War on Nature: Danube Dynamited

Serbian authorities use explosives to unblock frozen Danube

The authorities in Serbia are dynamiting the Danube and Ibar to crush massive ice blocks formed on long stretches of  the two rivers in a desperate attempt to unblock shipping lanes and prevent flooding in heavily populated areas.

The official death toll from Europe’s deep freeze has exceeded 450, with thousands more injured. Tens of thousands of people remain isolated by massive snowstorms, as more frozen bodies are found in France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and across the Balkans.

Disaster Calendar 2012 – February 8

[February 8, 2012]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,498 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Europe.The big freeze which began 11 days ago has affected the entire continent, leaving at least 450 dead [NOTE: the actual death toll could be much higher] and thousands afflicted with hypothermia and frostbite.
  • More frozen bodies have been found in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and across the Balkans.
  • Temperatures in some areas plunged to as low as -40ºC (minus 40ºF).
  • The authorities in Serbia are dynamiting massive ice blocks formed on the Danube and Ibar rivers to unblock shipping lanes and prevent flooding in heavily populated areas.
  • The severe cold has increased demand for oil and natural gas in Europe, a third of which is supplied by Russia.
  • About 500 hundred villages in southern Croatia are buried under up to 6 f3et of snow, without access to food and medicine.
  • The freeze is expected to continue.

Other Global Disasters

• Philippines. Death toll from the strong quakes that struck Negros on Monday has risen to at least 48 with more than 100 reported as missing, a report said.
  • Most of the deaths occurred in Guihulngan City, and in the towns of La Libertad, Tayasan, Jumalalud and Bindoy.
  • At least 52 people were injured, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Significant Incidents

• Sado Fukin, Japan. A 5.7Mw quake struck about 75km west of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata Prefecture, Japan
  • Region Name: Sado Fukin (W of Niigata, Honshu, Japan)
  • Occurred at: 21:01 JST 08 Feb 2012
  • Epicenter: 37.9N 138.2E
  • Depth: 10 km
  • The quake was followed by at least one aftershock measuring 3.1Mw, as of posting. (Source: JMA)

Sado Fukin Earthquake Map. Source: JMA

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

• Europe’s Big Freeze Deepens: Hundreds Dead
• Deadly Freeze: Bosnia Declares a State of Emergency
• State of Emergency Declared in S. Bulgaria after Severe Flooding
• Japan’s War on Nature Continues

• Painting the Danube Alkaline Red
• Hungarian Rhapsody in Red Major
• The Death of Homo Sapiens Sapiens (Part 1)

Europe’s Big Freeze Deepens: Hundreds Dead

Deepening freeze in eastern and central Europe claims at least 300 lives

As the death toll from the deepening big freeze climbs into the hundreds, with  thousands of others hit by hypothermia and frostbite, more countries enact states of emergency.

Disaster Calendar 2012 – February 4

[February 4, 2012]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,502 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Central and eastern Europe.    Death toll from the big freeze in central and eastern Europe has climbed to at least 300, with thousands of others afflicted with hypothermia and frostbite.
  • Serbia. The government has extended its emergency declaration to cover at least 23 municipalities across the country.
    • More emergency measures are being considered including the closure of schools, a report said.

Other Global Disasters

• South Sudan. About 40 people were killed in South Sudan during a peace meeting, which was held to end recent killing in the region, officials said.

• NSW, Australia.  The state government in Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) has declared Gunnedah in northern NSW a disaster area as heavy rain and severe flooding continue devastating the state .
  • Gunnedah is the 17th Local Government Area to be declared a disaster zone.
  • Other areas recently declared as disaster zones are Local Government Areas of Bellingen, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Inverell, Nambucca, Kempsey, Tweed Shire, Tenterfield, Greater Taree, Moree, Narrabri and Gwydir, a report said.

• Alabama, USA. The Disaster President has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Alabama. Severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding during the period of January 22-23, 2012 brought great devastation to Chilton and Jefferson Counties.
• Idaho, USA.  Selenium contamination from a phosphate mine in southeastern Idaho is responsible for fish deformities such as two-headed trout, and the disaster would worsen if discharge limits into the Snake River were to be relaxed, according to a new official report.
  • “The toxic effects of selenium pollution drew widespread attention and study in the mid-1980s, when the chemical was found to cause deformities like protruding brains in 65 percent of ducks, herons and other birds and a massive fish die-off at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge in California.”

• Obama’s War on Afghanistan.   Civilian deaths in Afghanistan has risen for the fifth year in a row to a record high, a U.N. report said.
  • A record 3,021 noncombatants were killed in 2011, a rise of 8% over the previous year.
  • The number of internally displaced people, driven from their homes due to the war violence, also rose sharply by a whopping 45%, the report said.

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

• Flooded Australia: Thousands Evacuated in 3 States
• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Wildfire Consumes 1 Million Acres in WA

• Australia: 5 disaster areas declared in NSW following severe flooding