U.S. Drought Widens Over Past Week

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,206 Days Left 

[November 22, 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,206 Days Left to the most Fateful Day in Human History
• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events

‘Abnormally Dry’ to ‘Exceptional Drought’ conditions cover nearly 74 percent of contiguous U.S.

Extreme and Exceptional drought plague the Great Plains including virtually all of Nebraska and Kansas.

U.S. Drought Map, November 20, 2012. Released by US Drought Monitor on November 21, 2012.

Highlights from the weekly Drought Monitor Report:

• Nearly 94% of High Plains is now in drought with more than 84% of the region plagued by ‘Severe’ to ‘Exceptional’ drought levels.

• More than three-quarters of Texas is in at least a ‘Moderate’ drought, with about nearly half the state covered by ‘Severe’ or worse drought conditions.

• More than 72% of the West, 61% of the South, 30% of the Southeast and 52% of the Midwest are in drought.

Weekly Precipitation Map (November 14 – 20, 2012)

U.S. Weekly Rain Map.  Source: HPRCC

Other related stories

• ‘Thieves are stealing thousands of dollars in hay bales in central Kansas amid a drought that has tightened supplies and driven up prices.’
• Wheat Crop Hit Hard by Drought

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

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

Drought in Kansas Damages Aquifers

Kansas drought in 2011 has caused severe declines in groundwater levels

Ogallala Aquifer in southwest Kansas dropped an average 3.78 feet in 2011, Kansas Geological Survey said. That’s compared to a decline of 3 feet in 2010 and 1.39 feet in 2009.

Disaster Calendar 2012 – March 30

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,447 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Kansas, USA.  Kansas drought in 2011 has caused severe declines in groundwater levels.

U.S. Seasonal Drought Map.

• • The drought began in the fall of 2010.
  • Much of Kansas received between 25 to 50 percent of normal rainfall.
  • Ogallala Aquifer in southwest Kansas dropped an average 3.78 feet in 2011, Kansas Geological Survey said. That’s compared to a decline of 3 feet in 2010 and 1.39 feet in 2009.
  • Thew is a nearly 174,000-square-mile underground cache of water that spreads across parts of Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming – one of the largest freshwater aquifers in the world.
  • “The growing season was probably the worst since the 1930s,” said Kansas Geological Survey water-data manager. “It was just awful.”
  • “It’s a change from 80 years ago when, during the Great Depression, hundreds, if not thousands, of farmers went out of business after drought and dust storms damaged their crops. Back then, there was little irrigation relief or knowledge of the magnitude of the reservoir underneath the surface,” said a report.
  • The Ogallala Aquifer (aka, the High Plains Aquifer,) is one of the world’s largest aquifers, covering an area of about 450,000 km² (174,000 mi²).
  • Named after the town of Ogallala, Nebraska, the vast but shallow aquifer is located beneath the Great Plains covering portion of eight states of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.
  • Ogallala yields about 30 percent of the ground water used for irrigation in the U.S.
  • The aquifer has been declining for decades
  • “High Plains ground water is used primarily to grow crops for the Nation; irrigation accounts for 94 percent of the ground-water use. The second largest ground-water use, 418 million gallons per day (Mgal/day), is for domestic drinking water. Almost 2 million people rely on the High Plains aquifer for their drinking water. Surface water is used for drinking water primarily in the larger cities near the periphery of the High Plains aquifer (Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Lubbock, Odessa, and Amarillo, Texas). Other uses of ground water include livestock (222 Mgal/day), mining (210 Mgal/day), and industry (155 Mgal/day).” USGS said.

Water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2005 (modified from McGuire, 2007). Map shows the areas of substantial water-level changes in the aquifer from the time prior to substantial ground-water irrigation development (predevelopment or about 1950) to 2005 Source: USGS

Water-Level Changes, Predevelopment to 2005

• The map of water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer from predevelopment to 2005  was generated using methods described by McGuire (2007). The map is based on water levels from 3,682 wells, which were measured in predevelopment and in 2005, and other previously published data in areas with few predevelopment water levels. The areas with few predevelopment water levels are in the central part of the Nebraska Panhandle, west-central Nebraska, and southeastern Wyoming.

• The water-level changes from predevelopment to 2005 ranged between a rise of 84 feet and a decline of 277 feet. Area-weighted, average water-level change from predevelopment to 2005 was a decline of 12.8 feet. Approximately 25 percent of the aquifer area had more than 10 feet of water-level decline from predevelopment to 2005; 17 percent had more than 25 feet of water-level decline, and 9 percent had more than 50 feet of water-level decline. Approximately 2 percent of the aquifer area had more than 10 feet of water-level rise from predevelopment to 2005 (McGuire, 2007).

Change in Water in Storage, Predevelopment to 2005

• Total water in storage in 2005 was about 2,925 million acre-feet, which was a decline of about 253 million acre-feet (or 9 percent) since predevelopment. Water in storage for predevelopment was inferred from water in storage in 2000 and water-level changes from predevelopment to 2000. Changes in storage prior to predevelopment were not estimated (McGuire, 2007).

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:  Collapse has already Begun

Drought Intensifies in Southern U.S.

Drought is also intensifying in the southeast, especially Georgia, eastern Alabama: Report

The drought could extend into next year and beyond, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported.

“In Texas and southern Oklahoma, another week of above-normal temperatures (up to 14°F above normal, with highs eclipsing 110°F) and sunny skies further offset the benefits of early month rainfall.   Consequently, drought intensified over many of the remaining D2 and D3 areas (Severe to Extreme Drought), with the vast majority of Texas and Oklahoma under Exceptional Drought (D4).  As of August 29, pasture and range condition was rated 98 and 92 percent poor to very poor in Texas and Oklahoma, respectively.  Further illustrating the heat and drought’s devastating impacts, cotton – a crop that generally thrives in hot, dry weather – was rated 60 percent poor to very poor in Texas and an astounding 92 percent poor to very poor in Oklahoma.  180-day rainfall deficits exceeded 14 inches in southwestern Oklahoma and north-central Texas, and were locally in excess of 20 inches near Houston.”

READ THIS FIRST

Continued hacking and content censorship

In view of the continued hacking and censorship of this blog by the Internet Mafia, the Moderators have decided to maintain only a minimum presence at this site, until further notice.

FIRE-EARTH will continue to update the 2011 Disaster Calendar for the benefit of its readers.

WordPress is HACKING this blog!

WordPress Continues to Hack Fire-Earth, Affiliated Blogs

The Blog Moderators Condemn in the Strongest Possible Terms the Continued Removal of Content and Hacking of FIRE-EARTH and Affiliated Blogs by WordPress!

Disaster Calendar 2011 – September 1

[September 1, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,658 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• U.S. South. Drought conditions (D0 – D4) now engulf 97.56 percent of the South, up from 93.62 percent a week earlier, the US Drought Monitor reported.
• U.S. Southeast. Extreme drought level (D3) in the Southeast now covers 22.8 percent of the region, compared with 12.94 percent last week.

• Texas, USA. Extreme and exceptional levels of drought (D3 and D4) in Texas have climbed to 95.04 percent of the state, up from 94.42 percent last week, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported.
• Childress, Texas has  recorded 94 days of triple digit temperatures (50 consecutive days, ending on August 10) so far this year.
• The summer of 2011 was the hottest on record across the Southern Plains region by a significant margin (up to 3.4ºF), NWS reported.
• Temperatures climbed above 90 degrees EVERY DAY during meteorological summer (June 1-August 31) at both Lubbock and Childress monitoring sites, the first time ever on record.

• Oklahoma, USA. Extreme and exceptional levels of drought now cover 85.37 percent of the state.
• Louisiana, USA. Extreme and exceptional drought plague 59.50 percent of the state, an increase of about 4 percent since last week.
• Kansas, USA. D3 and D4 drought conditions engulf about 32 percent of state of Kansas.

Other Disasters

• Vermont, USA. The White House today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Vermont due to the severe impact of Tropical Storm Irene beginning on August 29, 2011, and continuing.
• Oklahoma, USA. A wildfire in a wooded area of Oklahoma city has consumed at least 25 homes.
• Texas, USA. A Texas wildfire near Possum Kingdom Lake, about 75 miles west of Fort Worth, has consumed at least 6,500 acres, destroying 40 homes, a report said.

Related Links

• Mega Heatwaves Could Kill Tens of Thousands in the U.S.
• U.S. Disaster Losses Mounting
• 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season: AAA  FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• US Nuke Plants Threatened by Extreme Heat
• U.S. back-to-back disasters phase has begun
• 2011 Much More Disastrous: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Global Disasters in 2011 Could Impact 1/3 to 1/2 of the Human Population
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – August
• 2010 Disaster Calendar 
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

Missouri, Nebraska Declared Major Disaster Areas

Major Disaster Declared in Missouri Due to Two Months of Flooding

[August 12, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,678 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

READ THIS FIRST

Continued hacking and content censorship

In view of the continued hacking and censorship of this blog by the Internet Mafia, the Moderators have decided to maintain only a minimum presence at this site, until further notice.

FIRE-EARTH will continue to update the 2011 Disaster Calendar for the benefit of its readers.

WordPress Continues to Hack Fire-Earth, Affiliated Blogs

WordPress is HACKING this blog!

The Blog Moderators Condemn in the Strongest Possible Terms the Continued Removal of Content and Hacking of FIRE-EARTH and Affiliated Blogs by WordPress!

Disaster Calendar 2011 – August 12 Entry

• Missouri, USA. The White House has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Missouri after the damage caused by widespread flooding during the period of June 1 to August 1, 2011.
• Nebraska, USA. The White House has declared a major disaster exists in the State of Nebraska following the widespread damage caused by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding during the period of June 19-21, 2011.
• Kansas, USA.Worsening drought conditions across the state of Kansas have prompted Gov. Sam Brownback to issue an executive order moving 15 counties from drought warning to emergency status.
• Drought Emergency: Barber, Clark, Comanche, Harper, Kingman, Kiowa, Meade, Morton, Pratt, Reno, Seward, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens and Sumner counties.
• Drought Warning: Barton, Butler, Cowley, Edwards, Finney, Ford, Gove, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Lane, Logan, McPherson, Ness, Pawnee, Rice, Scott, Sedgwick, Trego, Wallace and Wichita counties
• Drought Watch: Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Coffey, Crawford, Decatur, Dickinson, Elk, Ellis, Ellsworth, Graham, Greenwood, Labette, Lincoln, Linn, Lyon, Marion, Montgomery, Neosho, Norton, Ottawa, Phillips, Rawlins, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Saline, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas, Wilson and Woodson counties.
• New York, USA. The official death toll from heat wave in NYC has climbed to 11, reports said.

Related Links

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – August
• 2010 Disaster Calendar 
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

Disaster Declared in 25 More Kansas Counties

USDA Declares 25 Additional Kansas Counties as Disaster Areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 25 more Kansas counties as disaster areas due to crop damage caused by the ongoing drought.

The latest designation, requested by Gov. Sam Brownback, covers the Wichita metropolitan area and south-central Kansas, and comes shortly after the agency had listed 21 other counties as disaster areas.

The latest designation cover Barber, Barton, Butler, Clark, Comanche, Cowley, Edwards, Ellis, Ford, Graham, Gray, Harper, Harvey, Hodgeman, Kingman, Lincoln, Norton, Phillips, Reno, Rice, Russell, Sedgwick, Stafford, Sumner and Trego counties.

Kansas Map of below normal 7-day average streamflow. Source: USGS.
Click images to enlarge

US Map of below normal 7-day average streamflow. Source: USGS. Click images to enlarge.

 

Related Links

• Massive Pender Fire Killing Many Animals
• U.S. Wildfires News and Blame Games
• WARNING: Global Disasters – June 21, 2011