Major Drought Devastates Crops in Southern Europe

• All Groups

Lingering drought destroying crops in Italy, Spain and Portugal

Six Spanish provinces issue red alert as temperatures hover between 45ºC and 47ºC. A further 21 provinces are on yellow alert.

[Prepared by FIRE-EARTH Teams.]

• Report available from FIRE-EARTH PULSARS.

Fiji Declares a State of Disaster

TC WINSTON kills 48, leaves 45,245 displaced

Category 5, Severe Tropical Cyclone WINSTON struck the island nation of Fiji on 20 and 21 February  cutting a path of destruction across the country.

Summary from NDMO SITREP NO. 26

• The cyclone is estimated to be the most severe ever to hit Fiji, and probably the South Pacific.

• 48 people have been confirmed dead, 167 injured [including 45 hospitalized.]

• Some 45,245 people are currently sheltering in 763 evacuation centers.

• 104 schools have been damaged or destroyed.

• 100 per cent of crops are reported destroyed in the worst affected areas.

• Entire communities/villages have been wiped out.

• A 30-day State of Disaster has been declared.

Terminal building in Koro and Vanuabalavu airports are completely destroyed, the fire station in Savusavu is severely damaged.

 

Freeze Warning in Effect for NE Minnesota, Douglas County Wisconsin

Temperatures forecast to drop to as low as 20s (F)

These conditions will kill crops and other sensitive vegetation, according to the NWS Forecast.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
The areas covered by the Freeze Warning includes the cities of International Falls, Ely, Basswood Lake, Bbutterfly Lake, Eagle Mountain, Forest Center, Isabella, Murphy City, Sawbill, Landing, Bigfork, Hhibbing, Virginia, Chisholm, Two Harbors, Silver Bay, Ggrand Marais, Walker, Cass Lake, Remer, Backus, Hackensack, Grand Rapids, Cohasset, East Gull Lake, Lake Shore, Pine River, Pillager, Brainerd, Baxter, Hill City, Aitkin, Duluth, Pine City, Sandstone, Hinckley, Rock Creek, Lake Nebagamon, Solon Springs, Poplar, Superior and Oliver, said NWS in Duluth.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
Freeze Warning areas includes the cities of Roseau, Warroad, Greenbush, Baudette, Newfolden, Middle River, Grygla, Red Lake, Redby, Ponemah, Thief River Falls, Red Lake Falls, Fosston, Fertile, Mcintosh, Erskine, Bagley, Clearbrook, Bemidji, Mahnomen, Naytahwaush, Waubun, Alida, Ebro, Lake Itasca, Long Lost Lake, Lower Rice Lake, Roy Lake, Upper Rice Lake, Park Rapids, Wolf Lake, Wadena and Menahga.

Frost Advisory is in effect for a wide band of areas encircling the locations under Freeze Warning in the two states as well as eastern North Dakota.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – March 6, 2014

Avian Flu Strikes 40 Percent of Vietnam

Avian flu epidemic outbreaks have struck at least 22 of Vietnam’s 58 provinces, so far this year, forcing the authorities to destroy tens of thousands of chickens.

The Animal Health authorities in Vietnam plan to import 60 million doses of H5N1 vaccine, according to reports.

-0O0-

Extreme Weather Events Impacted U.S. Economy in Early 2014: FED

New York and Philadelphia experienced a decline in economic activity, which was mostly attributed to the “unusually severe weather” experienced in those regions, said the Federal Reserve in its latest Beige book report.

“Agricultural conditions softened since the previous report. Severe winter weather affected several Districts with some crop damage being reported by Richmond and Atlanta, while Chicago noted disruptions in the flow of agricultural products. Both Kansas City and Dallas cited dry conditions adversely affecting wheat crops, while San Francisco reported concerns about water shortages and water costs.”

Manufacturing was affected in multiple regions including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond and St. Louis due to extreme weather utility outages.

Although the word “weather” appeared 119 times in the report, as noted by Reuters, economists say the report unhelpful because it did not clarify the extent to which weather was responsible for the soft economic data.

-0O0-

Crimean parliament votes to join Russia

“The Supreme Council of the Crimea on its session has made a fundamental decision for the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea to join Russia as a federal subject,” reported Itar-Tass.

First Deputy Prime Minister of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea announced on Thursday the legislature had approved in principle the republic’s accession to Russia. A referendum to ratify the vote is scheduled for March 16.

The Crimean parliament has [unanimously] resolved “to enter into the Russian Federation with the rights of a subject of the Russian Federation,” he said, and has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin “to start the procedure.”

Reunited

“This means we have reunited with our motherland which we have been a part of for so long,” said Crimea’s deputy parliamentary speaker.

Illegitimate

Ukraine’s interim Economy Minister has called the Crimea vote to join the Russian Federation “unconstitutional.”

However, Crimea’s Deputy PM has dismissed the suggestion, saying Crimea views the new government in Kiev as illegitimate.

Guided Missile Destroyer

Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy reveled that a guided missile destroyer, the USS Truxton, was heading to the Black Sea, as part of a long-planned training exercise.

Continued …

Large Hail Stones Destroy Crops in NZ

EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS

Submitted by a reader, edited by FIRE-EARTH

Golf ball-sized hail destroy crops, smash windows in Canterbury, New Zealand

Massive hail stones tore across mid-Canterbury, New Zealand, destroying crops and smashing scores of windows, said a report.

A fierce storm moving north along the South Island triggered a hailstorm dumping large hail on Mayfield, near Ashburton, for about 50 minutes.

The hailstorm broke scores of windows at homes and businesses across the township, residents said.

“Local crop farmer Rab McDowell predicted about 40 per cent of his carrot and maize crops were a ‘right off,’ but he would know more in the morning.”

“I haven’t seen hail through here that broke windows before,” he said.

Golf ball-sized hail falls on Southern Downs, QLD. Australia

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued a severe thunderstorm warning covering the entire Darling Downs in southern QLD, and surrounding  areas earlier today.

There were reports of golf ball-sized hail falling at Dalveen near Stanthorpe, said local reports.

On November 19, 2013, golf ball-sized hail bucketed down on Australia’s Gold Coast causing substantial damage to buildings, trees and crops.

Several hailstorms across parts of South Africa also produced golf ball-sized hail stones on 12, 14 and 28 of November 2013 causing major damage to property and crops.

Super Typhoon HAIYAN: WE TOLD YOU SO!

Death and Destruction Toll Rising in the Philippines

Point of No Return: In 2004¹,  our team forecast an 80-90 percent increase in the total power dissipated annually by tropical cyclones  in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by 2015.

Storms will continue to get stronger (develop greater average intensities) and survive at high intensity for longer (take more time to dissipate peak energy) resulting in substantial increases in storm-related losses in the near future.

[1. First draft posted by MSRB on Internet on February 26, 2005]

Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Death and Destruction Toll in the Philippines

• Dead or Missing: 5,613 (official)
• Injured: 18,557 (official)
• Homeless: 4.4 million (official)
• Directly affected: More than 13 million (U.N.)

Extent of Crop Damage

“High winds, heavy rains and localized floods destroyed houses and infrastructure, including irrigation facilities, and resulted in losses of the main staple rice paddy, sugarcane and coconut crops, as well as livestock, poultry and fisheries,” said the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

HAIYAN destroyed about 153,500 hectares (ha) of rice paddy, maize and other high value crops, including 77,500 ha of rice and 21,000 ha of maize crops, it added [figures are rounded to the nearest 100.]

Philippines imports of rice are to increase by 20 percent next year to 1.2 million metric tons, said FAO.

Source: SitRep No. 30 released by Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMC)  November 20, 2013. [$1 = 43.6 Philippine pesos – FIRE-EARTH Blog]

Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Chronology of Disaster

Super Typhoon HAIYAN (locally known as YOLANDA) made its first landfall in the early morning of 8 November in Guiuan, Eastern Samar province. HAIYAN made subsequent landfalls in Tolosa south of Tacloban City, Leyte province, Daanbantayan and Bantayan Island, Cebu province, Conception, Iloilo province and Busuanga, Palawan province.

Related Links

• Super Typhoon HAIYAN Disaster: 4 Pct of Philippine Population Displaced November 17, 2013
• Global Disasters/ Significant Events – November 18, 2013 November 18, 2013

Super Typhoon HAIYAN: WE TOLD YOU SO!

Death and Destruction Toll Rising in the Philippines

Point of No Return: In 2004,  our team forecast an 80-90 percent increase in the total power dissipated annually by tropical cyclones  in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by 2015.

Storms will continue to get stronger (develop greater average intensities) and survive at high intensity for longer (take more time to dissipate peak energy) resulting in substantial increases in storm-related losses in the near future.

Super Typhoon HAIYAN:Death and Destruction Toll in the Philippines

• Dead or Missing: 5,613 (official)
• Injured: 18,557 (official)
• Homeless: 4.4 million (official)
• Directly affected: More than 13 million (U.N.)

Extent of Crop Damage

“High winds, heavy rains and localized floods destroyed houses and infrastructure, including irrigation facilities, and resulted in losses of the main staple rice paddy, sugarcane and coconut crops, as well as livestock, poultry and fisheries,” said the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

HAIYAN destroyed about 153,500 hectares (ha) of rice paddy, maize and other high value crops, including 77,500 ha of rice and 21,000 ha of maize crops, it added [figures are rounded to the nearest 100.]

Philippines imports of rice are to increase by 20 percent next year to 1.2 million metric tons, said FAO.

Source: SitRep No. 30 released by Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMC)  November 20, 2013. [$1 = 43.6 Philippine pesos – FIRE-EARTH Blog]

Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Chronology of Disaster

Super Typhoon HAIYAN (locally known as YOLANDA) made its first landfall in the early morning of 8 November in Guiuan, Eastern Samar province. HAIYAN made subsequent landfalls in Tolosa south of Tacloban City, Leyte province, Daanbantayan and Bantayan Island, Cebu province, Conception, Iloilo province and Busuanga, Palawan province.

Related Links

• Super Typhoon HAIYAN Disaster: 4 Pct of Philippine Population Displaced November 17, 2013
• Global Disasters/ Significant Events – November 18, 2013 November 18, 2013

Cambodian Catastrophe

Twenty out of 24 of Cambodia’s provinces affected by floods and flash floods since September 2013

Floods have killed at least 188 people including 88 children in the past six weeks, according to officials

Floodwaters have affected 1,736,000 people in more than 377,000 households, forcing 144,000 people in more than 31,000 households to flee their collapsing homes.

Flood Map of Cambodia

Floodwaters have severely damaged more than 230,000 houses, 1,242 schools, 78 health centers and hospitals, and destroyed or damaged numerous pagoda, roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

Floods have affected the population, particularly with food and non-food items (NFI) distributions, and in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter, health, education and protection, said UN OCHA.

Extreme Rain Events Destroy Thousands More Homes in NE China

Extreme Rain Events Destroy Homes, Ruin Crops, Affecting hundreds of thousands in NE China

Since early July, Extreme Rain Events in Daqing City in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province have destroyed or damaged more than 2,100 homes in 68 towns and villages, local authorities said.

Widespread flooding triggered by the torrential rains have “ruined 133,000 hectares of crops or plants, resulting in direct economic losses of 480 million yuan (78.4 million U.S.dollars),” said the report.

“In the worst-hit Lindian County, 115,000 people have been affected, and 1,152 houses have collapsed.”

Original caption: The water level of the Songhua River rises in Jilin City, northeast China’s Jilin Province, Aug. 8, 2013. Jilin City has suffered continuous rainfall since Wednesday night, which caused the water level of the Songhua River rises to 188.67 meters in the city. Yellow alert on thunder and blue alert on torrential rain have been released by Jilin provincial meteorological observatory. (Xinhua). More images…

Frost Damages Nearly Fifth of Brazil Sugar Cane Crop

EXCLUSIVE: Frosts devastated large areas of Brazil’s top sugar-cane states: Analyst

Vast areas in three of Brazil’s top sugar-cane states were devastated by severe early morning frosts on July 24 and 25, Datagro told Reuters.

The disaster occurred at a time when more than half of Brazil’s expected record 590-million-ton crop remains unharvested, said the report.

Some 65 million metric tons, or 18 percent of the unharvested cane was damaged by the frost, Datagro told Reuters.

“We don’t know how much of the affected … cane has been lost yet; we should know in about a week… In some cases the ratoons (young shoots) were hit and will need to be replanted, so the impact will carry over into next year’s crop.”

The worst affected areas were the states of Parana, Mato Grosso do Sul and Paranapanema Valley in Sao Paulo.

The brown rot setting in to the growing point of cane, indicates that the plant will loose its sugar content and die within a month. (Credit: Renee du Preez) via ABC Rural Au.

Full report posted HERE.

Iowa counties declared disaster areas

Six north Iowa counties have been designated agricultural disaster areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 6 north Iowa counties as agricultural disaster areas because of the damage caused by high winds on September 2.

Disaster Calendar 2011 – November 11

[November 11, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,587 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Iowa, USA. Six north Iowa counties have been designated agricultural disaster areas by USDA because of the damage caused by high winds on September 2.
• Mitchell County was designated as the primary disaster area, with 5 other counties, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Floyd, Howard and Worth, included in the declaration because they’re contiguous.
• The designation is granted when disaster yield falls at least 30 percent below the normal production yield of the crop.
• Minnesota. Mower County in Minnesota has been added top the above designation because it’s contiguous.

Other Disasters

• Pretoria, South Africa. The country’s Water Affairs Department has declared the Apies River a disaster area following significant water pollution, which has killed large number of fish.
• The river flows through Pretoria (pop: 2.4 million), passing near the Rooiwal sewage works,  located north of the city, where leaks from the sewerage system contaminate the water.
• Texas, USA. Gov perry has renewed Texas Disaster Declaration.
• Perry originally issued an Emergency Disaster Proclamation on December 21, 2010, as extreme fire hazard posed a threat of imminent disaster in specified counties in Texas.
• The extreme fire hazard continues to create a threat of disaster for the people, and record high temperatures, preceded by significantly low rainfall, have resulted in declining reservoir and aquifer levels, threatening water supplies and delivery systems in many parts of the state, Perry said in the extension to the Proclamation.
• The exceptional drought conditions have reached historic levels, posing an imminent threat to public health, property and the economy, he added.
• The state of disaster includes all 254 counties in the State of Texas.

Related Links

• Oklahoma declares a state of emergency for 20 counties
• New Hampshire Declared Disaster Area
• Massachusetts Declared Disaster Area
• East Coast States of Emergency Declared in Pre-Halloween Snowstorm

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities  (EDRO Forecast)
• 2011 Much More Disastrous: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Global Disasters in 2011 Could Impact 1/3 to 1/2 of the Human Population  (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs  (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)

• 2011 Disaster Calendar – November
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – October
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – September
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – August
• 2010 Disaster Calendar 
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

Deepening Drought Threatens Third of the U-S

Crop Damage Caused by Drought Could Send [Soaring] Food Prices Through the Ceiling

Click image to enlarge

• Latest Seasonal Assessment

Earth Unhappiest Planet to Live on: Majority

Flood, Mudslide, Disease: Human Disasters

Earth must be the unhappiest planet to live on for the majority of its animal species [humans included] – but in most places condoms are distributed for free!

UGANDA

A cow that was also swept away by the mudslides. The mudslides buried crops, animals and people.  Credit: Daily Monitor – Uganda. Image may be subject to copyright.

The search for the missing has finally ended more than a week after the mudslides buried three villages in Bududa district, eastern Uganda. “The rescuers have only managed to retrieve only about 89 bodies and they seem to have lost strength and hope. We are thinking about officially stopping the retrieval on Tuesday and then we shall be advised on what next.” A local official said.

Up to 350 had previously been reported missing, which should now be presumed dead.  The Ugandan mudslide disaster is a direct consequence of climate change.

“At least 104 people, mostly children, have been reported to suffer from diarrhea at the Bukalsi Health Center in Bududa.” UN news said.

“Working with the Ugandan Government, which is leading the emergency response, UN officials have said that so far there are no reports of cholera, but warned about the possible health risks of increased malaria, acute malnutrition and psychological disorders.”

NEPAL

Humanitarian agencies [let’s hope they are not embedded by the international aid/charity mafia]  in Nepal say more than 3.4 million vulnerable people across the country are in need of life-saving assistance, especially food aid, in 2010.

“Nearly half of Nepal’s districts are experiencing food shortages and the humanitarian country team estimates that nearly 2.5 million people face extreme food insecurity, mainly in the Midand far-western hill and mountain regions.” OCHA reported.

Nepal is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, especially floods, landslides and earthquakes. “In 2009, some 152,000 people were affected by monsoon floods and landslides. Preparedness activities in water, sanitation and hygiene are also needed following a severe diarrhea outbreak in western districts of Nepal last year.”

“As a country emerging from conflict, Nepal needs sustained international humanitarian support to see it through this fragile period of transition,” said John Holmes, United Nations Under- Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “An estimated 28,000 children die every year from preventable diseases, some of them the consequences of severe malnutrition. Most of these problems can be solved with adequate donor support,” Mr. Holmes said.

At least 70 percent of household budgets, especially in rural areas, goes to buying food, “and dependence on subsistence agriculture remains high. Inadequate funding for agriculture in 2009 is believed to have compounded the effects of the severe winter drought. Sufficient investment in agriculture might have mitigated the current food crisis.”

MOZAMBIQUE

About 130,000 people are being evacuated in Mozambique as  rising waters in the country’s three main rivers prompted the authorities to declare a red alert, which imposes an evacuation order on the area, for the regions along the Zambezi River, Noticias newspaper said, AFP reported.

“At least two people have died in floods in the central Mozambican province of Sofala, reports Monday’s issue of the independent daily O Pais,” All Africa reported.

Mozambique is a flood-prone area. The rainy season in the 2000, 2001 and 2007  triggered deadly floods drove half a million from their homes, and left 700 people dead.

ANGOLA

At least 10,000 people have lost their homes to floods in Angola’s southern province of Cunene,  the state-owned news agency Angop reported.

In 2009 the floods in southern Angola killed at least 20 people .

Meanwhile, All Africa reported that the Angolan Red Cross had distributed 136,828 free condoms between June and December 2009 in the municipalities of Namacunde, Ombadja and Kwanhama, in southern Cunene province.

KENYA

The recently flooded regions of Kenya may be hit by water-borne diseases including  UN health organizations have warned, urging for organized hygiene campaigns. The 2010 rainy season in Kenya, which is expected to last until late June/ early July, has already claimed 18 lives and affected the lives of more than 10,000 others. The worst affected areas are located in the northern, north-eastern and western regions of the country.

In northern Kenya, health authorities have warned about a cholera outbreak because most of the areas affected by floods lack clean drinking water, Kenya’s Daily Nation reported.

“In Mandera, the floods are said to have destroyed buildings and water sources. In Gucha District, most roads are impassable and crops have been destroyed by hailstones. Some 200 pupils of Got Kachola Primary School in Migori District are learning under trees after a storm destroyed their classrooms.” The report said.

Related Links:

• 2010 Disaster Calender [March]
• Global Weather Chaos
• Drought and Deluge: Two Major Mechanisms of Collapse
• 10 Facts on Climate Change
• Australian Coal and the Planet
• Australian fires toll may exceed 200
• The Australian Clean Energy Ruse
• A Living Hell Heated by Australian Coal
• 10 Facts on Climate Change

Mississippi Levees Breached in 23 Places

A Shrinking World Series

‘We are seeing a historic hydrological event taking place with unprecedented river levels occurring.’ —Brian Pierce, meteorologist, National Weather Service.

Mississippi river surges over at least 23 levees and another 30 barriers are at risk, as the Midwest floods move south.

In 1993, devastating floods, sweeping down Missouri and Mississippi rivers, surged levees and destroyed communities from St. Louis to northern Louisiana.

Mississippi River floodwaters engulf a farm about 15 miles north Quincy, Ill. after the south portion of the Indian Graves levee breached. (Tribune photo by Michael Tercha / June 18, 2008). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Midwest Flood Victims Feel Misled by Feds

“They all told us, `The levees are good. You can go ahead and build,”‘ said Parks, who did not buy flood coverage because her bank no longer required it. “We had so much confidence in those levees.”

“People put all their hopes in those levees, and when they do fail, the damage is catastrophic,” said Paul Osman, the National Flood Insurance Program coordinator for Illinois. “New Orleans is the epitome; a lot of those people didn’t even realize they were in a floodplain until the water was up to their roofs.”

“We reported to the president in ’94 that the levee system was in disarray, the levees were not high enough to take care of any potential problem. People didn’t understand their flood risk and there wasn’t good co-ordination across federal, state and local governments,” said Gerald Galloway, a professor of engineering and flood control expert.

“The same thing applies today,” Galloway said. “It’s amazing that in the face of [Hurricane] Katrina and now this particular challenge that we continue to relearn the same lessons.”

Galloway’s recommendations to improve the levee system were basically ignored. He said that he’s experiencing much the same response now from officials as in 1993.

Related Links:

• Floods
• China “Frankenstein”
• Midwest Flood Victims Feel Misled by Feds
• More levees at risk from surging Mississippi as Bush tours flood areas

• Drought (Index Page)
• In Spain, Water Is a New Battleground
• California ‘Mojavefied’ by 2011?
  

• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

.

Italy: Submerged in Floodwaters, Sinking in Garbage

A Shrinking World Series

How Much More Floodwaters, Trash Before the Truth Sinks In?

As the Campania region in southwest italy is buried deeper in trash, the northwestern region of Piedmont, another of the country’s 20 regions, is submerged in floodwaters. The authorities declared a state of emergency in Turin and Val d’Aosta.

[Darn, I wonder what caused that!] A man surveys the damage caused by a landslide caused in Turin. (Photo: AFP) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Eyewitnesses reported a five-meter high wall of mud engulfing houses in an Alpine village near the French border. A landslide caused by heavy rainfall has killed at least three people; a 3-year old girl was reported missing.

The floods also pose a serious risk to crops in the area. “The torrential rain and the Po [Italy’s longest river] and the Dora breaking their banks have meant many wheat fields are flooded and the harvest could be lost,” the Italian Farmers Confederation said in a statement.

The Po valley, Italy’s most fertile farming area, is also its most industrially developed. “There has been too much building, concreting-over and canalization along our rivers with devastating consequences that happen as soon as rains start,” said Michele Candotti of the Environmental group WWF Italia. (Source)

Related Links:

• Naples Garbage Opera – Act II
• Seeking Toxic Asylum

The Eight Steps that Help Kill More of Our Fish

How Your Car’s Exhaust Emissions Helps Create Dead Zones and Kill Our Fish

Step One: You fill up the tank (gasoline is a processed fossil fuel product).

REUTERS/Sergio Moraes (Image may be subject to copyright!)
–
Step Two: As you drive around, your car burns the fossil fuel and produces greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants, which are spewed out through the exhaust pipe.

Houston Evacuation – Hurricane Rita
–
Step three: Sunlight interacts with greenhouse gases emitted from your car, producing ground-level ozone.

Only about 12.6 percent of the gas your car consumes is used for driving!

–
Step Four: High ozone levels damage crops such as corn, wheat, and soybeans, reducing growth rates and crop yields, as well as making the crops less resistant to insects and pests. (In 1995, ground-level ozone caused $2.7 billion in crop damage nationwide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.) Current estimates for the crop damages caused by ground-level ozone stand at about $3 billion each year in the US alone.

(L) Ozone-damaged plant; (R) normal plant. Photo courtesy of Gene Daniels/U.S. EPA.
–

Step Five: To increase growth rates, boost crop yields and fight pests, farmer use increasingly larger amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Applying Chemical Fertilizers. Photo AVRCD. (Image may be subject to copyright!)
–

Step Six: Nutrient-rich chemical runoffs (pollution) from agricultural fields are washed by rain into streams, storm sewers and rivers and end up into our oceans, seas and other water bodies.

Summer rains wash nutrients, dissolved organic matter and sediment out of the mouths of rivers, into the sea, sparking large phytoplankton blooms. South America presents two excellent examples of river outlets where phytoplankton tends to thrive. Along the northern part of the continent the mouth of the Orinoco River opens into the Caribbean. Along the Eastern side of South America, the mighty Amazon exits its thousand mile journey. (Text NASA)
–

Step Seven: Dead Zones that cover tens of thousands of square kilometers of waterways are created by pollution-fed algae, which deprive fish and other marine life of oxygen.

Gulf of Mexico: sediment filled water meets the ocean.
–

Step Eight: Deprived of oxygen, fish and other marine life die.

Dead fish are seen on a basket of a fish farm off a coast of Menidi village in the Amvrakikos Gulf, some 350Km northeast of Athens February 28, 2008. Local marine biologist Vangelis Dimitriou said that up to 800 tonnes of fish including sea bass and sea bream died from a lack of oxygen [hypoxia], after swimming through a large pocket of water where the temperatures suddenly dropped at a drastic rate. REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis (GREECE). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Related Links:

• Energy Dinosaurs
• Our Oceans Are Dying!
• Dead Zones

Thailand: Potential flood conditions in eight provinces

Source: ReliefWeb/Thai Government

Date: 05 May 2008

The Meteorological Department of Thailand

The Meteorological Department reported at 4 PM today (May 5th) that an intense southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand has strengthened, causing torrential rain over Thailand. People in the provinces of Chanthaburi, Trat, Chumphon, Surat Thani, Ranong, Phangnga, Phuket and Krabi should beware of flooding conditions during this period.

High waves of about two to three meters can be seen in the Andaman Sea. All ships should proceed with caution, and small boats should stay ashore until tomorrow.

Bangkok metropolis and vicinity can expect scattered thundershowers mostly in the afternoon and evening. The daily temperature would range from 26 to 34 degrees Celsius. The speed of southwesterly winds would be around 15 to 30 kilometers per hour.

For a larger map click here. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Food: Worse times ahead

Climate Change + Higher temperatures + Droughts + Floods + Soil erosion + Loss of topsoil + Pollution + Ground-level Ozone = Much Less Food in the Future

Scientists are warning that global warming would present great challenges on the way to produce more food in the future.

“There certainly are going to be lots of challenges in the future. Temperature is one of them, water is another,” said Lisa Ainsworth, a molecular biologist with the United States Department of Agriculture.

“In Northeastern China, low temperatures, a short growing season and lack of water limit production, so rising temperatures in the future may have beneficial impacts there,” said Ainsworth.

“However, in the southern parts of the country, higher temperatures will likely cause yield losses,” she told the reporters.

Higher temperatures coupled with ground-level ozone, which is produced as a result of sunlight interacting with greenhouse gases, added to extremes of floods and droughts is a recipe for disaster.

Ozone is a growing problem in the northern hemisphere and is already costing farmers billion of dollars in crop damage.

Effect of increasing ozone concentration (left to right: about 15, 80 and 150 ppb) on growth of (A) Pima cotton and nutsedge grown in direct competition with one nutsedge per cotton; (B) tomato and nutsedge
grown in direct competition with nutsedge (two-to-one); and (C) yellow nutsedge grown in the absence of competition. (Photo and caption: David A. Grantz & Anil Shrestha, UC Kearney Agricultural Center )

“In the major rice-growing regions, which are India and China, ground-level ozone concentrations even today are very high and certainly exceed the threshold for damage. Ozone is already decreasing yield potential in many areas,” Ainsworth said.

Significant amounts of rice yield are lost annually due to various abiotic stresses (e.g., salinity, droughts). Rice is the staple diet for about half of the world population, and about 90 percent of the world’s rice is produced in Asia.

UN experts believe that in low-latitude regions, slightest temperature rises of about 1ºC could affect crop yields.

The atmospheric CO2 levels have now reached about 388 parts per million from about 280 ppm prior to the Industrial Revolution.

“There is still a lot of uncertainty in the climate modeling when it comes to the regional level,” said Reiner Wassmann coordinator of the Rice and Climate Change Consortium at IRRI. “But it was clear temperatures would rise.”

A train travels along the flooded Darbhanga-Sitamadhi railway line in Bihar in this August 2, 2007 file photo. Massive monsoon floods in eastern India damaged vast areas of corn and affected the rice crop, government officials and farm experts said on Tuesday, adding that losses are being assessed. REUTERS/Krishna Murari Kishan (image may be subject to copyright!) See FEWW Fair Use notice.

“The other mega trend we see is that we will have more climate extremes. In some places there might be more drought, in others it may be submergence, from floods, in some places it might be both,” said Wassmann.

Lake Hartwell, February 2008, western South Carolina. Photo courtesy South Carolina Department of Natural Resources staff. (Source UNL)

“That is really a new challenge for development of cropping systems and I don’t want to limit it to only plant breeding. We have to be clear that this is no silver bullet and that if we speed-up plant breeding everything will be fine. Certainly not.

“We also have to improve crop management and water saving techniques have come into the picture to cope with drought,” he said. (Source)

High ozone levels can damage leaves on trees and crops (such as corn, wheat, and soybeans), reducing growth rates and crop yields. In 1995, ground-level ozone caused $2.7 billion in crop damage nationwide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Due to its reactive nature, ozone also can prematurely degrade and wear out rubber, paints and other materials. (Source)

Related Links:

• Food in the Future
• Farmers face climate challenge in quest for more food
• Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide – Mauna Loa
• Ozone reduces crop yields and alters competition with weeds such as yellow nutsedge

• Fueling Food Shortages
• Corn for Food, NOT for Fuel
• Food Riots Grip Egypt, Haiti, El Salvador
• Emerging Food Crisis
• World Poverty Index

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