Earth ChangesS


Key

Potential food shortages...in America?

Elizabeth Delaney
Examiner
Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:38 UTC
In a strange type of deja vu reminiscent of the spring of 2008, states ranging from Maryland all the way down to North Carolina are experiencing a damaged wheat harvest according to a Washington Post article from Thursday. Some of the crops were so badly damaged by excessive rain that not only can much of it not be sold for flour, but it can't be used for animal feed, either.

Back in 2008, the Midwest had an overabundance of rain that led to shortages of rice, flour and cooking oil in some states. The shortages then brought about rationing. The rationing of grocery items in America: that all by itself seems surreal. And with the present damage being reported in a new region, it leaves me wondering if we will see shortages and rationing again in the coming months in some states.

To make matters even more interesting, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that various large American food companies are warning that there could be a sugar shortage, "if the Obama administration doesn't ease import restrictions amid soaring prices for the key commodities. " Since many preprocessed food items purchased in the typical grocery store use sugar as an ingredient (sometimes within the top 5 listed on the label) this has the potential to affect more than just your typical bag of sugar or bakery item.

Comment: Many warnings seem to be cropping up about crop damage, potential food shortages and the like. This article, (minus the godly invocations that remove living, thinking human beings with brains from the equation), is one more person noticing the potential for what may be brewing.

Overall the United States harvest for corn, soy beans and wheat still looks favorable even though many crops are behind schedule in maturing due to a cool spring and summer in many major growing regions. However, early frost or any of several other weather factors may still endanger the current forecasts. We can only wait and see.

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Evil Rays

US: Wisconsin govenor declares agricultural emergency in 41 counties

Cara Spoto
Wausau Daily Herald
Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:23 UTC
corn drought
© Gannett Central WisconsinCentral Wiscconsin farmers say crops are 100 days behind because of drought.

Governor Jim Doyle has declared a state of emergency in 41 counties Wednesday because of drought conditions.

The declaration includes Portage, Wood and Marathon counties, and most of the state north of Adams County.

Portage and Wood counties are about 6 inches below normal for rainfall, said Jack Bourget, manager for Portage and Wood counties' Farm Service Agency office. The area is also about 100 growing days behind normal, mostly because of a lack of heat and humidity.

The latest crop progress report issued by the USDA found that more than half of the state's soil moisture is considered low.

The declaration allows the Department of Natural Resources to expedite farmers' requests for temporary irrigation permits to use stream or lake water to irrigate their crops, said Randy Romanski, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Barring an extention by the Legislature, temporary permits will be in effect until Sept. 11.

"It's a proactive way to help those farmers try and get some water on their crops before it's too late," Romanski said.
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Attention

US: Drought sucking life out of northern Wisconsin farms

Melissa Ganje
Agweek
Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:17 UTC
Bone-dry fields, failing crops, shrinking herds.

Wisconsin farmers are hurting and have been for the past several years as drought conditions continue to get worse across the region.

Douglas County farmer Mark Liebaert says this is the fifth year of below-normal moisture during the growing season.

"This summer has been the worst of the five. We didn't get any rain in May, we didn't get any rain in the early part of June and the sub-moisture is all gone," Liebaert said. "There is nothing left in the soil."

That has led to significant crop damage and economic losses.
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Cell Phone

Despair as drought cripples 'Australia's Mississippi'


Agence France-Presse
Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:11 UTC
algal bloom
© Agence France-PresseAlgae is seen along the Murray River at Albury.

Farmer Mazzareno Bisogni fights back tears as he stands among the remains of trees he planted 35 years ago, victims of a drought hitting "Australia's Mississippi".

Bisogni's orchard lies in the heart of the once-mighty Murray-Darling river system which irrigates Australia's food bowl, the vast southeastern corner responsible for 40 percent of agricultural output.

The eight-year 'big dry', the worst drought in a century, has devastated the region, an area covering 1.06 million square kilometres (410,000 square miles) -- the size of France and Spain combined.

Lack of water this year meant the fruit on Bisogni's apple and pear trees in Victoria state literally cooked on their branches under the furious Australian sun, making them suitable only for jam.

Rather than leave the land, like many farmers along the Murray, the tenacious 78-year-old Italian migrant scaled back his operation so he could use limited water resources to cultivate export-quality produce for Asia.
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Radar

Why the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are Not Collapsing

Cliff Ollier and Colin Pain
IceCap
Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:58 UTC
iceberg
© unknown

Global warming alarmists have suggested that the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica may collapse, causing disastrous sea level rise. This idea is based on the concept of an ice sheet sliding down an inclined plane on a base lubricated by meltwater, which is itself increasing because of global warming.

In reality the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets occupy deep basins, and cannot slide down a plane. Furthermore glacial flow depends on stress (including the important yield stress) as well as temperature, and much of the ice sheets are well below melting point. The accumulation of kilometres of undisturbed ice in cores in Greenland and Antarctica (the same ones that are sometimes used to fuel ideas of global warming) show hundreds of thousands of years of accumulation with no melting or flow. Except around the edges, ice sheets flow at the base, and depend on geothermal heat, not the climate at the surface.

It is impossible for the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to 'collapse'. In these days of alarmist warnings about climate warming, the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica have an important role. Many papers have described their melting at the present times, and dire predictions of many metres of sea level rise are common. Christoffersen and Hambrey published a typical paper on the Greenland ice sheet in Geology Today in May, 2006.
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Bizarro Earth

4.5 Earthquake Rattles Cyprus


Today's Zaman
Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:00 UTC
Cypriot authorities say a moderately strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.5 has shaken the eastern Mediterranean island. No damage or injuries have been reported.

The Cyprus Geological Survey Department says the quake occurred at 9:28 a.m. (0628 GMT; 2:28 a.m. EDT) Tuesday, 1.8 miles (3 kilometers) off the southern coastal resort of Limassol.

The Department said in a statement that the quake was felt in Limassol and surrounding villages, as well as by high-rise dwellers in the capital Nicosia, around 37 miles (60 kilometers) to the north.
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Attention

Firefighters gain upper hand against Greek inferno

John Hadoulis
Agence France Presse
Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:33 UTC
Exhausted firefighters contained on Monday wildfires which had been bearing down on Athens and threatened ancient Greek landmarks after a round-the-clock rescue effort.

But the authorities' response to the inferno came under criticism two years after similar wildfires that killed 77 people.

After a weekend of devastation which saw hundreds of residents evacuated from their homes in the suburbs, thousands of hectares of woodland reduced to cinders and fears that Athens would soon be choked by smoke, respite finally came when heavy winds died down.
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Bizarro Earth

Mexico water body warns of risk of 'critical' shortage


Space Daily / Agence France-Presse
Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:19 UTC
Mexico's water commission warned Monday of the risk of a "critical" water shortage at the start of 2010 and called on state governments to act now to save water.

"El Nino (seasonal warming), climate change and low rainfall could increase drought in the country, and cause a critical situation in the first quarter of 2010," a Conagua statement said.

Farming and some water supplies across the country have already been hard hit by this year's drought.

Supplies for both public and private use could be affected next year, the statement said, pointing to record low levels at the Cutzamala reservoir which supplies the capital's urban sprawl.

The main problem in and around the city of some 20 million people, which once sat on lakes, was the over-exploitation of aquifers, the statement said.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Maine spectators ignored warnings before wave hit

Glenn Adams
Associated Press
Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:12 UTC
Image
© Associated PressTwo boys watch as heavy surf generated by Hurricane Bill pounds the shore, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
Augusta - Rangers at Acadia National Park insisted Monday that they had done all they could to warn visitors before beauty suddenly turned brutal, launching a hurricane-generated wave over a group of gawkers, dragging three into the roiling Atlantic and killing a 7-year-old girl.

Many visitors didn't heed alerts Sunday to keep back from huge waves that crashed spectacularly and dangerously against the rocky shore as Hurricane Bill passed over open ocean to the east, the park's chief ranger said.

Two people were hospitalized after being pulled into the churning surf by a wave that crashed on the rocks about 150 yards from a popular attraction known as Thunder Hole, where plume-like sprays rise into the air even under less severe conditions. A viewing platform there had already been closed by the park because of the dangerous conditions.

The wave swept over 20 people, 11 of whom were taken to the hospital with injuries including broken bones from being slammed onto the rocks, officials said.

Spectators eager to take in the views of dramatic surf began filling up Acadia, about 75 miles east of Augusta, the state capital, on Sunday morning, Chief Ranger Stuart West said. As the tide rose, generating even bigger waves, 10,000 people eventually parked along the road to view the waves spun off by Bill, West said.
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Bug

West Nile Virus Found in British Columbia Mosquitoes


CBC News
Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:00 UTC
The West Nile virus has been found in B.C. for the first time, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

Mosquitoes collected in a trap in B.C's south Okanagan have tested positive for the virus, officials said. The centre is also investigating possible cases of the virus in two Kelowna residents who had traveled in the south Okanagan region.

"These cases are unusual. We have had 40 people in B.C. so far who have tested positive for the West Nile virus, but all of them had traveled outside the province, so this is the first time that we have confirmed activity actually in B.C." said Dr. Bonnie Henry.

The people undergoing testing are members of the same family and both are in their 40s. Officials expect final test results early next week.
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