Drought Disaster Declared for 10 Counties in California and Arizona
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated eight counties in California as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought.
- The disaster declaration lists Imperial, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties as primary disaster areas, and Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and San Luis Obispo as contiguous disaster areas.
- Additionally two counties in Arizona—La Paz and Yuma—have also been designated as contiguous disaster areas.
Georgia Disaster Areas
In a separate disaster declaration, USDA has designated a total of 13 counties in Georgia as primary or contiguous natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain, high winds and hail that occurred from Feb. 24 – March 24, 2013.
- Those counties are Evans, Montgomery, Tattnall, Treutlen, Appling, Candler, Johnson, Long, Bryan, Emanuel, Laurens, Toombs, Bulloch, Jeff Davis, Liberty, Wayne and Wheeler.
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Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events
Singapore smog from Indonesia fires continued to choke the city-state
Haze caused by forest fires in Indonesia enveloped Singapore, pushing the pollution standards index to 371 on Thursday.
Parts of Malaysia have also been shrouded in “hazardous” pollution levels, prompting the authorities to close hundreds of schools in the south.
Air Quality Index for Singapore, June 20, 2013 @ 12:00UTC. Sources:
Meteorological Service Singapore; http://aqicn.org Composite image by FEWW.
Prelude to more serious events?
Our colleagues at EDRO believe that the collapse of Singapore may occur as a result of volcanic activity on the island of Sumatra. However, they have not disclosed any further detail.
Map of Singapore smog. Source: ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Center/ Meteorological Service Singapore via BBC
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Bolivia declares a state of emergency amid nationwide drought
The Bolivian government has declared a state of national emergency due to drought in the departments of Chuquisaca, Santa Cruz, Tarija and Cochabamba.
The drought has so far destroyed 84,000 hectares of crops and affected 16,000 families.
“To date, we have 16,000 families affected in the Bolivian Chaco region in Chuquisaca, Tarijo and Santa Cruz, and 226,000 head of cattle as well as 806,000 hectares of crops are at risk,” Deputy Minister of Civil Defense Oscar Cabrera told reporters.
Meantime, cold weather has affected six departments in the south and west. Frost has caused crop losses in the departments of Oruro, Potosi and La Paz located on the high plateau, as well as the valley regions Tarija, Chuquisaca and Cochabamba, added Cabera.
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Beijing’s Air Pollution Again Rises to “Very Unhealthy”
“Death Penalty” for China’s Polluters
Meantime, China’s “supreme court and procuratorate jointly issued the new judicial explanation on Tuesday that imposes harsher punishments on polluters. In the most serious cases the death penalty could be handed down,” said a report.
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DISASTER CALENDAR – June 20, 2013 —
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN:
996 Days Left
Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.
- SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 996 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human History
GLOBAL WARNINGS
- WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity [To be updated.]
- WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY 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
Fire Earth 