Fire ‘like an atom bomb’ destroys homes damages Australian observatory

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,153 Days Left 

[January 14, 2013] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,153 Days Left to the most Fateful Day in Human History
• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

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Global Disasters/ Significant Events

A ‘perfect storm’ of a fire destroys dozens of homes in NSW

• The massive fire has consumed more than 40,000 hectares near the Warrumbungle National Park in Coonabarabran area in New South Wales (NSW), destroying dozens of homes.

• The destructive blaze with a 100-km front has also destroyed scores of other structures, hundreds of livestock and farming machinery, and remained uncontained as of  Monday, local reports said.

• The mega blaze has severely damaged several buildings at Siding Spring Observatory in the national park, but “the main telescope facilities are okay,” said the acting director for the Australian Astronomical Observatory.

• “There was just absolutely no stopping that fire,” a fire official said, adding that wind conditions had created “perfect storm” conditions for the fire to burn “with such a ferocity we haven’t seen in years.”

• “It looked like an atom bomb the way it went up,” said a property owner who lives to the west of the fire.

• “The smoke plume of that fire extended some 14km (8.6 miles) into the air and even prevented us from getting aircraft overhead because of just how dangerous and bumpy the conditions were,” a fire official told reporters.

• At least 200 wildfires sparked by lightning and fueled by hot and windy weather are burning in NSW.

• About 3 dozen fires remain uncontained, officials said.

• Dozens of fires are also burning in Victoria and Tasmania.

• Hottest Hell on Earth Posted January 8, 2013

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

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

U.S. Drought 2013

U.S. Drought Map for January 8, 2013

FEWW DROUGHT FORECAST: REMOVED BY A MODERATOR.

As of January 8, 2013 drought covered more than 60 percent of the contiguous U.S. and rendered a further 11.5 percent as ‘Abnormally Dry,’ according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

• ‘Severe’ to ‘Exceptional’ drought levels plagued more than 86 percent of High Plains including
  • 100 percent of Nebraska
  • 100 percent of Kansas
  • Nearly 97 percent of South Dakota
  • More than 86 percent of Wyoming
  • Over 95 percent of Colorado
• More than half of southern United States including the entire state of Oklahoma and about two-thirds of Texas were also experiencing ‘Severe’ to ‘Exceptional’ drought conditions.
• At least 44 percent of the West, a third of the Midwest and a fifth of the Southeast also reported similar drought conditions.

U.S. Drought Map for 8 January 2013, released by U.S. Drought Monitor on January 10, 2013.

• Disaster Declared in Much of U.S. Wheat Belt  January 10, 2013
• The Land of Rising Heat  January 9, 2013
• Hottest Hell on Earth  January 8, 2013
• U.S. Drought: Little Change Despite Snowstorms January 3, 2013

Recent Drought Links

• U.S. Drought Persists Despite Snow December 21, 2012
• Drought Continues to Expand through U.S. Farming Region December 14, 2012
• Drought Continues to Expand through Central U.S. December 7, 2012

• US: Dozens of Additional Counties Designated Disaster Areas December 4, 2012
• U.S. Drought: 54 Additional Counties Declared Drought Disaster Areas Posted  November 2, 2012
• U.S. Counties Declared Disaster Areas October 25, 2012
• U.S. drought retreats fractionally, expected to persist through winter October 19, 2012
• U.S. Crop Disaster Losses Spreads to 2,673 Counties October 18, 2012
  
• Drought Disaster Spreads to 2,423 U.S. Counties October 12, 2012
• U.S. Drought: Little Change! October 4, 2012

GLOBAL WARNING

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun