Drought #1

Compiled by

Rev Dr David Lim2007

Forecasters say it's one of driest periods on record

• June 17, 2006By KIM LANIER, Staff ReporterThe Mobile Register

• Another week without rain pushed much of Mobile County into the "extreme" drought category, and weather forecasters worry that only a tropical storm will be sufficient to turn things around.

Panel: 'Warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years'

• June 22, 2006Ireland Online

It has been 2,000 years and possibly much longer since the Earth has run such a fever.

The National Academy of Sciences in the US, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported today that the “recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia.”

Dry Southwest in the Line of Fire

• June 25, 2006By Miguel Bustillo and Nicholas Riccardi, Times Staff WritersLA Times

SEDONA, Ariz. — A prolonged drought has created ideal wildfire conditions across much of the West and Southwest this summer, alarming forestry officials, who already are dealing with an unusually high number of fires.

Drought pattern estimation - 2006

Record Drought Sows Seeds of Suicide

• CROP forecasts have been slashed, feed prices are soaring and there are reports of farmers taking their own lives as the record dry in Western Australia begins to bite.

The president of the grain growers section of the West Australian Farmers Federation, Ray Marshall, said it was shaping up as a disaster.

"We have just gone through the driest June on record," he said. "We have had no rain for July, except for 1mm on Saturday night.“ - July 10, 2006Asa Wahlquist and Paige Taylor - The Australian

Losing faith in science....

• I'm about to lose my faith in science. With tempratures over 100 degrees the last couple of weeks, no rain in sight, I thought ICE-COLD WATERMELON would be "Just the ticket"! NOT SO! It appears that the ICE-COLD WATERMELON I've been eating all these years had lost it's nutrition!

• -confused - Chaplain Clark on July 26, 2006

Losing faith in science....

• I'd be more concerned about the bug spray they used on the crops! This world has become so crowded, so much land has been over used for crops and depleted of the nutrients it had.. Well, when you run the ground out of that which makes things grow, or makes them nutritious, you gotta figure this is going to happen. I know crops have to be rotated. Item A grown in lot 1, B in lot 2. Then reversed. The two or more cropse should be balanced so that the one helps return the missing nutrients to the soil, and visa versa. At least that's how I've hear its done! It certainly does get scary when foods turn up with no nutritional benefit. But like I said, if that isn't a problem, then just enjoy! - Rev. Dr. Linda Dee Bilitch on July 26, 2006

Giant Falls Now a Trickle Because of Drought

• FOZ DO IGUACU, Brazil (Reuters) - The worst drought in 20 years has reduced South America's Iguazu falls to a trickle and tourists may have to wait until October to see water gushing over the cliffs again, officials said.- July 28, 2006

Hot weather causes London black-outs

• Parts of central London were hit by black-outs yesterday after the capital's power company, EDF, admitted it was unable to cope with high demand linked to the hot weather. - SEAN POULTER, Daily Mail 22:15pm 27th July 2006

More than 60 percent of U.S. in drought

• STEELE, N.D. - More than 60 percent of the United States now has abnormally dry or drought conditions, stretching from Georgia to Arizona and across the north through the Dakotas, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist for the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. - BY JAMES MACPHERSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

139 deaths later, heat wave appears over

• FRESNO, Calif. - The state appeared to break out of its nearly two-week heat wave Friday, but not before it caused as many as 139 deaths and did untold damage to crops. - OLIVIA MUNOZ, Associated Press Writer - July 2006

Sixty Western Wildfires Stretch Crews to Limit

• BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Fot the first time since 2003, federal land management agencies are being asked to make more employees available to fight wildfires because crews and equipment have been stretched to the limit by nearly 60 major blazes around the West. - August 1, 2006 CNN

• Scorching Heat Puts Strain on People, Power Supply - AP

A Third of The World Population Faces Water Scarcity Today

• One in three people is enduring one form or another of water scarcity, according to new findings released by the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture at World Water Week in Stockholm. These alarming findings totally overrun predictions that this situation would come to pass in 2025. - by Staff WritersStockholm, Sweden (SPX) Aug 22, 2006

Drought shrivels worldwide wheat supply

• SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Analysis - From Australia to Argentina, erratic weather is slashing wheat crops of the major producers, which is threatening to push up prices to multi-year highs and making it difficult for countries to replenish stocks.

• While the world's carryover stocks could cushion the blow, the crop woes coincide with rising demand from Europe and India, which is grappling a with a huge shortfall. - By Sambit Mohanty 2006

Drought shrivels worldwide wheat supply

• SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Analysis - Appetite for feed wheat for livestock is also likely to grow as mills cut the usage of corn because its price has soared on strong demand from ethanol makers.

• "It is going to be a year of tight supplies," said Mark Samson, vice president for South Asia of the U.S Wheat Associates. "And with expectations of high world prices, more hedge funds are increasingly paying attention to this market." The interest of investment funds in grains is growing and helping to push up prices. The Deutsche Bank Fund now allocates 22.5 percent of its investment funds to wheat and corn trading.

• "Wheat prices are firm now and could still go higher," said Antonio Moraza, president of Pilmico Foods Corporation, a Philippines-based flour milling firm. - By Sambit Mohanty 2006

Drought shrivels worldwide wheat supply

• SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Analysis - U.S. spring wheat has risen more than 15 percent to above $200 a tonne from last year on concerns about supply.

• The United States had one of the hottest summers since the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s. The U.S. Agriculture Department has forecast output will fall 14 percent to 1.80 billion bushels, the smallest crop in four years.

• The USDA expects the drought to push U.S. prices to its highest levels in 10 years. - By Sambit Mohanty 2006

Drought shrivels worldwide wheat supply

• SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Analysis - Meanwhile, Australia's production is expected fall up to 30 percent from last year's 25 million tonnes due to dry weather and Europe also expects a lower wheat crop following a sweltering summer. This, coupled with rain in the final harvest stages, has downgraded a substantial amount of wheat to feed quality.

• Canada, also plagued by hot weather, expects its wheat output to fall to 25.9 million tonnes from 26.8 million in 2005.

• Argentina, which last year produced 12.5 million tonnes of wheat, has repeatedly lowered its forecast due to dry weather but has yet to issue a forecast.

• As a result, U.S. wheat exporters are not willing to lower their prices, anticipating tight world supplies. - By Sambit Mohanty 2006

Drought shrivels worldwide wheat supply

• SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Analysis - World wheat production is expected to fall 4 percent to 593 million tonnes in the year ending June, 2007 from 618 million tonnes, according to the International Grains Council. This includes a cut of 3 million tonnes from the forecast last month due to the shortfalls expected in Europe.

• Industry officials said there was a possibility that more wheat crops in countries could get downgraded to feed quality because of the weather. Extreme weather can reduce the protein content in grain, making it unfit for human consumption. - By Sambit Mohanty 2006

Pray for rain?!• Gov. Michael Rounds of South Dakota, who has

requested that 51 of the state’s 66 counties be designated a federal agricultural disaster area, recently sought unusual help from his constituents: he issued a proclamation declaring a week to pray for rain.

• Drought experts say parts of the states most severely affected — Nebraska, the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming — have been left in far worse shape because of recent history: several years of dry conditions, a winter with little snow and then, with moisture reserves in the soil long gone, a wave of record heat this summer.

By late August, rain had fallen several times in some areas, but Bob Hall, an extension crops specialist at South Dakota State University, said it amounted to “a drip in a bucket.”

“The bottom line is that even if we got relief starting today, at this minute,” Dr. Hall said, “it would take a few years economically to recover.”- August 29, 2006By MONICA DAVEY - NY Times

Drought in Spain could affect water supplies to up to 2 million people

• Spain has suffered from low rainfall for several years. In 2005, reservoirs dropped to 45.3 percent of their capacity after authorities reported the driest winter and spring for more than 60 years.

• There have been arguments over a decision by the government — backed by most political parties and ecological groups — to scrap a multibillion euro (dollar) water transfer project drawn up by the conservative opposition party when they were in power that called for more humid northern areas to divert river flows to central and southern Spain. - The Associated Press Published: September 4, 2006

Climate "time-bomb" warning issued on thawing permafrost

• WASHINGTON — Global-warming gases trapped in the soil are bubbling out of the thawing permafrost in amounts far higher than previously thought and may trigger what researchers warn is a climate time bomb.

• Methane — a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide — is being released from the permafrost at a rate five times faster than thought, according to a study being published today in the journal Nature. The findings are based on new, more accurate measuring techniques. - SETH BORENSTEIN

• The Associated Press, Thursday, September 7, 2006

Summer 'second-warmest'

• Environment Canada says the summer of 2006 was warmer than normal across the country, and the second-warmest on record. - Sep. 12, 2006. 04:58 PM Toronto Star

Changed Climate Will Cook Elderly People

When the great heatwave of 2003 struck Paris, it left 14,802 people dead; 30,000 people died throughout the rest of Europe. It was, according to Britain's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, the worst natural disaster on record.

Sixty per cent of those deaths occurred in nursing homes, retirement homes and hospitals.

In 2003, the French hospital authorities were caught out by climate change and their failure to plan, let alone adapt to the long predicted changed weather conditions. The majority of deaths in Europe in 2003 were of people over 65 - those who are most at risk of heat extremes. - September 27, 2006 By Kate Mannix - Eureka Street

Changed Climate Will Cook Elderly People

But even if the French had planned for an increased level of air-conditioning in their aged care facilities - which they did not - would it have been enough? High demand for air-conditioning during extreme heat causes power outages. A frail, elderly person will die in about three days without air-conditioning. But it takes at least a week for them to adapt when the air-conditioning fails, according to the NSW Department of Health.

Climate naysayers take comfort in the difficulty of absolute predictions by scientists. But the effects of climate change are complex; the “heat”, to coin a phrase, will not be distributed evenly. However, the Australian Greenhouse Office asserts that on average, there will be an increase in annual national average temperatures of between 0.4 and 2.0 degrees Celsius by 2030, and of between 1.0 and 6.0 degrees Celsius by 2070; more heatwaves and fewer frosts. There will be an increase in “high bushfire propensity days”.

Worldwide, heatwaves claim thousands of lives, killing more people each year than floods, tornadoes and hurricanes combined. - September 27, 2006 By Kate Mannix - Eureka Street

Changed Climate Will Cook Elderly People

Canberra's summer high now - 42.2C - may reach 44.2C.

When the human body gets to 42C, it starts to cook. The heat causes the proteins in each cell to change irreversibly, like an egg white as it boils. Even before that, the brain shuts down because of a lack of blood coming from the overworked, overheated heart. Muscles stop working, the stomach cramps and the mind becomes delirious. Death is inevitable.

And it is the most vulnerable - the old, the young, the sick and poor people - who will go first. - September 27, 2006 By Kate Ma

nnix - Eureka Street

Drought, Irrigation Cause Groundwater Decline of 50 Feet

• And the ongoing drought and consequentially heavy irrigation have caused some of the steepest declines in groundwater levels in years, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Results from an annual groundwater monitoring program conducted by UNL show that parts of Nebraska are experiencing groundwater declines of more than 30 feet.

"We certainly aren't coming to the bottom of the well, so to speak, but the level of groundwater declines in many parts of Nebraska are indisputable and could even be viewed as alarming," said Mark Burbach, assistant geoscientist in UNL's School of Natural Resources.

• The groundwater level monitoring program collects aquifer water level data from more than 5,600 wells.

- October 3, 2006By Robert Pore - The Independent

Group Warns Mountains Will Lose Ice Caps

• "This is a major issue because declining ice caps mean the water tap is effectively going to be turned off and that is a major concern," said Nick Nuttall from the U.N.'s Environment Program.

• All the evidence shows climate change is underway and Africa is the most vulnerable continent to this, he said, adding that foreign aid must address the threat of climate change.- October 13, 2006By Malkhadir M. Muhumed, AP Writer, Seattle Times

Climate change fight 'can't wait'

• Unchecked global warming will devastate the world economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression, a British government report said Monday, as the country launched a bid to convince doubters that environmentalism and economic growth can coincide. - Oct. 30, 2006. 09:03 AM

• The UK prime minister urges swift action as a report warns climate change could shrink the global economy by 20%. – BBC News

Most Lakes Across China Polluted Or Emptied Out By Humans

• About 75 percent of China's 20,000 natural lakes are suffering algae pollution, while the nation has lost nearly 1,000 lakes in the last 50 years due to human activity, state press said Wednesday. The major causes of the losses were industrial farming, overuse of water and pollution, which destroyed ecological systems in lake and wetland areas, Xinhua news agency said, citing Zhu Guangyao, Vice Minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration. - Beijing (AFP) Nov 01, 2006

Mini Riot Over Bottled Water• Canada’s west coast has been deluged with rain since late last wee

k. The heavy rains resulted in high levels of silt being found in two Lower Mainland area reservoirs, leaving the water with a brownish colour. Authorities issued a boil-water advisory last Thursday and then all hell broke loose.

At one Vancouver area Costco store, hundreds of people lined up, beginning at 4 a.m. to await the store’s opening six hours later so that they could purchase bottled water. As the store placed no limits on the amount that customers could buy, supplies ran out quickly. Other stores in the Vancouver area saw their supplies of bottled water leave the shelves just as quickly. Fights and scuffles broke out as people fought to get their hands on the apparently much needed product. Shortly after Costco opened, police had to be called to keep the peace. - November 21, 2006By Arthur WeinrebAmerica's News Source

The hottest year is yet to come• 2006 called hottest year on record

Warm December pushes annual average 2.2 degrees warmer than usual --Associated Press

• Dead porpoises washing ashore in Scotland Some scientists think 'global warming' affecting food supply --The Scotsman

EU: 'Global warming' will transform Europe Officials believe continent to be devastated by climate change --The Independent

China Drought Leaves 300,000 Short Of Water

• A devastating drought and unusually high temperatures have left 300,000 people short of drinking water in northwest China, state media reported Tuesday.

• The drought has hit the densely populated Shaanxi province, where January rainfall was up to 90 percent below the average level from previous years, the Xinhua news agency said. - by Staff WritersBeijing (AFP) Feb 6, 2007

Los Angeles on Pace for Driest Rain Year Ever

• LOS ANGELES (AP) — With little moisture in usually wet February, meteorologists said Los Angeles is facing its driest year ever with less than 21⁄2 inches of rain so far.

• Prolonged dry weather, which extended the wildfire season, comes just two years after the region was awash with a near-record 37 inches of rain. Eleven inches fell that February, usually the region's rainiest month.The last time it was this dry was in 1923-1924 season when 2.50 inches of rain was recorded through March 22, 1924.

• "We've never had a drier year on record so far," Boldt said Tuesday. "If nothing significant happens in March, then we've pretty much run out of time. March to early April is about the end of our wet season.

• It would take several very intense storms one after the other to get us to normal and that's very unlikely."- March 7, 2007AP / USA Today

WATER PRICES RISING WORLDWIDE

• The price of water is increasing—sometimes dramatically—throughout the world. Over the past five years, municipal water rates have increased by an average of 27 percent in the United States, 32 percent in the United Kingdom, 45 percent in Australia, 50 percent in South Africa, and 58 percent in Canada. In Tunisia, the price of irrigation water increased fourfold over a decade.

A recent survey of 14 countries indicates that average municipal water prices range from 66¢ per cubic meter in the United States up to $2.25 in Denmark and Germany. Yet consumers rarely pay the actual cost of water. In fact, many governments practically (and sometimes literally) give water away for nothing. - Edwin H. Clark, II - March 7, 2007 - 2

• Copyright © 2007 Earth Policy Institute (www.earth-policy.org)

• Manila, Philippines: A protester shouts slogans during a demonstration to mark World Water Day. Protesters called for an end to the privatised water supply service which allows companies to raise fees, leaving urban poor communities unable to afford access to clean water. – March 22 2007 Canadian Unlimited – World

Water Day.

• Chongqing, China: A nearly dried-up area of the Jialing river. The water levels of the country's major rivers, Yangtze, Jialing and Yellow River, reached nearly record lows due to droughts caused by unusually warm temperatures which left nearly 5 million people facing drinking water shortages.

• Guangxi province, China: Girls play on parched land. Last year a severe drought left more than 2.4 million people short of drinking water.

– 22 March 2007 Canadian Unlimited – World Water Day.

• River Pang, England: In April 2006 water levels were so low that parts of the river course dried up.

• A permanent drought has dried out parts of the Dreisam river between March and Riegel, Germany.

• Manila, Philippines: Rows of shanties contribute to the pollution of an inland river. A recent report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the global development network of the United Nations, noted that more than 10 million Filipinos have no access to safe drinking water, while more than 21 million lack basic sanitation.

• Ardales, Spain: Guadalhorce reservoir shows a very low water level.

The Big Dry is worst drought in 1,000 years

• Climate change is hitting Australia hard. Record-breaking heatwaves, droughts and wildfires have scorched much of the south, while northern regions have faced severe cyclones and torrential downpours.

• The big concern is how much warmer Australia’s weather is getting: 2005 was the hottest year on record, and last year was not far behind. Temperatures have risen by about 1C (1.8F) since the 1950s, faster than the global average. Many regions are withering under an unprecedented drought that has lasted up to ten years.

• The outlook looks grim, with Victoria heading for its driest April yet and little sign of rain for the rest of this month and possibly even up to June. Even an average winter’s rainfall would not restore water reserves. - Paul Simons - From The Times

April 20, 2007