomalous atmospheric currents.

“It is not an environmental or ecological problem,” he said. “But the drought is bound to have an impact on the ecological system.”

“Another expert, Chen Yiyu, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, also said the year has seen anomalous climate conditions globally and that the drought in China is part of the phenomenon.” Xinhua said.

[Note: They are probably refering to the impact of El Niño.]

Water Severely Rationed

In Fuyuan County there has been no tap water since late 2009, residents said, complaining that “rationed water supply has not been steady, and that they have had to fetch water themselves from a village three miles away.” Epoch Times said.

“Each family is given four water tickets every two weeks and each ticket entitles the bearer to 100 kg (about 26 gallons) of water, which is not enough for daily use at all, especially for a large family of six or seven. So we have to fetch water from somewhere else. I haven’t taken a shower for a few months.” a resident was reported as saying.

Statistics released recently indicated that as of March 17, 2010, some “43,486,000 hectares (about 17.6 million acres) of crops were affected by the drought, among which 940,000 hectares (about 380,566 acres) yielded zero production, causing a direct economic loss of 19 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion).”

Related Links:

• Praying for rain in parched Guyana
• Your Worst Fears About El Niño
• Global Weather Chaos
• Climate Locked into ‘Unending’ El Niño?
• Unraveling El Niño Mysteries
• El Niño [Main Page, Links to Weekly Updates Archive]

• 2010: Year One of Human-Enhanced Disasters
• WORST EVER DROUGHT in SW China
• Arctic Ice Affects Global Climate, Weather
• Transitory Impact of AO is the ‘Good News’

North China on Drought Red Alert

Drought: A China’s Arch Nemesis

“The wheat grass gets so dry that it catches fire! I’ve never seen this in my whole life,” said 50-year-old Wei Liuding, a farmer from north China’s Henan Province.

“All the wheat in my land is dying like this,” he told a Xinhua reporter, as he opened his hand revealing a bunch of dead grass.

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – ReliefWeb

Henan, heart of China’s bread basket, issued a drought red alert February 5. “The provincial meteorological bureau said the drought is the worst since 1951. The drought have affected about 63 percent of the province’s 78.9 million mu (5.26 million hectares) of wheat.” Xinhua reported.

Photo dated Feb. 2, 2009 shows the dry reservoir in Yiyang County of Luoyang city, central China’s Henan Province. (Xinhua Photo). Image may be subject to copyright.

Other provinces in northern China haven’t been spared by the persistent drought, either.

Anhui Province, which  issued a drought red alert Sunday, forecasts a major drought that could destroy more than two thirds of the crops north of the Huaihe River, unless it rains by no later than next week.

Shanxi Province was put on drought orange alert on January 21;  about a million people and 160,000 heads of livestock face water shortages.

Other provinces including Hebei and Jiangsu Shaanxi, Shandong are also affected by droughts.

Until the well runs dry! Villagers irrigate the thirsty wheat field with water from well in Gaoshan Township of Luoyang city, central China’s Henan Province, Feb. 2, 2009. (Xinhua Photo). Image may be subject to copyright.

Rainfall in north and central China was 50 to 80 percent lower than normal. About 155 million mu (10.33 million hectares) of crops are affected by the drought, according to data  released by the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Thursday.

“The rare drought which began in November, has threatened 143 million mu of winter wheat, with 46.35 million mu seriously affected.” The report said. [15 mu = 1ha.]

“Some 4.29 million people and 2.07 million livestock lack proper drinking water,” the report said.

Some areas have had no rain for nearly 4 months. The drought is threatening about 43 percent of the country’s winter wheat supplies.

Related Links:

• Droughts put north China on red alert