Earth ChangesS


Attention

Dire warning over global food crisis

John Vidal
The Guardian
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 13:53 UTC
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Things are so bad that farmers in the US have begun feeding their cattle candy
Food shortages could force world into vegetarianism, warn scientists

Water scarcity's effect on food production means radical steps will be needed to feed population expected to reach 9bn by 2050

Leading water scientists have issued one of the sternest warnings yet about global food supplies, saying that the world's population may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages.

Humans derive about 20% of their protein from animal-based products now, but this may need to drop to just 5% to feed the extra 2 billion people expected to be alive by 2050, according to research by some of the world's leading water scientists.

"There will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected 9 billion population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in western nations," the report by Malik Falkenmark and colleagues at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) said.

Comment: Forget vegetarianism as a long-term solution; this crisis will be all over long before 2050. No miraculous technologies are going to "increase yields by 300%". Food is likely to become extremely scarce within the next year or two. Start canning while it remains reasonably affordable.

Rising food prices and social unrest: New report shows that all hell will break loose in one to two years

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Cloud Lightning

Massive colorful dust devil


Yahoo! Screen
Mon, 20 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
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Bad Guys

Gulf oil platforms evacuating workers due to Isaac storm threat


NBC News
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 11:50 UTC

Major oil producers said Sunday they would be evacuating workers from Gulf of Mexico platforms in the face of an imminent threat of high surf and winds from Tropical Storm Isaac.

BP Plc said it will shut production at all of its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas platforms and evacuate all workers on Sunday in light of Isaac's westerly shift and forecasts that it could strengthen into a hurricane. BP has already shut and evacuated four platforms, including Thunder Horse, the world's largest. The company said Sunday it will shut its other three platforms.

Chevron, second to BP in Gulf oil production, said it would be evacuating some workers directly involved in oil and gas production from some of its platforms. "Chevron continues to closely monitor the projected path of Tropical Storm Isaac and has begun to evacuate some essential personnel from some offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Production has not been affected," the company said.
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Bizarro Earth

Massive Typhoon Bolaven slams Okinawa, Japan and heads for Koreas


CNN
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:33 UTC
A massive typhoon began to make landfall Sunday over Okinawa, bringing winds more ferocious than even the typhoon-weary Japanese island has seen in decades. It will likely be the strongest since 1956, said CN N International meteorologist Tom Sater.

With a cloud field of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), Typhoon Bolaven is 20 times larger than Okinawa's length. "It's been very, very severe," said storm chaser James Reynolds, on the northwestern coast of the island. Tree branches were flying through the air amid torrential rain, he said.

The infrastructure on Okinawa is designed to withstand violent storms. "Everything's made of solid concrete," said Reynolds. "Utility poles are so wide you couldn't even put your arms around them," Reynolds said. "All the houses are built with concrete. There's no such thing as a beach house in Okinawa because it would just get destroyed by a typhoon." Still, the power was out where he was Sunday.
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Blackbox

Source of loud boom in California foothills a mystery


CBS Sacremento
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:27 UTC
People from all over El Dorado County say they're hearing loud booms several times a week, but there are many theories on what is causing them. "I thought it was thunder," said one person. "It's definitely not thunder; too consistent. I thought it was just mining," said another person. "I always considered them to be sonic booms from flying aircrafts for years," said Loring Brunius, owner of Sierra Rock Diamond Quarry.

People who live near Pleasant Valley say their days have been interrupted by loud booms, shaking the floor beneath them.

"You can feel it in the ground, no question about it. But no one's been able to figure out why," said Pleasant Valley resident Peter O'Grady. "I tend to hear somewhere between four to six of these things during the weekdays usually between 11 p.m. and 2 p.m.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom just like that," said Lorren Gonzales, who lives near Pleasant Valley.


Comment:


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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.4 (Magnitude Updated to 6.6) - Molucca Sea


US Geological Survey
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:22 UTC
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© USGS
Magnitude 6.4

Date-Time
Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 15:05:37 UTC
Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 11:05:37 PM at epicenter Location
2.179°N, 126.893°E

Depth
106.5 km (66.2 miles) set by location program

Region
MOLUCCA SEA

Distances
163 km (101 miles) NNW (340°) from Ternate, Moluccas, Indonesia

240 km (149 miles) ENE (71°) from Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia

461 km (286 miles) ENE (67°) from Gorontalo, Sulawesi, Indonesia

1022 km (635 miles) SW (236°) from KOROR, Palau
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Stop

Peacocks fall prey to mystery disease in Gr Noida, India


IANS
Sat, 25 Aug 2012 09:19 UTC
Poaching and a mysterious disease are killing peacocks, India's national bird, in one of their richest habitats here in Uttar Pradesh. The El Salvador area in Greater Noida, near Delhi, is home to a huge peacock population.But as many as 30 of the birds have died in the last fortnight in Patwadi village, according to locals. Of these, 10 died within a week.

On July 6, the UP forest department rescued five peacocks which had fallen ill in the village. One of the birds died while in the department's custody. The five peacocks were meant to be shifted to a veterinary hospital but were reportedly confined inside a nursery in Dadri. The nursery lacked the basic facilities and veterinary care.

According to official sources, district magistrate M K S Sundaram called an urgent meeting on July 7 to discuss the deaths.

He asked the forest department to send the sick peacocks to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute at Bareilly. Jitendra Agarwal, a villager, alleged that the wildlife department did not make efforts to send the birds to Bareilly until one of them died.
"The blood samples were also not taken to identify the exact cause of the deaths although we kept requesting them," he said.
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Cloud Lightning

Floods hit Pakistan again


Pak Tribune
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 04:30 UTC
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Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are facing flood threat as the Met Office has forecast heavy rains in the next two days.

There was a low-level flood in River Ravi at Baloki but the water level was gradually increasing.

According to Indus River System Authority (IRSA), in River Indus the water inflow at Tarbela was 256,000 cusecs and outflow was 140,000 cusecs, while in River Jhelum at Mangla the water inflow was 63,000 cusecs and outflow was 13,000 cusecs.

In River Chenab, the inflow was 126,800 cusecs and outflow was 91,800 cusecs at Marala. Water inflow recorded in

River Sutlej near Head Sulemanki was 16,777 cusecs and outflow remained 4,792 cusecs.

According to the Meteorological Department, the three rivers of Punjab, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum, were facing flood threat. The department also forecast that within next 48 hours scattered rain/thundershower was expected over Azad Kashmir, Hazara, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Lahore and Gujranwala divisions. The department predicted hot and humid weather elsewhere in the country.
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Life Preserver

Tropical storm Isaac destroys tent camps for Haiti's homeless


The Guardian
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 03:57 UTC
Thousands of Haitians made homeless by a devastating earthquake two years ago are affected by tropical storm Isaac, as torrential rain and winds destroy the tent camps they live in. Because the country is heavily deforested, there are immediate concerns Isaac could trigger deadly flash flooding and mudslides.


Source: Reuters
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Cloud Lightning

Myanmar flooding forces 85,000 to flee homes


Press TV
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 03:53 UTC
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Heavy flooding has displaced at least 85,000 people in Myanmar.
The Myanmar government says at least 85,000 people have been driven from their homes by heavy flooding.

According to government relief officials, the people fled their homes on Saturday, following the worst monsoon flooding in years, which covered about 250,000 hectares of rice fields.

The Irrawaddy Delta, which was devastated in 2008 by Cyclone Nargis, was reported the worst hit area.

Cyclone Nargis killed about 130,000 people in the delta in 2008.

Heavy rains over the past few weeks have been the reason for the flooding, which initially hit the southern delta region.
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