Pesticides Destroying the Great Barrier Reef

Agricultural pesticides found  about 60km inside the reef at toxic levels: Australian government report

Time and time again, Australian farmers have demonstrated that they are poor stewards of the land.

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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.

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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 – August 13 Entry

[August 13, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,677 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• The Great Barrier Reef, Australia. As if coral bleaching caused by climate change and pollution from tourism and transport industries weren’t enough, now a new report on water quality issued by the Australian government says that agricultural pesticides are causing significant damage to the World Heritage-listed natural wonder.
• Alabama, USA. Death toll from April 27 Tuscaloosa tornado has climbed to at least 50, a report said.
• Nebraska, USA.  A second disaster declaration has been issued for the state of Nebraska following  flooding from May 24 to August 1, reports said. [For details of Nebraska’s first disaster declaration see August 12 entry.]
• Colorado, USA. Agriculture Secretary has declared 3 counties in the state of Colorado as natural disaster areas. The freezing temperatures from April 26 through May 3, 2011 caused severe damage to crops, especially apples and stone fruit.  The three disaster areas are Delta, Mesa and Montrose counties. Additionally,  Garfield, Gunnison, Ouray, Pitkin and San Miguel counties as well as Grand and San Juan counties in Utah were declared disaster areas because they are contiguous.

Related Links

• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – August
• 2010 Disaster Calendar 
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

Tornado Damage in Tuscaloosa -Satellite Image

Supercell thunderstorm lasting 7+ hours spawned deadly tornado in Tuscaloosa

Photo-like satellite image of the devastation trail left behind by the deadly tornado that struck Tuscaloosa on April 27, 2011. This image was taken by  ALI on NASA’s EO-1 5 days later on  May 2, 2011. Source: NASA-EO

The supercell storm formed in Newton County, Mississippi, at 2:54 pm (CDT), and dissipated over Macon County, NC, at 10:18 pm CDT. The tornado had a maximum width of 1.5 miles (2.4km) and a track of 80.3 miles (129.2 km), according to NOAA.

Lifespan of the deadly April 27 supercell storm

A montage of radar images showing progression of the supercell storm. Click image to enlarge.

Other Tornado Stats:

Death Toll:  65 [minimum]
Injuries: 1,000+
Damage: ~ $100million

NOTES: Stats updated by NOAA on May 4, 2011, 12:00 pm EDT. Tornadoes Surveyed by WFOs is the latest confirmed number of tornadoes surveyed by the National Weather Service. 

Related Links

• April Tornado Stats
• Tuscaloosa Tornado Damage Images
• The worst tornado outbreak in U.S. history
• U.S. Tornado Update – April 29
• U.S. Tornadoes, Storms Kill at least 195

• Mile-wide Mega Tornado Devastates Alabama
• Tornado Record for April Smashed
• When Weather Went Really Crazy
• U.S. Tornado Outbreak – Update 19 April
• Mega Tornadoes to Bombard U-S Tornado Alley

Global Disasters

• U-S Tornadoes: Pray for the Dead
• 2011 Much More Disastrous
• 2010 Disasters [with links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

Tuscaloosa Tornado Damage Images

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tornado Damage Captured by NOAA Aircraft

Following photos are before and after imagery showing tornado damage in various neighborhoods of Tuscaloosa, AL. The before imagery is credited to Google, the after imagery was taken from an altitude of 1,500m (5,000 feet) by a NOAA aircraft on April 29, 2011.

Image Set 1

Image Set 2

Image Set 3

• Hi-Res images available online.
• More images including NOAA aircraft’s flight path, are posted HERE (PDF file)

Latest Fatality and Casualty Figures for Tuscaloosa

• At least 45 dead
• 373 people missing [Disturbing numbers, but may be due to communication problems]
• 1000+ others injured
• Source:  Figures released by city officials at news conference at City Hall on Sunday May 1]

Latest Fatality and Casualty Figures for Tuscaloosa

Alabama Tornado Deaths: 250
Alabama Tornado Injuries: 2,219

Latest Fatality and Casualty Figures for Southern US

• Unconfirmed Tornado Deaths: 389
• Confirmed Tornado Deaths: 358
• Injuries: Thousands
• Displaced: Tens of Thousands

Other Stats

The April 27  super-cell storm spawned an estimated 312 tornadoes, breaking the previous record of 148 set in 1974 by more than 210 percent (164 more twisters). Revised on May 3, 2011

U-S Tornado Deaths 1875 – April 2011

Click image to enlarge.

Related Links

• The worst tornado outbreak in U.S. history
• U.S. Tornado Update – April 29
• U.S. Tornadoes, Storms Kill at least 195

• Mile-wide Mega Tornado Devastates Alabama
• Tornado Record for April Smashed
• When Weather Went Really Crazy
• U.S. Tornado Outbreak – Update 19 April
• Mega Tornadoes to Bombard U-S Tornado Alley

Global Disasters

• U-S Tornadoes: Pray for the Dead
• 2011 Much More Disastrous
• 2010 Disasters [with links to 2010 Disaster calendar]
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

U.S. Tornadoes, Storms Kill at least 195

Updated at 12:57UTC

Death Toll Expected to Rise

Tornadoes rip through Alabama, killing at least 128

The deadly storms included a mile-wide twister, believed to be the worst ever tornado to hit Alabama, that ripped through the university city of Tuscaloosa, killing at least 15 people.

Storm-related incidents also left hundreds of people injured in six states.

Storms leveled hundreds of homes, tossing cars and uprooting trees, cutting off power lines and injuring up to a thousand people. About half a million homes were without electricity, Alabama Power said.

Death toll from tornadoes and storms in Mississippi has reached at least 32, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said.

In Arkansas the storms have killed at least 13  people, as of posting.

At least a dozen people were killed in storm-related incidents throughout Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee.

Latest Warnings

• Tornado Warning
•  Severe Thunderstorm Warning

Storm Shuts Down 3  TVA Nuclear Reactors at Browns Ferry in Alabama

The 3 reactors at TVA’s 3,297-megawatt Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Alabama switched over to emergency diesel generators to supply power for the reactors cooling system at 5:30 EDT (22:30 UTC) after storms knocked out  transmission lines that supplied power, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Agency said. More…

On April 20, a tornado reportedly damaged the switchyard at Dominion’s Surry Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) forcing both aging reactor units to shut down.

GOES Eastern US SECTOR Infrared Image

Click images to enlarge. Click HERE to update.

Eastern Conus Sector (Infrared Channel)

• Archival  imagery: GOES-West / GOES-East RAMSDIS Online  

SPC Storm Reports

A total of 643 severe weather reports, including 161 tornado sightings, were received by SPC, as of posting.

Tuscaloosa

“The city experienced widespread damage from a tornado that cut a path of destruction deep into the heart of the city,” Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox said.

Mega Tornado touching down at Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Frame grab from a video clip posted at Tuscaloosa-dot-com. Image may be subject to copyright.

States of Emergency

• The White House has declared a state of emergency in Alabama.
• Arkansas and Tennessee have both declared a state of emergency following the devastation caused by the violent storms
• Georgia’s governor has declared a state of emergency in four counties: Floyd, Dade, Catoosa and Walker. At least 13 people were killed as a result of violent storms.
• Floyd County and the city of Jeffersonville in southern Indiana have both declared a state of emergency because of severe flooding.

Related Links

• Mile-wide Mega Tornado Devastates Alabama
• Tornado Record for April Smashed
• When Weather Went Really Crazy
• U.S. Tornado Outbreak – Update 19 April
• Mega Tornadoes to Bombard U-S Tornado Alley

Global Disasters

• 2011 Much More Disastrous
• 2010 Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar

FEWW Forecasts

• When Weather Went Really Crazy Posted on April 27, 2011

Too Bad Climate Juggernaut Delivering Deadlier Loads Next Year! Based on various climatic indicators and recent weather trends, FIRE-EARTH forecasts an increase of about 24% in the severity of extreme weather events during the next 20 months, compared with the previous period.

• Global Disaster Forecast – UPDATE 19 Mar Posted  on March 19, 2011

THE NEXT MAJOR DISASTER COULD STRIKE THE U.S.
The next major anthropogenic or human-enhanced natural disaster [e.g., climate related] could occur in the United States with a probability of 0.75

• U-S Attacked by Continued Severe Weather Posted on March 1, 2011

Brace for the Worst Ever

Climatic  Extremes, Primeval Geophysical Activities and WILD Weather to Wreak Mega Havoc in 2011/2012 and Beyond …

NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO POWER DOWN AND START THINKING HARD.

Encourage your folks, friends and neighbors to join in!! BECAUSE  for most of us the GAME would be OVER soon.

Flooding and fires, earthquakes and eruptions, deadly tornadoes and strong storms … are just some of the items you’ve ordered from the climate change quick menu!

• Mega Tornadoes to Bombard U-S Tornado Alley Posted by feww on March 3, 2011

2011 Tornadoes Ever Deadlier: FEWW

Start of Meteorological Spring Signals Hyper Tornado Season

Based on several climatic indicators and recent weather trends, FIRE-EARTH forecasts a deadly peak tornado season in 2011.