Disaster Calendar – 24 June 2012

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,361 Days Left

[June 24, 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,361 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

Armyworms Force Disaster Declarations in Arkansas, Missouri

Armyworms devastate crops across 23 U.S. counties 

USDA has designated 19 counties in Arkansas and 4 counties in Missouri as agricultural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by armyworms that began April 1 and continues.

• The primary disaster areas in Arkansas: Boone, Fulton, Izard, Madison and Sharp counties.
• Contiguous disaster areas in Arkansas:  Baxter, Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Independence, Johnson, Lawrence, Marion, Newton, Randolph, Searcy, Stone and Washington counties.
• The disaster areas in Missouri: Howell, Oregon, Ozark and Taney counties.

A county is designated an agricultural disaster area when the crop losses exceed 30 percent.

Fall armyworm damage corn cobs. –USDA

Fall armyworm cause extensive damage to whorls of corn. Source: Purdue Cooperative Extension Service

Four stages of armyworm development. Image Source: NCSU.

Description (Source: NCSU)

• Adult– The true armyworm moth has grayish-brown forewings, each with a white spot near the center, and grayish-white hind wings. The wingspan averages 38.5 mm.
• Egg – The minute, greenish-white egg is globular in shape.
• Larva – The young armyworm is pale green. The mature larva is basically yellowish or brownish-green with a tan or greenish-brown head mottled with darker brown. The smooth, practically hairless body is marked with three dark longitudinal stripes, one along each side and one down the back. A full-grown armyworm is 30 to 35 mm long.
• Pupa – The reddish-brown 13-mm-long pupa darkens gradually until it is almost black.

See also:

• ARMYWORMS MARCH ACROSS NEW YORK Posted on June 17, 2012
• Disaster Declared as Little Bear Fire Grows Posted on June 10, 2012

Other Global Disaster, Significant Events

• Vermont, USA. The Disaster President has declared 3 Vermont counties—Addison, Lamoille and Orleans—as major disaster areas due to severe storms, hail, flooding, high wind and a tornado that struck the region on May 29.
  • The extreme weather event caused widespread damage to private property as well as public infrastructure.
  • Vermont has now experienced extreme weather events destructive enough to warrant major disaster declarations for the sixth successive year.

• See also: Obama Presidency: Thousand Days of Disaster

[NOTE: This blog endorses neither of the two political mafia families!]

• Gulf of Mexico

Tropical Storm DEBBY. Image source: CIMSS

• TS DEBBY, currently quasistationery,  located about 210 miles SSE of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with winds of about 50MPH, and is expected to intensify into hurricane strength before slamming into Texas/Louisiana/Florida coasts.
• DEBBY could dump up to 10 inches of rain along the Gulf Coast from southern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
• Tropical Storm Warnings and Watches have been issued for coastal waters of SE Louisiana and S Mississippi.

• Colorado.  Waldo Canyon Fire, which flared up on Saturday, has grown to more than 2,000 acres, and is expected to remain active throughout the night.
  • The fast-moving blaze near Colorado Springs has forced more than 5,000 people to flee their homes.
  • The fire was zero percent contained, as of posting.
  • Mandatory Evacuation Orders:
    • “Cedar Heights Subdivision and Mountain Shadows south of Chuck Wagon are under mandatory evacuation. Boundaries are Rampart Range Road to the west and everything west of 30th and Centennial from Gateway Road north to Chuck Wagon. City of Manitou Springs and Crystal Park Subdivision as well as The north side of Hwy. 24 east from the County line to Waldo Canyon. There are no evacuation orders in place at this time for Mountain Shadows other than those south of Chuck Wagon Road. Garden of the Gods Park and Garden of the Gods Visitor Center are closed. Pikes Peak Hwy. is closed.” USFS reported.

• Colorado. Woodland Heights fire, another explosive blaze that ignited near the mountain community of Estes Park, has destroyed about two dozen structures.

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

ARMYWORMS MARCH ACROSS NEW YORK

Armyworms devour crops at dozens of farms in western and northern New York

The worms were first detected near Lake Erie, and later spread east from Buffalo to the Hudson Valley region before marching north, reports said.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Services Agency (FSA) earlier announced that it can file weather related disaster reports for damage caused by armyworms because they have arrived earlier than expected and in unprecedented numbers due to the unseasonable warm weather this spring.

USDA will declare disaster in areas devastated by the armyworms infestation, when county-wide losses of 30% or more  occurs.

“Michael E. Hunter, field crops educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County, said the outbreak at farms north of the Black River was caused by another wave of moths that traveled north from Western New York to hatch the destructive worms in hayfields,” said a report.

“I’ve covered thousands of acres and have found army worms in every field,” Mr. Hunter said Friday. Farms in Clayton, Orleans and Alexandria Bay were all infested. “There’s probably a good chance that most people have them right now.”

Four stages of armyworm development. Image Source: NCSU.

Description (Source: NCSU)

• Adult– The true armyworm moth has grayish-brown forewings, each with a white spot near the center, and grayish-white hind wings. The wingspan averages 38.5 mm.
• Egg – The minute, greenish-white egg is globular in shape.
• Larva – The young armyworm is pale green. The mature larva is basically yellowish or brownish-green with a tan or greenish-brown head mottled with darker brown. The smooth, practically hairless body is marked with three dark longitudinal stripes, one along each side and one down the back. A full-grown armyworm is 30 to 35 mm long.
• Pupa – The reddish-brown 13-mm-long pupa darkens gradually until it is almost black.

Fall armyworm larvae are tan or green to nearly black caterpillars with three yellow hair lines down the back and a wider one on each side. Prominent white markings form an upside down Y on the front of the head readily distinguishing it from other armyworms. Full-grown larvae may attain a length of 1 to 1 1/2 inches. Source: Texas A&M University/ College of Agriculture

Egg mass of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith). –USDA

Hatching first instar larvae of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith). –USDA

Cross section of a tunnel showing a pupa of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith). The Diapetimorpha introita wasp is preparing to lay an egg in the pupal tunnel.  Photograph by: Scott Bauer, USDA [Source: UF]

Fall Armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda Smith, grows to about 1½ inches long and is identified by a distinct inverted ‘Y’ on the head. They are called armyworms because they march in endless numbers from one field to another, devouring grasses, everything from hay to wheat.

A battalion of armyworms.

Fall armyworm damage corn cobs. –USDA

• See also: Disaster Declared as Little Bear Fire Grows Posted on June 10, 2012

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

Army Worms Destroy Liberia’s Crops

Army worms have decimated Liberia’s crops and vegetation and polluted creeks and running water with their feces

West African state of Liberia declared a state of emergency on Sunday after swarms of army worms decimated crops and vegetation and polluted creeks and running water with their feces in its food-producing district of  Zota in Bong County [bordering Guinea,] said the Ministry of Agriculture.

Fall Armyworm – Spodoptera frugiperd.

“We are calling for international assistance to combat these insects. They have affected over 19 villages in Bong county,” Agriculture Minister Christopher Toe said.

The worms have also  infested homes and other buildings searching for food, local residents said.

Army worms, also known as fall army worm (Spodoptera frugiperda), are the caterpillar life stage of the noctuid or Owlet moth and can grow to about 5 centimeters  in length. The worms are pests and can destroy entire swathes of  crops, if left to multiply.

Army worms take their name from their eating habits; they are among the most destructive pests to crops and vegetation in the world. Once they exhaust one food source, an entire “army” of worms moves to another food source.

Related Links:

• Caterpillar invasion: Government declares Zota District emergency zone
• Liberian army worms threaten W.Africa plague: FAO [Link added January 30, 2009]