Typhoon Fengshen - Floods - Droughts - Fires

From the desk of Editor Michael Knight June 30 08.

Earth Change Report takes a quick look at the major weather and earth change events of the past week.

For starters, three reports have come out recently about what's going on in the Arctic. (They're covered in detail in the New Earth Change Report - and since that newsletter relies on building a growing subscriber base, the latest issue is being made available to you so you can 'try before you buy.' The link is at the end of this report.

“Be careful on Mt Ruapehu.” (Pictured during a 1996 eruption) New Zealand’s GNS says lake temperatures and gas levels remain high on atop the mountain and winter holidaymakers have been advised to be aware of exit strategies if Ruapehu blows.

The mountain last erupted in September last year and while temperatures and levels usually return to normal fairly quickly, they have remained high for the past nine months.

A disaster in the Philippines – the capsize of a ferry during Typhoon Fengshen with the loss of hundreds of lives – also points up what pesticides are doing to our oceans.

The ferry was carrying highly toxic pesticides when it sank – and now divers have been banned from recovering bodies because of the lethal nature of the chemical. They have also banned fishing in the area.

Aside from the loss of life during the typhoon, plus immense property damage, local fishermen are now finding themselves destitute and begging food from their relatives to feed their families.

The national government says it intends to fly in tons of relief goods, including canned food to provide an alternative diet for the islanders.

Meanwhile after flying over devastated areas the government is also concerned about future food shortages because of the damage to rice cropland.

Fengshen (“God of Wind”) also took at least 14 lives in China’s Guangdong province as well as triggering landslides and forcing flight cancellations.

“Multibillion-dollar crop losses may boost world food prices for years.”

That’s one of the major concerns in the " United States where the Mississippi River is still overflowing its banks in the worst flooding for 15 years.

Would you believe that the levees in the United States – up to 30,000 of them – that are supposed to protect farmland and property – are woefully lacking in maintenance?

The Scripps-Howard News Service has done a survey that reveals that while “relatively few new levees have been built in recent years…many of the newest ones are not designed to protect existing homes and businesses, but to defend new development in flood plains — against the advice of conservationists and emergency management officials.”

It doesn’t have to be an expensive undertaking either if you simply get the basics together.

That’s why this is called the “Basic Preparedness Home Study Course.”

You can buy the book and three DVDs together – or the book by itself.

They’ll save you a lot of time and money – and give you far more valuable information than you’ll find anywhere else.

Further, whether you live in the US or overseas, the tips and techniques – the food charts and so on – are relevant wherever you are.

Best to make a start now, rather than wait for problems that’ll make you wish you had. “It’s better to be prepared 10 years too early than 10 minutes too late.”

Canada –unsettled weather conditions are prevailing throughout eastern Canada “because the jet stream is way below where it should be. It is south of New Brunswick when it should be in northern Quebec.”

The US Climate Change Science Program has released a report titled “Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate”

"This report addresses one of the most frequently asked questions about global warming: What will happen to weather and climate extremes?"

• Most of North America is experiencing more unusually hot days and nights and fewer unusually cold days.

The last 10 years have seen fewer severe cold waves than any other 10-year period in the historical record, which dates back to 1895.

The number of heat waves has also been increasing since 1950.

• There has been a decrease in frost days and a lengthening of the frost-free season over the past century.

• Extreme precipitation episodes (heavy downpours) have become more frequent and intense and now account for a larger percentage of total precipitation.

• Droughts are becoming more severe in some regions.

• Atlantic tropical storm and hurricane destructive potential has increased substantially since about 1970.

• Storm tracks have shifted northward in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific over the past fifty years. The strongest cold season storms are becoming even stronger in the North Pacific.

“Since the start of this year, southwestern and southern Texas have reported only 25 to 50 percent of normal rainfall. Drought conditions will likely persist across most of the state.

In the Southwest, little if any rainfall is expected from the Southwest Monsoon during the next two weeks.

Farther west, there has been a recent expansion of drought in California, and the official extended range forecasts show little if any precipitation across the state. Easing drought conditions are indicated for western North Dakota, which has recently seen beneficial rains after a prolonged dry period.

In the Southeast states, improvement is indicated across southern Florida, and over the southern Atlantic coastal plain.

Drought recovery is less likely farther inland across the core drought area covering the western Carolinas, northeast Georgia, and far eastern Tennessee.

The Hawaiian Islands are likely to experience expanding drought, especially along the leeward slopes.

Health Threats From a Thousand Fires.

California is in the grip of yet another emergency.

Close to a thousand fires have been started by dry lightning strikes and the resultant smoke haze is threatening people’s health.

“Some areas are experiencing the worst air quality on record, with the smoke hanging down to the ground like a fog.”The potential exists for smoke to affect health in parts of Nevada and Oregon as well.

Further thunderstorms are expected while over 17,000 fire fighters, 80 helicopters and 1500 fire engines are working round the clock.

NOAA says It is unlikely that California will receive significant improvement in rainfall during the ongoing dry season.

Now let’s lighten up - get out of our shell – go visiting. Maybe to a subscriber’s home in Knysna in South Africa.

It’s right on the ocean front (it hasn’t risen yet so his boat isn’t on the front lawn) and if we get a big surf board and catch a tsunami that travels at 500 miles an hour, we could perhaps get there just in time for the coming festival.

The best part about it is that they plan to serve nearly 16 000 oysters and 1 000 liters of wine.

Hmmm…maybe I’ll just go by myself.

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Now here's the link to the latest NEW Earth Change Report.

These special editions are in-depth articles about major earth changing signs, harbingers, events and reports.

They are intended to give subscribers a professionally researched overview and understanding of how climate change is ratcheting up to the point that we as individuals must take note and undertake some very serious forward planning.

For this issue only (It's all about Lessons Fromm The Arctic - and UFOs in China) you can 'try before you buy" at this link.

Sincerely.

Michael Knight

Editor

Earth Change Report.