Red Alert for Severe Smog in N. China

Severe smog plagues N. China, triggers ‘red alert’ in Beijing, 22 other cities 

The red alert will be activated at 8 p.m. Friday for Beijing and 22 other cities and is expected to last through December 21, according to government media.

Taiyuan, the provincial capital of north China’s coal-rich Shanxi province, has also issued a red alert for severe air pollution, and will activate emergency measures at midnight Friday.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said another 20 cities including Shijiazhuang, Tianjin and Zhengzhou were expected to issue red alerts, with nine others on orange alert.

Drought Parches Millions of Hectares of Farmland in China

Millions of Chinese short of drinking water as drought destroys
large swathes of cropland

Severe drought in China has left about 9 million people and tens of millions of farm animals short of drinking water, parching about 4 million hectares of farmland in Gansu, Hubei, Shanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, drought-relief officials said.

SW China’s Yunnan province, which borders Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, is said to be the worst hit area.

Earlier this months, the authorities declared 8 additional provinces as drought-stricken areas.

In 2011, parts of China experienced their worst drought in living memory, with rainfall averaging 50 percent of the  normal, destroying crops and cutting hydroelectric power from dams, officials said.

China is home to 20 percent of the world population, but has only about 5 percent of the world’s fresh water resources.

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

Disaster Declared in Idaho Counties after Landslides and Flooding

Disaster Calendar 2012 – April 5

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,441 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

100-year rainfall records broken in Idaho and Bonner counties, Id

Extreme rain events have caused damaging landslides and closed roads throughout Shoshone, Idaho and Bonner counties, Id., prompting Governor Otter to declare a state of emergency.

• Idaho, USA.  Extreme rain events have supersaturated the soil triggering multiple landslides, causing  widespread damage to infrastructure, closing roads throughout Shoshone, Idaho and Bonner counties, Id., and prompting Governor Otter to declare a state of emergency. 
  • “The landslides and flooding have damaged multiple roads in all three counties, causing residents and first responders to detour extensively around the closed roads. The landslide on Leitch Creek Road in Idaho County deposited an estimated 80,000 cubic yards of debris across the road, making it impassable for some time,”  said a report.

Significant Events

• Mississippi, USA.  “March temperatures were above average across the entire NWS Jackson forecast area, with a new monthly average temperature record set at 3 of 6 area climate sites.”  NWS reported.
  • Warmest March on Record reported at
    • Greenwood (64.8ºF)
    • Hattiesburg (68.0)
    • Vicksburg/Tallulah (66.2)
  • 2nd Warmest at
    • Greenville (64.3)
  • 3rd Warmest
    • Jackson (66.3)
  • 4th Warmest
    • Meridian (65.0)

• Current U.S. Drought Monitor

Other Disasters

• Texas, USA.  The City of Forney (aka, the Antique Capital of Texas) in Kaufman County has been declare a disaster area after a tornado touchdown in downtown area mid afternoon Tuesday.
  • The twister damaged or destroyed about 100 structures,  and  a dozen people injured.

• China.   Exceptional, extreme and severe levels of drought have spread to 13 Chinese provinces, leaving about 8 million people and 5 million heads of livestock without sufficient drinking water.
  
  • The worst affected provinces include Yunnan, Sichuan [a major farming area,] Hebei, Shanxi and Gansu, the Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said. 
    
  • “The drought has also dried up reservoirs and threatened spring planting, affecting 60.1 million mu (4 million hectares) of crop land as of Thursday.“
• Buenos Aires, Argentina. Torrential rains and hail storms across Buenos Aires have left at least twelve people dead and many injured, reports said.

• England, UK.  Following two years of very low winter rainfall, large parts of England are officially in drought.
  • The drought has forced seven water companies throughout the UK to impose a temporary use bans (locally known as hosepipe bans).
  • “Dry winters can be particularly harmful because winter rain normally tops up groundwater and reservoirs. East Anglia, the South East and parts of Yorkshire are currently in drought, and other parts of the country  are affected. If the dry weather continues, more restrictions are likely to be necessary.” UK govt said.
• Current situation: “East Anglia, the south east of England and south and east Yorkshire are in drought. . In parts of the Midlands, the south west of England and Wales some river flows are very low for the time of year and there are some noticeable impacts on the environment, but public water supplies are not affected.
• “England and Wales had 38 per cent of the long term average rainfall in March. This ranged from 29 per cent in Wales to 68 per cent in our Anglian region. With dry weather affecting many regions this week, soil moisture deficits have continued to increase. River flows remain exceptionally low for the time of year in many areas. Groundwater levels continue to decrease and remain lower than at the same time in March 1976 in parts of Shropshire, the Chilterns, and the North Downs.”

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
  

China Drought

• Terraforming China Posted  on April 2, 2012
• China’s War on Nature Intensifies Posted on March 23, 2012
• Drought and Deluge Index

Amazing Images: Coking Plant, Shanxi Province

“It’s got to get worse, before it could get better [sic]”

A worker walks along a railway track at a coking factory in Changzhi, Shanxi province August 28, 2009. REUTERS/Stringer. Image may be subject to copyright.

Chairman Mao (1940 speech):

For the purpose of attaining freedom in the world of nature, man must use natural science to understand, conquer, and change nature, and thus attain freedom from nature.

Freud:

There is, indeed, another and a better path: that of becoming a member of human community, and, with the help of a technique guided by science, going over to attack against nature and subjecting her to human will.

Related Links:

• The Death of Homo Sapiens Sapiens (Part 1)
• Stealing Weather

• CO2e Links Page
• World CO2 Emissions
• Carbon Footprint of Your Dollar
• New York Cognitive Dissonance