Drought
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Sun

Devastating drought, heat wave hammer farms across northern Europe

Rachel Elbaum
MSN
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 11:51 UTC
Algarheim in Akershus. drought norway
© Fredrik Hagen / NTB scanpixAlgarheim in Akershus.
Brown is the color of summer in northern Europe this year.

Fields that are usually covered in lush green grass have now turned to dust, trees are shedding their leaves and animals eating dry hay or grain instead of grazing in pastures.

Farmers in around a dozen countries — from Ireland to the Baltics — are grappling with a once-in-a-generation drought. The unrelenting heat wave has devastated crops, with more than half of the harvest expected to be lost in some areas.

"I have never seen this type of hot and dry weather, and I've been farming over 30 years," Max Schulman told NBC News from his farm about 35 miles outside of Helsinki, where he grows beans, oats, wheat and oilseeds.

Schulman says his farm has received just 3 inches of rain since the end of April, compared with 10 to 14 inches most years.
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Fire

Drought in Norway causes over $133 million in crop losses - Lowest rainfall in 70 years


Xinhua
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 01:05 UTC
Algarheim in Akershus. drought norway
© Fredrik Hagen / NTB scanpixAlgarheim in Akershus.
Preliminary calculations in Norway showed crop damage caused by drought this summer might worth 1.1 billion kroner (133.7 million U.S. dollars), news agency NTB reported Friday.

"This shows what extremely demanding situation we are in when there are such big damages. It says both about the challenges of the farmers and how solid the compensation scheme for crop damage is. It will cover these costs," Minister of Agriculture and Food Jon Georg Dale said.

Grass and grain producers in southern Norway will apply for state compensation of more than 1 billion kroner, while potato, vegetables, berry and fruit producers will probably seek compensation of around 60 million kroner, NTB wrote.

Comment: Compensation for crop losses can only do so much, people still need to eat! Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?

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Info

Ice Age Farmer Report: Grand Solar Minimum - Billion € crop losses, grow zones shifting


Ice Age Farmer
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 15:01 UTC
Drought. Corn suffering.
© Pixabay.com
"The regular Joe does not know what's going on." / "Our livelihood is at risk." As Galactic Cosmic Rays continue to intensify under our quiet sun, staggering agricultural catastrophes abound. The pope encourages you to eat Leftovers, and Google News talks about Qanon; all distractions are in play as the Grand Solar Minimum intensifies. Exciting times for humanity--worthwhile challenges as consciousness rises. Start growing your own food today.

Spread the truth - these are natural cycles, and it's up to us to build anti-fragile communities in order to thrive in the times ahead.


Sources
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Snowflake Cold

Australia's record breaking cold, frost and drought force Kangeroo mobs into towns

Samantha Beech
CNN
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 08:05 UTC
austrlia cold kangeroo
Mobs of kangaroos have been raiding patches of grass in the Australian capital Canberra, driven to the city's sports fields, back yards and roadsides by food scarcity.

Canberra residents have taken to social media with images of the jumping marsupials exploring outside their usual habitats. But beyond the cute photo opportunities, the hungry kangaroos are at risk of dying on the roads as their feeding times coincide with rush hour.

Canberra has more than 30 nature reserves, with most hosting hundreds of Eastern Grey Kangaroos, and it is not unusual to see them in the reserves or in roads or yards nearby, Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Parks and Conservation Service Director Daniel Iglesias told CNN.But he said this winter the animals were far more visible.

"Canberra is experiencing a perfect storm of hardship for its kangaroos. New records have been set in Canberra for very cold, frosty nights this winter. This, coupled with very dry conditions with very little rain at all in June and July, means there is very little food for kangaroos, " Iglesias said, via email."Sports ovals, suburban yards, schoolyards and roadsides are the few places offering any green grass at all in Canberra at the moment and they act as magnets for kangaroos," he said.

Comment: Australia's record drought means there's no food for the 'Roo's or cattle. And these are the same kinds of weather patterns we're seeing all over the world; extreme drought, epic flooding, erratic seasons with earlier winters that drag on longer and are colder than ever before:

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Sun

Emergency declared in El Salvador to ensure food supply in severe drought

Nelson Renteria
Reuters
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 11:30 UTC
El Salvador declares emergency to ensure food supply in severe drought
© Jose CabezasEl Salvador declares emergency to ensure food supply in severe drought
El Salvador on Tuesday began taking emergency measures in a drought that has plagued the country for a month and cost tens of thousands of farmers their corn crops, the civil protection agency said.

The east of the Central American country has gone 33 days without rain and temperatures have hit a record 41 Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit), leaving many families without water.

The government declared a "red alert," meaning it will seek to use public funds to ensure food supplies and help farmers sow their crops again.

Jorge Melendez, head of Civil Protection, said that the lack of rain had affected more than half of El Salvador's municipalities and resulted in the loss of the equivalent of 1.5 million 60-kg bags of corn, a staple grain.

Authorities are also exploring whether other industries have been affected, such as coffee or cattle raising.

Comment: Meanwhile in Europe: "A threat to our livelihood": Record drought grips Germany's breadbasket

"Perfect storm": UK farming crisis as areas suffer worst drought for 225 years

Extreme weather affecting crop harvests in Europe - North too dry, south hit by hail

On the other side of the world in the southern hemisphere: Australia's worst drought in 116 years is decimating animals and livestock

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Info

Ice Age Farmer Report: "Nobody's Prepared For This..."


Ice Age Farmer
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 12:43 UTC
dead cow
Food production is collapsing. Finland posted its worst grain yield this century; the situation is dire across Europe. Orange peels and sour watermelons are the only thing keeping some livestock alive in Australia. Damages due to weeks of rain in Japan. Christian shares reports from farmers on the ground, and makes clear the very real effects on food production and prices globally. Start preparing now.

Spread the truth - these are natural cycles, and it's up to us to build anti-fragile communities in order to thrive in the times ahead.


Sources
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Info

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Drought reveals ancient henges and ruins in Europe


Adapt 2030
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 15:31 UTC
Cropmarks of a large Bronze Age barrow cemetery on the Llyn Peninsula
© Crown Copyright RCAHMWCropmarks of a large Bronze Age barrow cemetery on the Llyn Peninsula
The drought in Europe has revealed an enormous amount of ancient ruins and henges across the UK and Ireland. Astonishing that these foundations and structures were undiscovered all these years.

Massive hail storms in France, feet deep snow in Italy and lightning that is a plasma bolt.


Sources
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Fire

Scorched Sweden faces continued "extreme" fire risk in coming days


New Straits Times
Wed, 25 Jul 2018 09:46 UTC
sweden wildfire 2018
© EPA By AFPA chartered helicopter dumps a load of water ontio a smouldering spot in a forest near the village Grotingen in the Bracke municipality to fight one of many wild fires in central Sweden, 22 July 2018. Sweden meanwhile has called for emergency assistance from the European Union to tackle the dozens of wildfires raging across the country. Italian and French fire fighting planes as well as fire engines from Poland and firefighters from other EU countries joined in the efforts to contain and extinguish the wild fires. July 24, 2018 @ 2:00am
Sweden warned Monday of an "extreme" risk of fresh forest fires as much of Scandinavia baked in a heatwave and dozens of fires hit countries across northern Europe.

Sweden's civil protection agency MSB counted 27 active fires across the country on Monday, half the previous day's number, as temperatures were expected to soar as high as 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) this week.

Other European countries including France, Italy and Germany have sent a mix of plane, trucks and firefighters to help tackle the blazes as Sweden, where usual summer temperatures are closer to 23 Celsius, has struggled to contain the crisis.

Some 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of land has already gone up in smoke or continues to burn - an area twice the size of the city of Paris.

Comment: After a brutally cold winter and epic flooding throughout spring, Europe is now on fire:

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Sun

"Perfect storm": UK farming crisis as areas suffer worst drought for 225 years

Zoie O'brien
Daily Mail
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 15:53 UTC
Cracks in the ground on Hampstead Heath, London,
© PACracks in the ground on Hampstead Heath, London, as the hot weather continues across the country.

Britain may be enjoying the summer sunshine now - but the weather could soon have upsetting consequences for the nation's farmers, who are struggling to save both their crops and their animals.

Soaring temperatures have led to a heatwave bringing prolonged dry spells, meaning while Brits basked on the beaches, farmers were manually carrying water to cattle to try to keep them hydrated, on the hottest day of the year so far, on Monday.

Greg Cotterell, of Bank Top farm in Fenny Bentley, said to The Derby Telegraph the well he was forced to manually dug up for his cows is only producing a quarter of what they need.

The drastic way to get water to them was necessary because of the water shortage in seven villages in the area, he revealed.

Cattle are used to grazing on green grass with plenty of water but the drought conditions across the country are causing major problems for farmers
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Horse

Drought requires extreme measures to protect West's wild horses

Julian Hattem
ABC News
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 01:54 UTC
Horsedust drywaterhole
© WireAP/Rick Bowmer/AP/KJNBaked earth of a dry watering hole • Wild horse shaking off dust
Harsh drought conditions in parts of the American West are pushing wild horses to the brink and spurring extreme measures to protect them. For what they say is the first time, volunteer groups in Arizona and Colorado are hauling thousands of gallons of water and truckloads of food to remote grazing grounds where springs have run dry and vegetation has disappeared.

Federal land managers also have begun emergency roundups in desert areas of Utah and Nevada. "We've never seen it like this," said Simone Netherlands, president of the Arizona-based Salt River Wild Horse Management Group. In May, dozens of horses were found dead on the edge of a dried-up watering hole in northeastern Arizona.

As spring turned to summer, drought conditions turned from bad to worse, Netherlands said. Parts of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico are under the most severe category of drought, though extreme conditions are present from California to Missouri, government analysts say. Parts of the region have witnessed some of the driest conditions on record, amid a cycle of high temperatures and low snowmelt that appears to be getting worse, National Weather Service hydrologist Brian McInerney said.
Horse mud water
© Rick Bowmer/AP
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