India, too, is shrinking!

EXTREME WEATHER & CLIMATIC EVENTS
DROUGHT
HUMAN IMPACT
DESERTIFICATION
SCENARIOS 900, 800, 444, 111, 071, 03
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Nearly 2/3 of India Undergoing Desertification, or Land Degradation

More than a quarter of  India’s total land is undergoing desertification, while over a third is facing degradation that has affected its productivity, critically affecting the livelihood and food security of hundreds of millions people across the country, said a report.

About 105.2 million hectares (Mha), or 35.5% of India’s total land area, is being degraded, while 82.2 Mha, or 27.7%,  is undergoing desertification.

Nearly 70 percent of land in India is dry and therefore prone to drought, making it vulnerable to water and wind erosion, salinization and water logging, according to a 2007 report prepared by Indian Space Research Organization.

Soil erosion accounts for about 72 percent of the total degradation in the country, while wind erosion causes over 10 percent of the damage, said the report. Water-logging and salinity/alkalinity are also responsible for the erosion, according to the latest National Report on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought.

The worst affected areas are the states of Rajasthan with 23 Mha desrtified, followed by Gujarat, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir(13 Mha each) and Orissa and Andhra Pradesh (5 Mha each).

“Desertification and loss of biological potential will restrict the transformation of dry lands into productive ecosystem. Climate change will further challenge the livelihood of those living in these sensitive ecosystem and may result in higher levels of resource scarcity,” the report warns.

About 146.82 Mha of the country is severely affected by various kinds of land degradation including water erosion (93.68 Mha), wind erosion (9.48 Mha), waterlogging (14.30 Mha), salinity/alkalinity (5.94 Mha), soil acidity (16.04 Mha) and other causes (7.38 Mha).

Occupying only 2 percent of the world, India is home to 17 percent of the its population.

[NOTE: India’s total area is about 3,287,590 km², including 9.6 percent water. However, the official report incorrectly calculates the total area, which makes the percentage of land affected by desertification and degradation smaller than the actual size.]

Related Links

• How Your World Continued Shrinking April 18, 2014

Drought and Deluge: Major Mechanisms Of Collapse

Of the Visible Mechanisms of Collapse Drought and Deluge Are Among Leaders

For most everyone it would be difficult to imagine dealing with about 2,800 mm of rainfall in 6 months; however, many Filipinos experienced such catastrophic deluge caused by 12 storm between May and November 2009.

It’s not known whether the Island of Luzon would ever recover from the 2009 tropical cyclones, or how much worse the next few seasons could get.

The consensus among our colleagues at EDRO is that the mechanisms of collapse will intensify globally.

Brief History of 2009 Tropical Cyclones that affected The Philippines

• May 2 and 3, 2009. Tropical Storm Kujira brought torrential rains which triggered floods in  southern Luzon (northeast and central Philippines).
• May 7. Typhoon Chan-hom (“Emong”) struck the northwest coast of Luzon with more heavy rains and yet more flooding.
• June 12 – 22 and June 23 – 25. Typhoon Linfa and Tropical Storm Nangka [“Feria”] passed over the Philippines triggering more heavy rains, floods, and landslides. Many tornadoes worsened the impact of Nangka.
• July 10 – 11. Tropical Storm Soudelor [“Gorio”] reduced to a tropical depression, Soudelor moved close to northern Luzon, producing more than 330 mm of rainfall which triggered flash floods and landslides in a dozen villages.
• July 16 – 18. Typhoon Molave [“Isang”] passed close to northern Philippines causing yet more flooding in the region.
• August 1. Tropical Storm Goni (Jolina) affected about 120,000 people, with a dozen dead or missing in 120 villages, 25 towns and 5 cities.
• August 3 – 11. Typhoon Morakot [“Kiko”] left ten villages in the Philippines,submerged in up to 2-meters of  floodwater after the Pinatubo Dike overflowed. Morakot dumped over 2,500 mm of rain over parts of Taiwan.
• September 9, 2009 Tropical Storm Mujigae [“Maring”] was lurking around in Soth China Sea near western Luzon causing more rainfall.
• September 11 – 13. Typhoon Koppu [“Nando”] caused a 48 hour downpour over parts of Luzon and a   24 hour rainfall over Visayas and Mindanao,as it enhanced the impact of the southwest monsoon.
• September 26. Typhoon Ketsana [“Ondoy”] triggered Manila’s worst flooding in living memory.
• October 1. Typhoon Parma followed quickly after, churning Manila to Vanilla.
• Late October 2009. Typhoons Lupit and Mirinae left trails of destructioon in theier wakes.

Rainfall from Philippine Typhoons – NASA EO

This image illustrates the rainfall in the Philippines from 12 named storms between May and October in 2009. Two storms, Ketsana and Parma, brought unusually heavy flood-inducing rain within a two-week span at the end of September and early October. Image includes only the rain when each of the 12 storms were active. The heaviest rainfall, in excess of 2000 millimeters (80 inches), is shown in dark blue.

The data for the image came from the Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis, which calibrates rainfall estimates from many satellites using rainfall measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen. Caption by Holli Riebeek. Acquired May 2, 2009 – November 2, 2009. Released December 5, 2009 [Edited by FEWW]

Two Banana Diseases Spread in Africa

As the world shrinks, crop diseases flourish

A shrinking world means less land to grow food, diminishing topsoil, smaller ailing forests, warmer acidic oceans… worsening climate extremes, sea level rises, drought and deluge…

Two banana diseases are threatening Africa’s staple food crop.

Bananas [and plantains] are staple food crops for at least 50 million people in the countries surrounding the Great Lakes of Africa, located in and around the Great Rift Valley.

Two banana diseases spreading in Africa would affect the staple food for at least 5o million people in a dozen or so countries on the continent according to  various agricultural research reports.

The banana bunchy top viral disease has infected 45,000 hectares of plantation in Malawi, in addition to 11 other countries that were affected last year, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has reported.

Leaves infected with Banana bunchy top virus (Photo: Ron Heu, Survey Entomologist – Hawaii Department of Agriculture)

“We found the disease to be well-established in Gabon, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), Northern Angola and central Malawi,” CGIAR quoted a researcher at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture saying.

Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) has reportedly affected countries in central, eastern and southern Africa. The virus spreads from plant to plant by aphids, causes the leaves to sprout from the plant’s top, resulting in a “bunched” appearance and stunting its growth.

Fruit infected with Banana bunchy top virus (Photo: Ron Heu, Survey Entomologist – Hawaii Department of Agriculture). Note height of the entire bunch is about the same as legth of a healthy banana.

[NOTE: BBTV virus attack is terminal. Normally, a banana plant infected with the virus will not produce any fruit; however, the virus harm can be mitigated in a number of ways including in-vitro propagation of banana plants through shoot tip cultures, controlling the aphids and destroying any plant that shows signs of the disease.]

Plants infected with Banana bunchy top virus (Photo: Ron Heu, Survey Entomologist – Hawaii Department of Agriculture)

“CGIAR said another study earlier this year found banana bacterial wilt disease in Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, western Kenya, northwest Tanzania and north and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Reuters reported.

Researchers believe that the disease could spread to Burundi.

Uganda, Africa’s largest banana grower and consumer, has experienced bacterial wilt for nearly a decade,  incurring annual losses of up to $200 million as a result, said CGIAR.

“All but the traditional varieties of bananas in sub-Saharan Africa lack tolerance to the two diseases, which necessitates more research into the continent’s local … varieties,” it said.

“The diseases require drastic and expensive control measures such as completely excavating entire banana fields and treating them with pesticides, or burning the plants in order to complete the disease.”

Related Links:

• Climate Change Spreads “Deadly Dozen” Diseases
• Emerging Food Crisis
• Topsoil
• Future in the Making: Shrinking World

• Canceling Your Life Insurance Policy with Nature
• Sea level rise in Bangladesh threatens coastal population
• WILD FACTS SERIES: Our Oceans Are Dying!

• Panama Disease ravaging NT, Australia banana crop
• Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) is a threat to Hawaii bananas
• Bunchy Top Disease of Bananas
• Marsification of Earth

Images of the Day: Despair in Palopo, Sulawesi island

A Shrinking World!

A woman cries as she flees from her damaged house in Palopo November 5, 2008. Nearly one thousand families have been affected by floods following heavy rains in Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, an official said on Wednesday, with several casualties and damage to homes.  REUTERS/Yusuf Ahmad. Image may be subject to copyright.

The Climate Change Crusades

Are YOU a Climate Change Crusader?
How Do YOU Fight Climate Change?
Should YOU Crusade Against the Climate Change, or just STOP heating the globe?

A Shrinking World Series

Make No Mistake: Nature Always Has the Last Word!

Midwest Flood Update:

A dam near the Wisconsin Dells resort area broke on Monday, causing mudslides that swept away homes, as torrential rains caused more flooding across the U.S. Midwest.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency in 30 counties in the south of the state. In Iowa, where 33 counties were flooded, and Indiana, where flooding forced hundreds of people to evacuate homes in the central and western parts of the state, similar declarations have been made. Parts of Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota have been affected by flooding.

“This is an area that’s been bombarded with rain over the weekend, anywhere from 5 to 10 inches, and you’re dealing with saturated soils. So any rain that falls becomes run-off,” the National Weather Service’s Pat Slattery said.

OUCH! Too Close to the bank! Like the Kubeniks and the Pekars (see image caption), rivers are “living” creatures; they need room to complete their cycle of life!

The homes of the Kubeniks (R) and the Pekars are damaged after a dam broke at man-made Lake Delton, Wisconsin June 9 2008. REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice.

“Flood damage estimated in the tens of millions of dollars were being added to recent storm damage in Iowa, including a tornado that flattened the town of Parkersburg two weeks ago.” Reuters reported.

In Iowa:

• The water treatment plant in Mason City was swamped by the Winnebago River.
• Three of four bridges in the town of Charles City were swept away by flooding of the Cedar River.
• The town of New Hartford was evacuated.

Corn and soybean fields were submerged under the floodwater in Midwestern states. Iowa and Illinois account for about 35% of U.S. corn and soybeans, usually the world’s largest harvests of those crops. However, the prospects of a bumper crop year were further eroded, following a wet spring that had already delayed planting. (Source)

Related Video:

• Home washed away in floods [like a matchbox!]

Related Links:

• US Tornado Brief
• UN Hypocrisy: Kick the CO2 Habit!
• Will California turn to desert by 2011?

• Italy: Submerged in Floodwaters, Sinking in Garbage

• Failing Ecosystems
• State of the World
• Future Scenarios
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
  
• Nuking Earth for Lifestyle

• Giga Trends
• World Problems: The Root Cause Matrix
• Tipping Point
• Topsoil
• Drying Aquifers, Sinking Cities

• The Economy
• Energy
• Food Security
• Future in the Making: A Shrinking World

• Flood Puts City in Iowa ‘at God’s Mercy’ Iowa, June 12, 2008
  

The World’s one harvest from starvation!

Colombian Town Hit by Earthquake

A Shrinking World Series

Is it Safe?

At least 11 people died and 54 were injured when a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck about 50 km East Southeast of Colombian capital, Bogota. About 5,000 people have been affected by damaged structures, Red Cross said.

Panicked residents in the rural town of Quetame, the most seriously hit area, spent the night in the town’s football field. The quake damaged water supplies destroying houses and the local church.

A 6.2-magnitude quake, which struck Colombia in 1999, killed about 1,500 and left more than a quarter of a million people homeless.

A man walks past the wreckages of cars damaged in a landslide near Quetame May 25, 2008. Dozens of families evacuated the middle town after a shallow earthquake measuring 5.6 magnitude hit central Colombia on Saturday. REUTERS/Carlos Duran [Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!]

Quake Data [USGS]

• Magnitude: 5.6
• Date-Time: Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 19:20:47 UTC
  Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 02:20:47 PM at epicenter
• Location: 4.447°N, 73.670°W
• Depth: 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
• Region: COLOMBIA
• Distances: 35 km (20 miles) N of Villavicencio, Colombia
  50 km (30 miles) ESE of BOGOTA, Colombia
  125 km (75 miles) SSW of Tunja, Colombia
  125 km (80 miles) E of Girardot, Colombia
• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 4.8 km (3.0 miles);

Related Links:

• Colombia quake victims huddle in shelters, 11 dead

cqd

Chaitén Volcano: No End Seen to Second Massive Eruption

A Shrinking World Series:

Update #1 – Millions of tons of volcanic ash continue to rain down on Patagonia

Ten days after the Chilean volcano erupted for the first time in thousands of years, volcanic ash continues to rain down in Patagonia.

An eruption on the morning of May 2, 2008 forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 people from the town of Chaitén nearby (10 kilometers distant from the volcano) and caused the death of an elderly woman. The eruption continued through to May 4. Towns such as Futaleufú were affected and water supplies were contaminated. The town of Chaitén and Futaleufú were completely evacuated on the morning of May 6, 2008, due to a massive new eruption, with pyroclastic flows and possible emerging of lava. (Source)

The scientists have expressed grave concerns about the potential long-term environmental damage and the harm to the health of people and animals in the area.

“It has spoiled lakes, rivers and lagoons, coated plants in a dense layer of gray, and altered the sensitive habitat of animals now struggling to survive. Satellite images show a white stripe smeared across the southern part of South America.” Reuters said.

A bicycle covered in volcanic ash in Futaleufu town, about 1450 km south of Santiago May 11, 2008. Chaiten volcano began erupting May 2, 2008. (Photo: REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice.

“I am tremendously worried because this is an environmental, social and ecological disaster,” said Alejandro Beletzky, an environmental scientist in Argentina.

“The presence of volcanic ash in the region, which falls constantly, is very risky for humans, plants and animals,” he said near Esquel, about 2,000km southwest of Buenos Aires. (Source)

Related links:

• Chile: Volcano activity prompts mass evacuation
• A Shrinking world: Salmon and livestock removed from Chaiten volcano range

• Volcano gets active, region is evacuated
• Thousands evacuated as Chile volcano spews ash
• Will one or both of New Zealand islands break up and sink in the south-western Pacific Ocean?
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

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