Global Floods, Why Were They Not Predicted by The Warmist Models?
ferroohill
Floods follow droughts as night follows day.
Together with my colleagues, research assistants and students we
demonstrated that variations in regional climate are the consequence of
variations in the receipt and poleward
redistribution of solar energy via the global oceanic and atmospheric
processes.
We could not find any evidence to support the views that these variations
are the consequence of human activities.
17 Jan 2011
http://climaterealists.com/attachments/ftp/Memo%20Global%20floods.pdf
QUOTE:
The self-made problem of the climate "scientists" is that they have become
so involved in the climate change issue that they dare not predict extreme
events without blaming global warming.
Scientific predictability also raises the question of the scientist's
ethical responsibilities. His conclusions must be guided by respect for
truth and an honest acknowledgment of both the accuracy and the inevitable
limitations of the scientific method. Certainly this means avoiding
needlessly alarming predictions when these are not supported by sufficient
data or exceed science's actual ability to predict. But it also means
avoiding the opposite, namely a silence, born of fear, in the face of
genuine problems.
Pope Benedict XVI, 6 November 2006
In June 2008 my general interest article Likelihood of a global drought in
2009 to 2016 was published in Civil Engineering.
Droughts followed within months along the southern Cape coast and the
adjacent interior as well as elsewhere in South Africa, Australia and other
regions. Seawater desalination plants had to be constructed at Sedgefield
and Plettenburg Bay
as well as in Australia.
Those who took the trouble to study my 2008 article would have noticed the
abundantly clear, sudden alternating sequences of high and low values in the
hydrometeorological time series.
Floods follow droughts as night follows day.
This photograph of the flood in the Orange River at Aughrabies Falls in
South Africa was taken on the same day as severely
damaging floods entered Brisbane in Australia. It was also simultaneous with
the loss of life by severe floods in Sri Lanka and Brazil.
They were not the worst on record.
I now have a simple question.
Were these global extremes the consequence of weather or
climatic phenomena?
Nobody seems to know.
In either case the answer is irrelevant.
The claimed consensus views of hundreds of climate change "scientists" are
fundamentally erroneous.
Hundreds of peer reviewed papers published in the hydrological literature
during the past 50 years demonstrated that climate is NOT a steady state
phenomenon.
Also, together with my colleagues, research assistants and students we
demonstrated that variations in regional climate are the consequence of
variations in the receipt and poleward
redistribution of solar energy via the global oceanic and atmospheric
processes.
We could not find any evidence to support the views that these variations
are the consequence of human activities.
Unfortunately we encountered the same indifference that David Livingstone
encountered during his missionary expeditions in Central Africa.
UK Met Office in deep water
The following comments are based on information from the Internet. It
appears that routine studies by the UK Met Office last October indicated the
possibility of severe winter
conditions in the months ahead.
The Met Office warned the authorities but not the public.
This is a routine procedure where there is a measure of uncertainty about
the forecast. The authorities then issue standby alerts to the organisations
that will be involved should the
events occur.
The problem arose when the Met Office also issued its own forecasts that
deliberately withheld this information from the public in view of the level
of uncertainty.
Confusion arose when the authorities failed to issue the standby alerts and
subsequent warnings to the public.
Normally this would be a domestic matter for the UK authorities to resolve.
However, it is now very clear that this was a global climatic disturbance.
So we must now ask a fundamentally important question.
Why was it not predicted by all those international
agencies with their sophisticated and costly global climate computer models?
Their self-made problem is that they have become so involved in the climate
change issue that they dare not predict extreme events without blaming
global warming.
In this case we have the near simultaneous extreme cold weather and damaging
snowfalls in the UK, Europe and parts of the USA, followed almost
immediately by damaging floods in Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and
Brazil that caused loss of life in all these countries.
If these events were the worst on record, climate change "scientists" would
have been home and dry.
They could claim that they were obviously the consequence of global warming,
but this was not so.
Why did the GCMs fail to predict these extreme global events?
I continue this memo with a very serious challenge. The last time that
floods of this magnitude occurred concurrently in South Africa and Australia
was in 1974, approaching 40 years ago.
There were three other global climatic events at that time.
What were they?
One had to do with global temperatures (conveniently overlooked by climate
change "scientists").
The second was a well documented global climatic disturbance.
The third had to do with the Southern Oscillation Index and possibly other
climatic indices.
Why have climate change "scientists" not investigated and reported the
obvious causal linkage between these four
concurrent global climatic events?
This is a fundamentally important question.
I also have a more general question that climate change "scientists" have
yet to address.
What causes the El Ni�o/La Nina phenomena?
How often have we been told that climate science is
settled when they cannot even answer this obvious question?
It gets worse!
In April 2008 I was granted an urgent interview with the Council of the
South African Institution of Civil Engineering. The following are short
extracts from my submission titled
Urgent submission to the SAICE Council on the likelihood of severe water
resource droughts.
Civil engineers and climate change "scientists" are on a collision course.
The outcome could have very serious, nationally important consequences.
These differences should be resolved as a matter of urgency.
In this submission it is demonstrated with a very high degree of assurance
that southern Africa, and possibly the rest of the world as well, is about
to enter a period of severe droughts commencing within the next twelve
months.
There is an estimated 20% likelihood that they will be as serious as the
Great Depression Drought of the early 1930s.
These drought sequences could have disastrous consequences for South Africa
if the authorities are caught unawares.
This prediction is based on the well researched multi-year periodic
behaviour of the hydrometeorological processes.
It is shown that this periodicity is in turn causally related to
synchronous variations in solar activity.
This linkage is well documented, and has been studied in South Africa for
more than a hundred years.
However, climate change "scientists" vigorously deny both the predictable,
multi-year periodicity in the hydro-meteorological processes, as well as the
solar linkage.
The diagram below is our river flow prediction model prepared by my
co-author Alwyn vd Merwe. We are presently in period year 13 (2007-08).
Note the very clear, well above average recorded river flows for the present
hydrological year (13).
Even more importantly, note the succession of below average river flows in
the period years that lie ahead (14 to 20).
Analyses of other long hydrological data series show
Similar characteristics.
Climate change scientists use complex global climate computer models to
predict a whole range of undesirable consequences.
These include increases in the magnitude and frequency of damaging floods,
droughts and threats to water supplies.
They go further, and specifically maintain that there is no linkage between
variations in solar activity and climatic responses.
They are forced to do this, as an admission would diminish their claims of
exclusive human causality of the postulated consequences of global warming.
I emphasise the word 'postulated', because the claims are based on
unverified (and unverifiable) computer models.
This is the essence of my problem.
There is simply no evidence in the hydrological data to support these
claims.
For example, during the 20 years since the establishment of the IPCC in
1988, there have been no floods or droughts that have
exceeded the historical maxima.
Nor are there any observable trends in the rainfall and river
flow data.
My own position and responsibilities are very clear.
Since 1993 I have devoted considerable time and effort in a search for
evidence that would support these claims.
Had I found this evidence, I would not have hesitated for one moment to
report it and include it in my teaching, publications, articles and our
Hydro course notes.
I therefore have an equal if unpleasant responsibility.
It is to report that there is no observable substance to claims related to
the effects of climate change on river flow and
South Africa's water resources.
I appreciate that the contents of this document are likely to be hotly
contested as lucrative research funding is at stake. This debate should be
encouraged, provided it is conducted in
an appropriate forum where both sides are given the opportunity to present
their views.
In this connection I must place on record that my several attempts to have
round table discussions on this subject were either refused or ignored.
My concern was and still is the occurrence of droughts rather than floods.
Fifty lives were lost in South Africa during the recent floods, but droughts
of equal severity affect the lives of tens of thousands of people.
These were not the only consequences of the recent climatic disturbances
that I predicted in 2008.
The following information is from a report by the well-known reinsurers
Swiss Re.
The year 2010 was the year of natural disasters. The last time that so many
lives were lost in natural disasters was in 1983 mainly caused by famine in
Ethiopia (my emphases).
Conclusions
Putting all the information in this memo together, it is very clear that
there have been no systematic increases in natural disasters that can be
attributed to human caused global warming during the period of continuous
records.
Equally, it demonstrates the validity of our studies that demonstrate the
causal solar linkage and the predictability of subcontinental scale
alternating above and below average hydrometeorological conditions.
These conclusions have long been rejected in the IPCC literature.
This whole climate change issue has become chaotic.
When chaos prevails the consequences become unpredictable - and dangerous.
It will be very interesting to see how this situation is
handled in the months ahead as climate change "scientists" sink deeper and
deeper into a quagmire of their own making.
My handbooks
April 2000. Flood risk reduction measures. 560 pp
2011. Analytical methods for water resource development and management. 500+
pp.
http://climaterealists.com/attachments/ftp/Memo%20Global%20floods.pdf
Warmest Regards
B0nz0
"It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps
US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of scientists
worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that is distinct
from natural variation."
Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, Townsville
"If climate has not "tipped" in over 4 billion years it's not going to tip
now due to mankind. The planet has a natural thermostat"
Richard S. Lindzen, Atmospheric Physicist, Professor of Meteorology MIT,
Former IPCC Lead Author
"It does not matter who you are, or how smart you are, or what title you
have, or how many of you there are, and certainly not how many papers your
side has published, if your prediction is wrong then your hypothesis is
wrong. Period."
Professor Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics
"A core problem is that science has given way to ideology. The scientific
method has been dispensed with, or abused, to serve the myth of man-made
global warming."
"The World Turned Upside Down", Melanie Phillips
"Computer models are built in an almost backwards fashion: The goal is to
show evidence of AGW, and the "scientists" go to work to produce such a
result. When even these models fail to show what advocates want, the data
and interpretations are "fudged" to bring about the desired result"
"The World Turned Upside Down", Melanie Phillips
"Ocean acidification looks suspiciously like a back-up plan by the
environmental pressure groups in case the climate fails to warm: another try
at condemning fossil fuels!"
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/threat-ocean-acidification-greatly-exaggerated
Before attacking hypothetical problems, let us first solve the real problems
that threaten humanity. One single water pump at an equivalent cost of a
couple of solar panels can indeed spare hundreds of Sahel women the daily
journey to the spring and spare many infections and lives.
Martin De Vlieghere, philosopher
"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that
it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of
mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible."
Bertrand Russell
k...@kymhorsell.com
Rise in flood risk could make one mn homes uninsurable
Firms warn of effect of government spending cuts on planned defences
By Andrew McCorkell
Sunday, 9 January 2011
The Independent
Homeowners living near rivers and the coast face losing up to 40% of
the value of their homes as flood risk makes them uninsurable.
More than a mn homes and 300,000 businesses are at risk, including those
in parts of London, Southend, Brighton, Reading, Birmingham, Nottingham,
Liverpool, Manchester, Hull, Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh,
the Environment Agency says.
The insurance industry points to evidence that climate change and rising sea
levels will increase the likelihood of floods. It has an agreement with the
Government - which runs out in 2013 - committing it to provide cover for
customers, as long as flood risk is properly managed.
Insurers are expressing concern about cuts to investment in flood defences
implied in the coalition's Comprehensive Spending Review, and the affect of
funding cuts on extending the agreement - the UK is currently one of the few
countries to provide flood coverage automatically through property insurance.
Nick Starling, of the Association of British Insurers, said: "We must ensure
that our spending on flood defences and flood management is targeted to those
areas where it is needed the most, and that the Government implements a
long-term flood management strategy."
Flooding is expensive for insurers, with claims typically between ?20,000 and
?40,000. In the past decade insurers have paid out ?4.5bn to customers whose
homes or businesses have flooded, three times the ?1.5bn paid in the previous
decade.
Under the spending review, the Dept for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs took a 29% budget cut, including ?110m from planned spending
on new flood defences. Defra insists flood risk management is a "priority".
Some 20,000 families in Essex coastal areas say they have lost equity and are
struggling with increasing premiums. Essex County Council has approached the
Government for ?20m to build a sea wall to protect 35 high-flood-risk homes at
Great Wavering. The Environment Agency has completed 160 flood schemes
defending 160,000 properties since 2007.
Dr Paul Leinster, its chief executive said: "We will continue to reduce flood
risk by investing in defence schemes, but it is essential that people are all
also better prepared, by signing up to the Environment Agency's flood warning
service and rebuilding damaged properties to make them more flood-proof."
'It'll be harder to sell now'
Wot Blowers, 62, a self-employed gardener from Cockermouth, Cumbria, was
rehoused through her insurance company following floods in the county in 2009
"It was awful. I was out of my home for nearly a y. I am back now, but it
has taken the best part of a y to get the house fixed. The whole of the
ground floor was flooded halfway to the ceiling.
"I probably have lost value on my house. I've been wanting to sell it for
y, but it's going to be a lot harder now. My premium was ?150 originally,
but when I got my insurance renewal it was ?2,111. I spoke to Trading
Standards, but it's still higher than it was."
--
[Read before writing:]
>On a bike with rider in tuck position air resistance with no wind
>is something like .4 * v^3 Watts. If possible to get to 80 kph
>that would be 4.3 kW.
** For Christ's sake - go learn some basic physics, dickhead.
The drag experienced by the solar car or a cyclist is almost entirely due to
AIR resistance.
And that is not a linear function of speed.
-- "Phil [dil or NPD?] Allison" <phi...@tpg.com.au>, 9 Jan 2011 13:28 +1100
ferroohill
<k...@kymhorsell.com> wrote in message
news:4d366bb5$0$26653$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
>
> Rise in flood risk could make one mn homes uninsurable
>
> Firms warn of effect of government spending cuts on planned defences
>
> By Andrew McCorkell
> Sunday, 9 January 2011
> The Independent
>
> Homeowners living near rivers and the coast face losing up to 40% of
> the value of their homes as flood risk makes them uninsurable.
>
> More than a mn homes and 300,000 businesses are at risk, including those
> in parts of London, Southend, Brighton, Reading, Birmingham, Nottingham,
> Liverpool, Manchester, Hull, Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Glasgow and
> Edinburgh,
> the Environment Agency says.
>
> The insurance industry points to evidence that climate change and rising
> sea
> levels will increase the likelihood of floods.
ROTFLMAO
"drought is the new norm across Australia's greatest food bowl, the Murray
Darling basin"
Bob Brown, Greenie Carbon Crackpot, Just Before The Flooding
k...@kymhorsell.com
By 2020, world to be 2.4C warmer, India to be hardest hit
19 Jan, 2011, 05.59AM IST,PTI
The Economic Times [India]
WASHINGTON: The Earth will be 2.4 C warmer by 2020 if the world
continues with the business-as-usual approach to climate change and India
would be one of the hardest hit countries witnessing upto 30%
reduction in crop yields, a new study has claimed.
The rising temperatures will adversely affect the world's food production and
India would be the hardest hit, according to the analysis by the Universal
Ecological Fund (FEU-US), the US subsidiary of FEU founded in Argentina in
1990.
The report titled 'The Food Gap -- The Impacts of Climate Change on Food
Production: A 2020 Perspective' predicted that crop yield in India, the second
largest world producer of rice and wheat, would fall up to 30% by the
end of this decade.
The report, however, noted that the impacts of climate change would vary from
region to region. While central and southern region would witness adverse
impacts, the impacts could be beneficial for East and South-East Asia, the
report predicted.
The 2 most populated countries in the world, India and China, would
experience different impacts. While India could see a fall in its crop yield,
China -- the largest producer of rice and wheat in the world -- is expected to
increase its crop yields up to 20%, said the report.
However, the overall impact of a warmer planet on global food production would
be massive, said the report, adding that the most significant impacts would be
on the top 20 producers of each of the four crops: wheat, rice, maize and
soybean, respectively.
It has predicted that global wheat production during that time would
experience a 14% deficit between production and demand; while there
will be an 11% deficit in rice production and 9% in maize
(corn) production. Soybean is the only crop showing an increase in global
production, with an estimated 5% surplus, the report said.
"The evidence that man-made greenhouse gases would cause the temperature of
the planet to rise has been available for almost 2 decades. The IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Fourth Assessment Report (2007)
has concluded that, unequivocally, the Earth's warming is anthropogenic
(man-made)," said FEU scientific adviser Dr Osvaldo Canziani, the former
Co-Chair of Working Group II of the IPCC.
The analysis and data utilised to produce the report is based on key documents
already published by the IPCC and other UN agencies.
"The key to our report was to analyse, synthesise and update published
documents and data from disparate sources and present it in an accessible
way," Liliana Hisas, Executive Director of FEU-US and author of the report,
said.
--
$>This seems to be saying "in logic or philosphy an inverted if or circular
$>argument are no good -- but in science we have different standards".
$You're right. That's exactly what I'm saying.
-- Mike Franklin <mkfr...@msn.com>, 20 Nov 2010
k...@kymhorsell.com
Glacier melt in Peru becomes more than a climate issue
Huascaran Mountain in the Andes' Cordillera Blanca range has lost 30% of its
glaciers since 1970 because of rising temperatures.
By Heather Somerville
Sunday, January 16, 2011; 11:39 PM
HUARAZ, Peru - Glacier melt hasn't caused a national crisis in Peru, yet. But
high in the Andes, rising temperatures and changes in water supply over the
last 40 years have decimated crops, killed fish stocks and forced villages to
question how they will survive for another generation.
Without international help to build reservoirs and dams and improve
irrigation, the S American nation could become a case study in how climate
change can destabilize a strategically important region, according to
Peruvian, US and other officials.
"Think what it would be like if the Andes glaciers were gone and we had
mn and mn of hungry and thirsty Southern neighbors," said former
CIA Director R James Woolsey.
Peru is home to 70% of the world's tropical glaciers, which are also
found in Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile. Peru's 18 mountain glaciers, including
the world's largest tropical ice mass, are critical to the region's water
sources for drinking, irrigation and electricity.
Glaciers in the S American Andes are melting faster than many scientists
predicted; some climate change experts estimate entire glaciers across the
Andes will disappear in 10 years due to rising global temperatures, creating
instability across the globe as they melt.
If Peru and its allies don't fund and create projects to conserve water,
improve decrepit water infrastructure and regulate runoff from glaciers within
five years, the disappearance of Andean glaciers could lead to social and
economic disaster, said Alberto Hart, climate change adviser at Peru's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"This will become a problem for the United States," he said. "When you have a
dysfunctional country, you have a problem for the entire region."
The United States spent $30 mn on climate change assistance in Peru in
fiscal year 2010, according to documents provided by the State Department. The
funding, allocated as part of the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, went mostly to
preserving the Amazon rainforest in Peru.
Peruvian officials would hardly turn away money to preserve the Amazon. But
the immediate problem is adaptation to rapid glacier melt, Hart said.
The US Agency for International Development, which administers the majority
of climate funds, recently received a $1.25 mn grant to work with The
Mountain Institute, a Peruvian non-profit organization, through 2012 and
assist mountain communities in adapting to glacier melt.
"It will take more resources than are currently available . . . but the trend
is going in the right direction," said Steve Olive with USAID in Peru.
--
[...] the estimation of life expectancy will continue to be both art and science.
-- James S Krause,
"Accuracy of Life Expectancy Estimates in Life Care Plans", Feb 2004
ro...@kymhorsell.com
[Sea level rise and risk of flooding; at least someone's thinking ahead].
by Mark Hertsgaard
Grist.org
30 Jan 2011
If you're a Seattleite, come meet Hertsgaard at a Grist Happy Hour and see him
talk about the book at Town Hall Seattle on Feb 3, 2011.
As a father living in the era of global warming, I have my good days and my
bad days. The bad days you can probably imagine. Writing this book has taught
me more than I'd like to know about our climate dilemma: about how drastically
our civilization must change course to avoid catastrophe, how stubbornly some
people and institutions resist even minor shifts in direction, and how
destabilizing the impacts that are already locked in are likely to be.
But I have good days as well, and these are usually inspired by stories that
show that the climate fight is not hopeless after all. One of my best days
came in June of 2008, when I went to Seattle to interview Ron Sims. As the
chief executive of King County, Sims was the top elected official of a
municipality that encompasses the city of Seattle, some of its suburbs, and
the corporate headquarters of Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, and Boeing. Over
the past 15 y, Sims had pioneered a fresh, farsighted, effective response
to climate change that local govts across the United States and around
the world were beginning to copy. He had linked his climate policy to a larger
agenda of advancing social justice and pro-business economic development. And
he had done this while remaining strikingly popular with voters, winning 3
straight elections by comfortable margins.
What most set Sims apart was the 2-track climate strategy he employed. "We
absolutely need to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, but we also have to adapt
to the impacts we can no longer prevent," he told me outside his office in
downtown Seattle. "The scientists say our region will see warmer, wetter
winters in the future. The snowpack [atop the Cascades east of King County]
will shrink. That means there won't be enough water for everyone if we don't
get going on adaptation."
the Climate DeskAlthough Sims' ecological commitment was ardent enough to earn
him the nickname "Mr Salmon," his argument for taking early action to prepare
for climate change was based on tough-minded economics. "We think people and
businesses will want to move to King County in the future because we took
action to prepare for the world of 2050," he said. "We're taking steps to make
sure we'll have enough water, we'll have levees that don't break, we'll have
alternative energy sources, economic growth in the right places, a green work
force. There are going to be winners and losers under climate change. I don't
want King County to be a loser."
One of Sims' ideas was to make climate change central to the mission of every
department in county govt. "Ron is always telling us, 'Ask the climate
question,'" said Jim Lopez, Sims' deputy chief of staff. "That means: Check
the science, determine what conditions we'll face in 2050, then work backwards
to figure out what we need to do now to prepare for those conditions."
"A levee breach here would cost $46 million a day"
The stories told by the native peoples of the Pacific Northwest often bear an
uncanny resemblance to the tale of Noah's ark. As in the Bible, the native
stories include one or more morally upstanding people who, joined by children
(but not animals), are loaded into a gigantic canoe to ride out the storm
while bad people are left to perish.
That so many such stories exist suggests that flooding was a recurrent aspect
of ancient life in the Pacific Northwest. Then as now, storms blew inland from
the ocean and traveled east until they collided with the Cascade Range, where
they dumped precipitation in the form of rain or snow. Modern science tells us
that higher temperatures will cause more precipitation to fall as rain rather
than snow and also cause more of the snowpack to melt. As a result, more water
will flow down the mountains, increasing the likelihood of flooding in the
flatlands that stretch westward through King County to the sea.
One day, I went with Mark Isaacson, the director of King County's Water and
Land Resources Division, to a commercial neighborhood along the Green River, a
zone of low buildings separated by half-empty parking lots. It was hard to
believe this was some of the most economically valuable real estate in King
County. But a levee breach here, Isaacson said, would cost the local economy
$46 mn a day.
"Many of these buildings are warehouses that supply food and other critical
goods to Seattle," he explained. "Restaurants receive 1,200 deliveries a
day. Starbucks has a big distribution facility here, quite a few medical
supply companies, too. If a levee broke, the roads here would be underwater,
and all those deliveries would stop." The levees protected 65k jobs that
generated $3.7 bn of income a y, Isaacson added.
Farmers had built levees along the Green River 50 to 60 y ago, said
Isaacson, but those levees were little more than mounds of earth extending
along the riverbanks. They were sufficient to protect farmland that could
afford to flood occasionally, but inadequate when bn of dollars of
commerce were at risk. Like all the departments in King County govt,
Isaacson's had been told by Sims to ask the climate question. Once they did,
Isaacson said, "My colleagues and I knew right away that we had to upgrade our
levees. The problem is, that gets really expensive. Our budget was nowhere
near big enough. The only way I could see it happening was with a tax
increase, but I was very reluctant to suggest that."
But when Isaacson outlined the problem, Sims didn't flinch. "Ron told me, 'We
have to do it. But we have to explain to people why their taxes have to go up,
why it's in their interest that these improvements get made.' And that's
pretty much what happened. My staff outlined a program of levee improvements
and calculated that the cost would avg $40 per household in the Green
River valley region. Then we reached out to mayors of towns in the valley and
to the public. We had open meetings where we explained the situation. People
didn't grumble much. Even towns not located right next to the river agreed to
pay, because they understood that their economic well-being would suffer if
the levees broke."
The tax increase, approved by the voters in 2007, increased Isaacson's budget
tenfold. Instead of the $3.4 mn pa he had received in the past, the
flood control program was allocated $335 mn over the next 10 y --
monies to be used for repairing some 500 levees and revetments in the county's
flood defense system.
Ron Sims "I can't put my head in the sand"
If the ancient tales of the Pacific Northwest are any guide, preparing against
floods may be the easy part. Native peoples appear to have passed down not a
single story concerning drought. But then the Pacific Northwest is famous for
its frequent rains, at least west of the Cascades. The future will be different.
There will be much less water available as climate change intensifies, and as
Sims saw it, the task of govt was to prepare people and institutions to
live with less water. "People didn't want to believe there were going to be
water shortages," he recalled. "After all, this is a place where it always
rains. But I said, 'This is what the science says. We have to respect it.' The
reason we have so many ecological problems today is because we didn't listen
to science."
In the American West, the traditional response to water shortages has been to
go out and find-or steal-more of it. But the shrinkage of the snowpack makes
that unlikely. In theory, reservoirs could be built to capture the snowmelt
before it flows downstream and disappears into the Pacific. But most of the
region's river basins already contain all the reservoirs they can accommodate.
Sims proposed a set of initiatives that respected ecological realities but
upset bureaucratic tradition and popular sensibilities. Rather than seeking to
increase the gross supply of water, he fought to maximize the net supply. He
did so both by using forestland as a natural reservoir and, most
controversially, by reusing wastewater before it was released to the sea. The
latter idea provoked a fierce political battle that eventually had to be
settled by the state legislature.
The morning we met, Sims took me to the site of one of the toughest fights in
that battle, the Brightwater wastewater facility. The idea behind recycled
water is simple: Instead of using pure water for all human purposes, why not
substitute recycled water for watering golf courses, irrigating landscapes,
and supplying factories? The Brightwater facility would take in wastewater,
run it through filters to remove contaminants, then pump it out for delivery
to non-household customers. In effect, using reclaimed water would allow the
county to use the same volume of water twice.
That sounded unobjectionable except for the yuck factor: The reclaimed water
had previously been used to wash people's dishes, fill their bathtubs, and
flush their toilets. Sims said most people, however, got past this problem:
"We explained that reclaimed water would be carefully filtered and never used
for drinking, bathing, or irrigating crops." The real objections, he
continued, as we drove east from Seattle, were economic. "The golf courses
don't mind reclaimed water," he said. "The pushback came from water agencies
that had been selling the golf courses water. One of the [agency] people asked
me, 'Do you know how much money we make from golf courses?' It's money! We
have to get past the question of who's making money on things and do what's
right for the community as a whole."
Water agencies resisted Sims, accusing him of a power grab aimed at stealing
their business. The former mayor of Seattle, Paul Schell, charged that Sims'
proposal would raise the price and lower the quality of water in the city. The
state legislature eventually joined the fray, blocking the plan for 3 y.
But in the end, Sims triumphed. What was his secret?
"I just didn't back down," he replied. "King County had the right of approval
over the water planning process and we exercised that right. And we had the
science on our side, which was crucial. I told water agencies, 'We're going to
have less water in the future. You may not like it, but that's a fact.' As an
elected official, if I know what's coming, I can't put my head in the sand and
wish it weren't true. I have to listen and act."
The Brightwater plant is located 20 mi from Seattle on 114 acres of wooded
land in neighboring Snohomish County. The site used to house an auto junkyard,
but the wrecks had been cleared away as part of a program to protect nearby
Little Bear Creek and add forty acres of hiking trails. After bouncing up a
rocky driveway, our vehicle stopped above a huge construction site. Below us,
bulldozers snorted exhaust while workers in hardhats hoisted rebar. "This
plant relies on an advanced membrane bioreactor treatment technology, the most
ecologically friendly filtration system in the world," said Gunnar Goerlitz,
the project manager. "When it opens in 2011, it will be the largest plant of
this type in the world, capable of treating 36 mn gallons of sewage a day."
Of the 36 mn gallons treated, 15 mn will receive only
secondary-level treatment and be pumped through a tunnel into Puget Sound. The
remaining 21 mn gallons will receive additional treatment from the
bioreactors, which separate solids and bacteria from water molecules, and be
distributed to end users. Some of the water will go to a golf course near
Microsoft's campus in Redmond, but most will be added to the Sammamish River,
boosting the flow of ag water in the area.
Gunnar confirmed that the Brightwater plant had encountered strong opposition:
"When the planning of this facility began in 1999, lots of people didn't like
the idea of including purple pipe [the color used for reclaimed water]. When
we got to the design stage in 2002, we asked whether we should put in
purple pipe. Ron said, 'You bet.'
It cost $26 mn, but it would have cost much, much more if we had to come back
later and retrofit it, because you'd have to dig up all the tunnels again."
Looking down on the construction site, Sims smiled with undisguised
satisfaction. "When people in the year 2050 look at this plant, they'll say,
'Those old-timers did this right,'" he said. "Every other water treatment
plant is going to have to be retrofitted. Not this one. We did this one right."
[55 more news items]
---
[Yasi is "the worst cyclone" to hit Qld:]
CORRECTION: The worst cyclone in history was the cat 5 Mahina in 1899.
[Bzzt! Thank you, come again!]
-- BO...@27-32-240-172.static.tpgi.com.au [86 nyms and counting], 3 Feb 2011 15:12 +1100
ro...@kymhorsell.com
4 Feb 2011
UN
United Nations agencies are providing additional support to the Government of
Sri Lanka in its efforts to respond to fresh floods, amidst existing efforts
to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by earlier flooding that
followed unusually heavy rainfall during the past 2 m.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today
said that Sri Lankas Disaster Management Centre (DMC) had put the total number
of people affected by the latest floods at 236,894. 5 people have lost
their lives and 4 are listed as missing.
Some 82,660 of those affected have been displaced and are sheltered in 322
temporary evacuation centres in 11 districts across the island nation.
Responding to a government request, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) will provide 400 tents to be distributed through DMC. The
UN World Food Programme (WFP) has dispatched a total of 508 metric tons of
food rations to the districts of Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee. Earlier
floods led to a steep rise in the prices of food, a factor that has made those
affected even more vulnerable.
Sri Lankas agriculture ministry has requested the UN Food and Agriculture
Organizations (FAO) support for efforts to revive farming activities in
about 75% of the farmland where crops were destroyed by the floods. Seeds,
equipment and other farming supplies are required.
Last m, humanitarian organizations in Sri Lanka appealed for a total of
$51 mn to assist those affected for 6 m. According to OCHA, some $11.6 mn
of the requested amount has been received as of 3 Feb.
[90 more news items]
---
It takes more than warmth to grow crops; otherwise the Sahara would be green!
--
-- BO...@27-32-240-172.static.tpgi.com.au [86 nyms and counting], 21 Jan 2011 11:16 +1100
Sfinx
Simply because they are not capable of doing so.
The 10 worst warming predictions by Andrew Bolt, Thursday, 18 December
2008
GLOBAL warming preachers have had a shocking 2008. So many of their
predictions this year went splat.
Here’s their problem: they’ve been scaring us for so long that it’s
now possible to check if things are turning out as hot as they warned.
And good news! I bring you Christmas cheer - the top 10 warming
predictions to hit the wall this year.
Read, so you can end 2008 with optimism, knowing this Christmas won’t
be the last for you, the planet or even the polar bears.
1. OUR CITIES WILL DIE OF THIRST
TIM Flannery, an expert in bones, has made a fortune from books and
lectures warning that we face global warming doom. He scared us so
well that we last year made him Australian of the Year.
In March, Flannery said: “The water problem is so severe for Adelaide
that it may run out of water by early 2009.”
In fact, Adelaide’s reservoirs are now 75 per cent full, just weeks
from 2009.
In June last year, Flannery warned Brisbane’s “water supplies are so
low they need desalinated water urgently, possibly in as little as 18
months”.
In fact, 18 months later, its dams are 46 per cent full after
Brisbane’s wettest spring in 27 years.
In 2005, Flannery predicted Sydney’s dams could be dry in just two
years.
In fact, three years later its dams are 63 per cent full, not least
because June last year was its wettest since 1951.
In 2004, Flannery said global warming would cause such droughts that
“there is a fair chance Perth will be the 21st century’s first ghost
metropolis”.
In fact, Perth now has the lowest water restrictions of any state
capital, thanks to its desalination plant and dams that are 40 per
cent full after the city’s wettest November in 17 years.
Lesson: This truly is a land “of drought and flooding rains”. Distrust
a professional panic merchant who predicts the first but ignores the
second.
2. OUR REEF WILL DIE
PROFESSOR Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, of Queensland University, is Australia’s
most quoted reef expert.
He’s advised business, green and government groups, and won our rich
Eureka Prize for scares about the Great Barrier Reef. He’s chaired a
$20 million global warming study of the World Bank.
In 1999, Hoegh-Guldberg warned that the Great Barrier Reef was under
pressure from global warming, and much of it had turned white.
In fact, he later admitted the reef had made a “surprising” recovery.
In 2006, he warned high temperatures meant “between 30 and 40 per cent
of coral on Queensland’s great Barrier Reef could die within a month”.
In fact, he later admitted this bleaching had “a minimal impact”.
In 2007, he warned that temperature changes of the kind caused by
global warming were again bleaching the reef.
In fact, the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network last week said there
had been no big damage to the reef caused by climate change in the
four years since its last report, and veteran diver Ben Cropp said
this week that in 50 years he’d seen none at all.
Lesson: Reefs adapt, like so much of nature. Learn again that scares
make big headlines and bigger careers.
3. GOODBYE, NORTH POLE
IN April this year, the papers were full of warnings the Arctic ice
could all melt.
“We’re actually projecting this year that the North Pole may be free
of ice for the first time,” claimed Dr David Barber, of Manitoba
University, ignoring the many earlier times the Pole has been ice
free.
“It’s hard to see how the system may bounce back (this year),” fretted
Dr Ignatius Rigor, of Washington University’s polar science centre.
Tim Flannery also warned “this may be the Arctic’s first ice-free
year”, and the ABC and Age got reporter Marian Wilkinson to go stare
at the ice and wail: “Here you can see climate change happening before
your eyes.”
In fact, the Arctic’s ice cover this year was almost 10 per cent above
last year’s great low, and has refrozen rapidly since. Meanwhile, sea
ice in the Southern Hemisphere has been increasing. Been told either
cool fact?
Yet Barber is again in the news this month, predicting an ice-free
Arctic now in six years. Did anyone ask him how he got his last
prediction wrong?
Lesson: The media prefers hot scares to cool truths. And it rarely
holds its pet scaremongers to account.
4. BEWARE HUGE WINDS
AL Gore sold his scary global warming film, An Inconvenient Truth,
shown in almost every school in the country, with a poster of a
terrible hurricane.
Former US president Bill Clinton later gloated: “It is now generally
recognised that while Al Gore and I were ridiculed, we were right
about global warming. . . It’s going to lead to more hurricanes.”
In fact, there is still no proof of a link between any warming and
hurricanes.
Australia is actually getting fewer cyclones, and last month
researchers at Florida State University concluded that the 2007 and
2008 hurricane seasons had the least tropical activity in the Northern
Hemisphere in 30 years.
Lesson: Beware of politicians riding the warming bandwagon.
5. GIANT HAILSTONES WILL SMASH THROUGH YOUR ROOF
ROSS Garnaut, a professor of economics, is the guru behind the Rudd
Government’s global warming policies.
He this year defended the ugly curved steel roof he’d planned at the
rear of his city property, telling angry locals he was protecting
himself from climate change: “Severe and more frequent hailstones will
be a feature of this change,” he said.
In fact, even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change admits
“decreases in hail frequency are simulated for Melbourne. . .”
Lesson: Beware also of government advisers on that warming wagon.
6. NO MORE SKIING
A BAD ski season three years ago - right after a great one - had The
Age and other alarmists blaming global warming. The CSIRO, once our
top science body, fanned the fear by claiming resorts such as Mt
Hotham and Mt Buller could lose a quarter of their snow by 2020.
In fact, this year was another boom one for skiing, with Mt Hotham and
Mt Buller covered in snow five weeks before the season started.
What’s more, a study this year in the Hydrological Sciences Journal
checked six climate models, including one used by the CSIRO.
It found they couldn’t even predict the regional climate we’d had
already: “Local model projections cannot be credible . . .”
It also confirmed the finding of a study last year in the
International Journal of Climatology that the 22 most cited global
warming models could not “accurately explain the (global) climate from
the recent past”.
As for predicting the future. . .
Lesson: The CSIRO’s scary predictions are near worthless.
7. PERTH WILL BAKE DRY
THE CSIRO last year claimed Perth was “particularly vulnerable” and
had a 90 per cent chance of getting less rain and higher temperatures.
“There are not many other parts of the world where the IPCC has made a
prediction that a drop in rainfall is highly likely,” it said.
In fact, Perth has just had its coldest and wettest November since
1991.
Lesson: As I said, don’t trust the CSIRO’s model or its warnings.
8. ISLANDS WILL DROWN
THE seas will rise up to 100m by 2100, claims ABC Science Show host
Robyn Williams. Six metres, suggests Al Gore. So let’s take in
“climate refugees” from low-lying Tuvalu, says federal Labor. And ban
coastal development, says the Brumby Government.
In fact, while the seas have slowly risen since the last ice age,
before man got gassy, they’ve stopped rising for the last two,
according to data from the Jason-1 satellite.
“There is no evidence for accelerated sea-level rises,” the Royal
Netherlands Meteorological Institute declared last month.
Lesson: Trust the data, not the politicians.
9. BRITAIN WILL SWELTER
The British Met Office is home to the Hadley Centre, one of the top
centres of the man-made global warming faith.
In April it predicted: “The coming summer is expected to be a ‘typical
British summer’. . .”
In fact, in August it admitted: “(This) summer . . . has been one of
the wettest on record across the UK.”
In September it predicted: “The coming winter (is) likely to be milder
than average.”
In fact, winter has been so cold that London had its first October
snow in 74 years—and on the very day Parliament voted to fight “global
warming”.
Lesson: If the Met can’t predict the weather three months out, what
can it know of the climate 100 years hence?
10. WE’LL BE HOTTER
SPEAKING of the Met, it has so far predicted 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005
and 2007 would be the world’s hottest or second-hottest year on
record, but nine of the past 10 years it predicted temperatures too
high.
In fact, the Met this month conceded 2008 would be the coldest year
this century.
That makes 1998 still the hottest year on record since the Medieval
Warm Period some 1000 years ago. Indeed, temperatures have slowly
fallen since around 2002.
As Roger Pielke Sr, Professor Emeritus of Colorado State University’s
Department of Atmospheric Science, declared this month: “Global
warming has stopped for the last few years.”
Lesson: Something is wrong with warming models that predict warming in
a cooling world, especially when we’re each year pumping out even more
greenhouse gases. Be sceptical.
Those, then, are the top 10 dud predictions of that hooting, screaming
and screeching tribe of warming alarmists. Look and laugh.
And dare to believe the world is bright and reason may yet triumph.
rogvin
"Surfer" <n...@spam.net> wrote in message
news:getfl697dh10rnql8...@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 20:20:43 -0800 (PST), Sfinx <sieg...@inbox.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> Global Floods, Why Were They Not Predicted by The Warmist Models?
>
>
You are the liar.
Surprise surprise, a leftist whacko lying!
That was a worldwide prediction.
As whacko Hansen put it "dry areas will become drier and wet areas wetter"
The IPCC and their assorted hangers-on predicted PERMANENT DROUGHT for
Australia.
======================================
Droughts tend to last about a decade in Australia.
We have a long cycle so that idiots (Greens) can work themselves into
certainty, fellow travellers can build desal plants and then we have
nationwide floods for a while.
======================================
The "scientific" evidence from the CSIRO and other expert bodies have
outlined the implications for Australia, in the absence of national and
global action on climate change: by 2070, up to 40 per cent more drought
months are projected in eastern Australia and up to 80 per cent more in
south-western Australia.
Australian PM KRudd
November 6 2009
======================================
Climate "Scientist": Australia May Be Facing A Permanent Drought
September 23 2003
Australia may be facing a permanent drought because of an accelerating
vortex of winds whipping around the Antarctic that threatens to disrupt
rainfall, scientists said on Tuesday. Spinning faster and tighter, the 100
mile an hour jetstream is pulling climate bands south and dragging rain from
Australia into the Southern Ocean, they say. They attribute the phenomenon
to global warming and loss of the ozone layer over Antarctica. "This is a
very serious situation that we're probably not confronting as full-on as we
should,"
Dr James Risbey, Center for Dynamical Meteorology and Oceanography, Monash
University... [...]
======================================
Carr Blames Global Warming For The Drought
"This is the ninth consecutive year, speaking nationally, when rainfalls
have been lower than average and average temperatures are climbing," he
said. "Those people who are sceptical about global warming ought to think
again because this is the first very practical intimation of global warming
being upon us,"
Ex NSW Premier Bob Carr
Sep 11 2003
======================================
It's Not Drought, It's Climate Change, Say "Scientists"
Whackos!
August 30 2009
"Scientists" studying Victoria's crippling drought have, for the first time,
proved the link between rising levels of greenhouse gases and the state's
dramatic decline in rainfall.
A three-year collaboration between the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO has
confirmed what many "scientists" long suspected: that the 13-year drought is
not just a natural dry stretch but a shift related to climate change.
''In the minds of a lot of people, the rainfall we had in the 1950s, 1960s
and 1970s was a benchmark. A lot of our water and agriculture planning was
done during that time. But we are just not going to have that sort of good
rain again as long as the system is warming up.''
======================================
This Is What Crackpot Steffen Was Saying About Australian Flooding In 2009
With increasing temperatures virtually certain for the coming decades and a
significant probability of continued low rainfall according to General
Circulation Model (GCM)
projections, the Murray Darling Basin will likely experience continuing low
inflows to the middle of the century and beyond.
[..]
. the causal link between warmer global temperatures, the
increased intensity of the subtropical ridge, and the decreased rainfall in
south east Australia implies a high likelihood that the trend towards dry
conditions will persist
[.]
the regional projections for Australia using a suite of models (CSIRO and
Bureau of Meteorology 2007) show, with a very high level of consistency (up
to 90%), a drop in winter rainfall for both south west Western Australia and
the Victoria/southern South Australia area.
Climate Change 2009
Faster Change & More Serious Risks
Will Steffen
======================================
"drought is the new norm across Australia's greatest food bowl, the Murray
Darling basin"
Bob "Frequent-Flier" Brown, Greenie Carbon Crackpot, Just Before The
Flooding
======================================
So if a drought and a bad ski season is proof of global warming.
Abundant rain and several good ski seasons are proof of...?
======================================
Laugh Til You Cry!
Premier Peter Beattie explained, the "likely impact of climate change"
included "lower than usual rainfall" and dams would not do.
But now Brisbane's dams are full to overflowing, and Victoria's own $5.7
billion desal plant, also built by a government claiming "we cannot rely on
this kind of rainfall like we used to", has been delayed for months by rain.
======================================
Can't Stop The Flannery-Confounding Rain!
October 12 2010
Back when he was in pessimism mode, warmist Tim Flannery predicted that
Brisbane could run out of water by the end of 2007.
His call wasn't remotely plausible at the time, and becomes more amusing
with each Queensland shower:
"Drenching rains have delivered southeast Queensland enough water to last
until 2018 without another drop falling from the sky. "
Of course, 2007 was a time when global warming panic - history's greatest
and most successful pseudoscientific fraud - was absolutely rampant.
Surprise, surprise!
Flannery is now a climate optmist!
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/were_really_resilient/
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/
======================================
Another Whacko Warmist Prediction
"Vast tracts of northern Australia will turn to desert, the nation's alpine
vegetation will disappear and thousands of plant and animal species will
become extinct this century."
Dr Raven said he was concerned the public was becoming complacent about
global warming because a "small handful" of scientists were generating
widespread publicity for their view that world temperatures are not rising.
Peter Raven, Botanist, as he arrived in Brisbane to deliver the keynote
address today to the International Congress of Entomology...
16 Aug 2004
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkID=34313
k...@kymhorsell.com
Australia Extreme Weather
The following plots show BOM data for number of very hot/very cold (>40C/<10C), hot/cold (>35C/<15C), and length of growing season (number of days in FY spanning 6 consecutive >15C days and 6 consecutive <15C days) since the 1957.
The following plots show trends for overall rainfall patterns over all of Australia. (Patterns in smaller regions may differ greatly from the overall patterns). A "wet" day is one with >1 mm of precip. A "dry" day has <1 mm. A "heavy" day has >10 mm. A "very heavy" day has >30 mm precip.
The final graphs show precip trends since 1980.
[Before the flood:] The recent Murray Darling run-off since the floods would have provided enought irrigation water to last at least 15 years. Instead it has all run out to sea! Crazy anti-dam greenies! -- "BONZO"@27.32.240.172 [86 nyms and counting], 12 Nov 2010 14:05 +1100
Sfinx
other possible explanations?
Robot
From Hallock to Hastings, Minnesota communities are getting ready for high
water.
Bill McAuliffe
Star Tribune
Feb 11, 2011 - 10:17 PM
Ice is still on the rivers, but the flood fight is on.
With near-historic crests predicted for the 3rd y in a row, people along the
state's flood-prone waterways are sandbagging, strengthening their defenses,
and watching with confidence, wariness and weariness.
Fargo-Moorhead, the epicenter of recent flood fights, have both declared
states of emergency. On Mon, Fargo will launch a drive to fill 3 mn sandbags
to hold off the Red River in N Dakota.
Along the Minnesota, the Mississippi, the St. Croix, and even along tributary
creeks, communities are buying sandbags, hiring levee builders, planning for
volunteers and prodding residents to buy flood insurance.
On Fri, Gov. Mark Dayton joined US Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and other state
and federal officials at flood forums in Crookston and Moorhead to discuss the
spring flood outlook.
"We think with conditions the way they are, it's going to be pretty serious,"
said Tom Richels, retired Wilkin County highway engineer who is this year's
flood manager for the county just S of Moorhead, where the Otter Tail and the
Bois de Sioux rivers join to form the Red.
In the metro area, the Minnehaha Creek and Nine Mile Creek Watershed Districts
are using detailed computer models for the 1st time to issue flood
forecasts. Their advice to cities and residents along the 2 creeks and in
low-lying areas around Lake Minnetonka: Prepare for high water.
Towering snowbanks combined with high groundwater levels mean "things are
getting set up for a perfect storm this spring when it comes to flooding,"
said Eric Evenson, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District Administrator. A lot
will depend on how the spring unfolds, but "if you live in low-lying areas, if
you have had flooding in the past, then you are in trouble," Evenson said.
Wilkin County, where several roads have been under frozen floodwater since
Dec, is buying 50k sandbags. St. Paul has several thousand sandbags in
storage, left over from last fall's road flooding, but is buying 75k
more. Stillwater, expecting the St. Croix River to be backed up by high flow
along the Mississippi about 20 miles downstream, expects to need 100k -- twice
what it used last year. So does Granite Falls, far upstream on the
Minnesota. Otter Tail County -- where the Otter Tail River begins in an area
dotted with lakes that have been brimful for several y -- is ordering 300k to
protect mostly lakeshore properties.
In Fargo, city engineer Mark Bittner said he expects 100s of volunteers and
city workers will be able to fill 3 mn bags in about a month. Last year's
flooding hit in mid-March. "Three y in a row -- it's just wearing us down,"
Bittner said. Asked if the 1st day of sandbagging Mon is a sort of holiday he
marks on his calendar, Bittner added, "I'd call it a helliday."
After a wet fall, snow began layering up across Minnesota in early
Nov. Without any thaw since then, that snow lies beneath the winter's
extraordinary snowfall, still more than a foot deep across much of the state,
and more than 2 feet deep in southwestern Minnesota. It's wet snow, too,
holding 5 to 6 inches of water. Snow with 4 to 5 inches of water covers much
of the eastern Dakotas.
It's become a familiar scenario, particularly across western Minnesota, where
rain and snowfall since the early 1990s has far exceeded long-established
normals. The result has been prodigious flooding in 1997, 2001, 2006, 2009 and
2010.
Easing the strain somewhat is the fact that most flood-prone cities have
removed 100s of homes from flood plains, built up permanent levees, and
installed other flood-control measures. So even if another flood comes,
they're facing less potential damage.
Removing homes
In Moorhead, for example, the city has removed more than 100 flood-vulnerable
houses just since 2009, said City Manager Michael Redlinger. Many of those had
commanded the highest prices in town soon after they were built along the Red
River in the dry 1960s and 1970s. The final 18 were bought out when $3 mn in
DNR money became suddenly available in Jan. The buyouts and levee extensions,
Redlinger said, mean the city will need about 1/2 the sandbags this y than
it did in 2009.
Similarly, of 135 homes flooded in Montevideo in 1997, only 21 are left. The
city is in the middle of a three-year levee rebuilding project that includes
raising Hwy 212, which was closed last y for several weeks. Granite Falls has
removed houses, built a new city hall on higher ground and has plans to build
a new water treatment plant.
"When [flooding] becomes so repetitious, you've got to approach it looking for
more long-term solutions, instead of just reacting," said Granite Falls City
Manager Bill Lavin.
Just over 2 wk ago, after thinking about it for 19 hours, Moorhead realtor
Bruce Johnson and his wife, Vikki, agreed to sell the home they'd lived in
since 1996 to the city, which had just received the DNR buyout money. They
have until Feb 28 to clear out; its next occupant will likely be
floodwaters. "It's the 3rd y in a row, and my wife finally said, 'Enough is
enough,' "Johnson said. "Everybody was just kind of thinking, 'Surely it can't
happen again.' But it looks like more of a consistent pattern than
not. Sellers are more readily accepting of the idea now that maybe we're not
supposed to be living here."
The biggest flood undertaking has yet to begin. That is a diversion channel
that would steer water around Fargo-Moorhead, a proposal that is about a y
away from getting approval and at least a decade from reality. Now carrying a
price tag of about $1.45 bn, the project is being redesigned by the US
Army Corps of Engineers after communities downstream complained that the
original plan would wash them out. The federal govt would pick up $788
mn of that, and Minnesota and N Dakota would split the rest. The cost estimate
is preliminary; it could change during the design and approval process.
For now, officials and residents across Minnesota are watching the forecasts,
hoping for a slow warm-up with cool nights, and little snow or rain. Those
conditions would lead to a gradual thaw and less-disruptive flooding. The next
flooding outlook from the N Central River Forecast Center is scheduled to
be released next Thu.
[82 more news items]
---
Of course "global temperature are rising" [...]
-- BO...@27-32-240-172.static.tpgi.com.au [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:22 +1100
Mr Robot
A new study says climate change may bring heavier spring rains that could
cause some sewers to overflow more heavily.
Chuck Quirmbach
Wisconsin Public Radio, Superior Telegram
Feb 21, 2011, 11:03 AM
A new study says climate change may bring heavier spring rains that could
cause some sewers to overflow more heavily. That could shoot more
disease-causing organisms into the Great Lakes.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have looked at global
climate models fine-tuned for Wisconsin and have found that spring rains in
the state are expected to increase in the next half-century. UW-Milwaukee
senior scientist Sandra McLellan says that could be very bad for some cities
like Milwaukee and Superior that have sewer systems where rainwater and sewage
combine.
McLellan says about 180 other Great Lakes cities also have combined
sewers. She says in the worst case scenario there could be an average 20%
increase in the volume of overflows, and a ten% increase in the number
of such events.
McLellan says there is time for Great Lakes communities to head off the
greater flow of bacteria and viruses into the water.
Improvements to sewer systems will cost a lot money, but McLellan says some
sewer districts will want to prepare for the heavier spring rains. A mix of
local and federal funding helped pay for the UW-Milwaukee study, and more
research into stormwater and leaking sewer pipes is on the way.
MYREF: 20110223093001 msg201102232400
[105 more news items]
---
Of course "global temperature are rising" [...]
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:22 +1100
Mr Robot
New Tang Dynasty TV
2011-02-23 02:18
Bolivia declares a state of emergency on Tue after flooding in 4 provinces
led to the deaths of 3 people and prompted the government to give aid to
around 6k affected families.
Water in rivers started to rise over the weekend after powerful storms dumped
inches of rain driving people from their homes and washing out roads.
President Evo Morales' administration freed up $20 mn for emergency rescues
and assistance to flood victims.
[Ruben Saavedra, Bolivian Defense Minister]:
"We've declared a state of emergency on different levels in different areas of
the country. Beginning with this declaration, the city, provincial and
national government will be able to pay out money and have a budget to take
care of this kind of natural disaster." Civil defense officials report at
least 3 people, and possibly as many as five, have died.
Thousands in Cochabamba were evacuated to schools and stadiums as over 50
homes were destroyed by water and mud. Here in the town of Quillacollo, some
reacted negatively to initial aid efforts.
[Unidentified Flood Victim]:
"For us, for the people affected, they haven't provided a bit of help, not on
the river and not for here."
The flooding also destroyed soy, corn and wheat crops in the agricultural
heartland of Santa Cruz.
One flood victim says "We've been like this for so long. We're living like
ducks."
Many towns are inundated with standing water.
MYREF: 20110224093001 msg201102244362
[111 more news items]
---
[Sucked in:]
> 1/2 of what he posts always contradict the other 1/2.
> One day 50 ppmv is the warming cutoff.
Oh Puuhhleeeeeeze easy with the strawman!
Not "cutoff" but 90% of the warming effect below 50ppm.
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 11:27 +1100
Mr Robot
Fidelis Zvomuya
AlertNet
23 Feb 2011 14:57
UPINGTON, S Africa (AlertNet) - Temba Mduli's fields resemble a
vast lake, studded with treetops and half-submerged buildings.
Once-green corn, soya beans, potatoes and sunflowers have been turned
yellow by some of the worst flooding to cut through northern South
Africa in years.
"I will be lucky just to get fodder out of the bad parts," he says, as
his 2 John Deere tractors sit nearby, submerged to their steering
wheels. "That's what I'm left with after Mother Nature wreaked havoc
here."
Higher than normal rainfall has brought widespread flooding to 8 of
South Africa's 9 provinces, hitting the country's economy and
provoking fears of food price hikes.
With 33 districts declared disaster areas, more than 20k people are
in need of assistance, 8,400 of them homeless or displaced, local
officials say.
In Mdluli's home district of Benede Oranje in Northern Cape province,
the Vaal River has cut a swath of destruction, soaking fields,
engulfing roads and shutting down transport hubs. Leafy crops like
lettuce have been shredded by high winds.
"This is a devastating loss," the farmer says. "The water came so fast
that there was no time to evacuate treasured farm implements and
household goods to higher ground." He estimates the damage on his 25
hectares (62 acres) of land will run to $50,000.
This year's rainy season has brought abnormally heavy rainfall to
countries across southern Africa. According to Washington Zhakata,
national coordinator of Zimbabwe's Climate Change Awareness Programme,
the unusual rains may be driven by La Nina, a climatic pattern believed
to have contributed to recent severe flooding in Australia, Brazil and
the Philippines.
Scientists from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in
a 2007 report, also predicted that rising levels of CO2 and
other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will alter the amount,
intensity and frequency of rain that many parts of the world receive,
potentially worsening the severity and frequency of floods and droughts
in southern Africa.
FINANCIAL WOES
As farmers like Mdluli begin to count the cost of the flooding, there
are fears for farm jobs in S Africa if the government does not step
in with assistance.
Total property losses in S Africa as a result of the floods are
estimated at about 1/2 a bn dollars. Agricultural losses may
represent as much as $284 mn of this, according to Dawie Maree, an
economist at Agri SA, the country's largest commercial farmers' union.
But Maree warns, "You can't do a full assessment before the water level
has subsided."
Farming in S Africa is a business with high costs and narrow profit
margins, according to Jo Gondo, president of the National African
Farmers Union (NAFU).
Gondo says he expects some farmers may be forced to give up their land
because insurance will not fully cover their losses, and government
assistance is insufficient to make up the difference.
Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the country's agriculture minister, has
announced that farmers will receive assistance with an aim of returning
their operations to 80% efficiency by March. Pettersson said
flood-hit farmers will be helped to replace infrastructure, seeds and
fertilizers, but she ruled out cash compensation.
REGIONAL FLOODING THREAT
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says
thousands of hectares of agricultural land and crops in southern Africa
have been damaged by floods and heavy rains in recent weeks. The skies
show no sign of giving relief, with above-average rainfall forecast for
the next few months.
"With the rainy season still only halfway through, and with the cyclone
season due to peak in Feb, several agricultural areas along rivers
in southern African countries remain at high risk of flooding,
including portions of Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia,
Zimbabwe and S Africa," the FAO warned in a statement.
Localised crop losses have been reported near rivers in southern and
central Mozambique. The government has declared a red alert for these
areas as water flows in major rivers remain above safe levels.
Mozambique has recorded 13 flood-related deaths, and 1000s of
people have fled their homes for higher ground.
The prospects of further flooding are raising concerns about the food
security of affected people in poorer parts of the region.
"Food insecurity levels are already critical in the affected areas of
some of these countries and floods will only further worsen the ability
of poor farmers to cope and feed their families in the coming months,"
said Cindy Holleman, FAO's regional emergency coordinator for southern
Africa. The FAO is working with regional and national early warning
systems to monitor developments in major river basins and to assess the
impact of flooding on food crops.
Fidelis Zvomuya, based in Pretoria, S Africa, is a writer
specializing in environmental reporting.
MYREF: 20110224230001 msg201102249877
[120 more news items]
---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100
Mr Posting Robot
Amber Stearns
WIBC News
2/28/2011
The National Weather Service says the largest amount of rain from the
overnight storms was centered in Indianapolis.
NWS Hydrologist Dr Al Shipe says the entire north-central portion of the state
received anywhere from 2.5 to 4 inches of rain, with the four-inch total on
the N side of Indianapolis.
Shipe says Indianapolis, Anderson, and Noblesville are seeing the highest
river and stream levels in 4 years.
Prairie Creek in Lebanon broke a flood record and the Mississinewa River in
Randolph County flooded State Road 28 by over a foot for the 1st time since
June 1958.
Shipe says most of the stream and river waters will recede to below flood
levels by later Mon, with the rest settling down by Wed.
According to Shipe, problems will come for southwest Indiana later in the
week, when northern flood waters arrive along with more forecasted rains.
MYREF: 20110301223001 msg2011030123097
[141 more news items]
Mr Posting Robot
William Moyer
March is expected to come in like a lamb Tue with a forecast for a sunny day
and a high temperature in the mid-30s.
The modest warmth and dry conditions follows a m when the National Weather
Service measured 4.92 inches of precipitation -- a record for Feb according to
data at Greater Binghamton Airport.
The previous record for wettest Feb was 4.55 inches set in 2008.
After a combined 10.7 inches of snow was measured on Fri, Sat and Sun, the
cumulative total of 32.5 inches put Feb 2011 as the 5th snowiest Feb on record.
Despite the wet weather in recent days, no major flooding is expected along
the Susquehanna or Chenango rivers.
The river at Conklin was expected to reach 9.3 feet overnight Mon, below its
12-foot flood stage. The river at Vestal will rise to 14.3 feet Tue morning,
but still remain below the flood stage of 18 feet.
In the Chenango Forks area, the Chenango River is expected to reach 7.4 feet
around noon Tue, below its 8-foot flood stage.
No major problems were reported early Mon when 0.96 inches of rain fell in
roughly 8 hours.
Forecasters are keeping an eye on a developing low pressure system in the
Midwest that could bring some rain and possibly snow Fri. Otherwise, daytime
high temperatures will reach the mid-30s -- normal for this time of y -- with
overnight lows ranging from 11 to 22 degrees -- slightly below normal.
MYREF: 20110301230001 msg2011030132339
[140 more news items]
---
The claimed consensus views of hundreds of climate change "scientists" are
fundamentally erroneous.
[Bonzo has elsewhere claimed the germ theory of disease is an "erroneous
consensus view"].
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 19 Jan 2011 15:29 +1100
Mr Posting Robot
Past 3 y were wettest on record in S.D.
Cody Winchester
Argus Leader
Apr 9 2011
Spring flooding in eastern S Dakota to some extent follows a fairly typical
storyline: A wet fall and snowy winter saturated the soil and filled up the
river basins, and when the spring melt came the water had nowhere to go.
But officials say the rising incidence of flooding and wet weather also is
part of a broader trend, one driven by climate change and perhaps by changes
in land use, too.
Combined, the past few y created the wettest three-year period on record in S
Dakota, state climatologist Dennis Todey said. And scientists throughout the
Upper Midwest are seeing the same trends and the same signals: higher low
temperatures throughout the year; higher streamflows; and heavier, more varied
and more frequent precipitation.
"There isn't any question that there's been more precipitation between the
90th and the 100th meridians, kind of a slice in the middle of the country,"
said Mark Anderson, director of the US Geological Survey Water Science Center
in Rapid City. It's a wetness trend that shows a steadily upward if uneven
slope, and it goes back decades, he said.
'It's certainly a changing climate'
It's not just the amount of precipitation that's changing - it's the timing.
Record peak flows during spring flooding are nothing new, but the number and
severity of off-season flooding has been increasing, Todey said. The Big Sioux
River at Brookings came close to a record peak last fall, for instance.
"We're seeing increases in streamflows in the winter months, even, which is
strange," Anderson said.
The cause of the additional precipitation is under investigation on several
fronts, but "whatever you want to call it, it's certainly a changing climate,"
he said.
For one thing, the atmosphere is warming, and this is changing how air masses
are routed over the continent, Anderson said. In S Dakota, much of its
additional precipitation actually has come from low-pressure systems funneling
upward from the Gulf of Mexico rather than from the more typical arctic
systems that move in from Canada.
Streamflows across the river basin also tell the tale. In the 1930s, for
example, the James River at Scotland had an average streamflow of about 50
cubic feet per second, Anderson said. Today, it's closer to 1k cfs.
"Keep in mind that these aren't climate prognostications. These are actual,
observational records," Anderson said. "This is stuff we've actually
measured. What is exactly causing it is the subject of further research -
could be land use, could be climate change, could be global warming. That's
what we do in science."
Planting cover crops might alleviate problem
This week, Anderson will begin a round of preliminary discussions with the E
Dakota Water Development District, of which Sioux Falls is a member, to
explore practical ways to apply this data. For instance: "To what degree could
some of the runoff and high flows be ameliorated by planting cover crops on
some of these areas to create more evapotranspiration?" Anderson said,
referring to the process by which water moves from soil to plant to
atmosphere.
Cover-cropping "is not going to eliminate flooding," he said, "but it could
help."
The USGS in N Dakota is exploring similar research in the Devil's Lake area,
working with the US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation
Service, said Gregg Wiche, Anderson's counterpart in N Dakota.
Meanwhile, wildlife and conservation officials are looking at whether trends
in intensive row-crop agriculture could bode ill for future flood
seasons.
Among their concerns:
Falling conservation acreage and an attendant loss of the flood-management
benefits that come with it. Enrollment in USDA's Conservation Reserve Program,
which pays farmers to plant cover crops, has dropped from a peak of 1.8 mn
acres to 1.2 mn acres, said Jamie White, a spokeswoman for the Farm Services
Agency in Huron. Much of that decline came in 2007, when many contracts
expired and were not renewed, she said.
"In the last 4 years, we've seen a considerable drop, and we would probably
attribute that to (high) grain prices," she said.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service advertises flood prevention among
the benefits of cover-cropping, said Jeff Vander Wilt, assistant state
conservationist for programs. And Scott Larson, the supervisor at the US Fish
and Wildlife Ecological Services Field Station in Pierre, pointed to several
studies showing that grasslands and cover crops help retain moisture that
otherwise would flow into river systems.
Differing opinions on tile drainage effects
Agricultural tile drainage, which traditionally has been more popular in Iowa
and southwestern Minnesota, is becoming increasingly common in S Dakota,
state resource conservationist Gerald Jasmer said.
Tile drains are lengths of perforated pipe inserted a few feet under a field
to increase field production by draining off excess water saturating the
soil. Some conservation officials, however, are concerned that more tiling
could mean fewer wetlands and more runoff.
"40% of the wetlands in that area have been drained (since settlement), and
you can guess where that water goes," Larson said.
East Dakota Water Development District director Jay Gilbertson said he's seen
research suggesting that tiled fields generate 5% to 15% more runoff than
untiled fields.
"If you listen to the (tiling) promoters, you will hear nothing but sunshine
and roses. And there are certainly very positive agronomic benefits to tile
drainage," he said. "But there is no free lunch. Getting rid of a problem on
your ground means you're passing that along to someone else. Things don't just
disappear."
Jasmer, however, was more circumspect.
"You can't make a cut-and-dried statement about tiling and its benefits or its
adverse impacts on flooding," he said.
Tile drainage records are kept locally, so it's difficult to determine how
many acres of land in the state are tiled. But wetland determination requests
- which Vander Wilt described as "a good precaution prior to installing field
tile" - have roughly quadrupled since 2007, according to the Fish and Wildlife
Service.
'We're still going to have flooding'
For Todey, though, the issue is larger.
"Land-use changes will affect where water is held and how water is moved, but
the ultimate driver of this whole thing is, we're seeing precipitation amounts
near record or at record values," he said. "No matter what we do with land
use, we're still going to have flooding. We're talking about very large
amounts of water that have to move in areas that can't hold them."
MYREF: 20110413003001 msg201104138238
[127 more news items]
---
"Global warming" refers to the global-average temperature increase
that has been observed over the last one hundred years or more.
-- Dr Roy W. Spencer, "Global Warming", 2008
This is what the real climate scientist Dr Roy Spencer said.
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 3 Mar 2011 16:29 +1100
Mr Posting Robot
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[coal lobby spin]
Facing the floods of an altered climate
Warming will likely fuel more water-related disaster.
Vinod Thomas
[Vinod Thomas is director-general of the Independent Evaluation Group of
the World Bank].
Inquirer
May 17, 2011
The dangerous surge of the Mississippi River is yet another reminder that the
global incidence of floods is on the rise. What's more, the growing frequency
and ferocity of such events suggest an ominous link with human-driven global
warming. In the absence of timely action, uncommonly extreme weather will
likely put all progress at risk.
Flooding and windstorms in particular are linked with climate change, and the
number of disastrous floods and storms reported globally has tripled over the
past 3 decades. Very heavy precipitation increased sharply in the last
half-century across the globe and in the United States, especially the
Northeast and Midwest.
Scientists have warned about the connections among extreme weather, global
warming, and air pollution. New studies tie increases in atmospheric CO2
emissions with higher sea-level temperatures and changes in precipitation,
indicating that human-caused climate change doubles the risk of extreme floods.
In the wake of the recent tornadoes that tore into 7 Southern states,
President Obama said, "We can't control when or where a terrible storm may
strike, but we can control how we respond to it." Indeed, the price of
delayed response was brought home by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But
water-related calamities have increased to the extent that rapid relief
efforts won't be enough.
We must also take steps to prevent and mitigate such disasters. First and
foremost, that means slowing the pace of climate change. This will take time,
but as President John F Kennedy said 50 y ago, "We must think and act not
only for the moment, but for our time."
The key is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases being released, especially
by shifting to a low-carbon economy. Energy prices must reflect the damage
caused by emissions, especially in energy-intensive countries such as the
United States. And promoting energy efficiency defers the need for more
fossil-fuel plants, buying time for wind and solar power to become more competit
ive.
It's time to eliminate government subsidies that purportedly spur growth,
including worldwide farm subsidies of $150 bn a y and fossil-fuel subsidies of
$650 bn a year, which encourage energy intensity and emissions. Other steps
can increase the uptake of greenhouse gases, including investment in protected
forests, which are a bulwark against the deforestation that accounts for
one-sixth of emissions.
Prevention also means environmental protection. Wetlands provide a buffer
against flooding, but 1/2 of them worldwide - from Australia to the United
States - have disappeared in the past century. Shrinking forests, meanwhile,
have diminished protections against flooding and landslides. Examples of
environmental solutions include the restoration of Vietnam's coastal wetlands
to reduce erosion and the building of terraces in China's Loess Plateau to
reduce flooding.
Housing policy is also part of the answer, and it can be a matter of life and
death. People are increasingly living in harm's way, be it on riverbanks prone
to flooding in the S and Midwest or on hillsides subject to mudslides in Rio
de Janeiro. It pays to ensure that levees and floodgates work, relocate people
from flood-prone properties, and encourage home construction using reinforced
concrete, cinder block, or fired brick.
Finally, prevention entails continued investment in early-warning systems,
which served Japan and the United States relatively well during recent
disasters. Bangladesh, too, illustrates the value of preparedness: While the
cyclone of Nov 1970 took about 300k lives, a similar one in May 1997
claimed only 188 because of better early-warning systems, shelters, and evacuati
on.
No longer can we respond to hazards of nature with cleanup and reconstruction
alone. Climate change has introduced an unnatural dimension that calls for
more preventive measures. Difficult as it is to muster the political will to
do so, we must invest in slowing climate change, protecting the environment,
controlling development, and improving warning systems. Only then can we
lessen the fury and devastation of these events.
MYREF: 20110610080002 msg2011061013440
[220 more news items]
---
Everyone agrees that the climate is changing, but there are violently
diverging opinions about the causes of change, about the consequences of
change, and about possible remedies.
-- Freeman Dyson, "Many Colored Glass: Reflections on the Place of Life in the
Universe", 2007.
Mr Posting Robot
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[coal lobby spin]
Midwesterners brace for new Missouri River flooding
Michael Avok
Reuters
Sun Jun 12, 2011 4:44pm EDT
Related News:
* Hundreds fill sandbags to stay ahead of US floods Sat, Jun 11 2011
* Some Iowa residents dig in for Missouri River flooding Fri, Jun 10 2011
* More rain could worsen flooding along Missouri River Thu, Jun 9 2011
* Missouri River sections closed, waters keep rising Wed, Jun 8 2011
* Parts of Missouri River closed to traffic as waters rise Wed, Jun 8 2011
Missouri Valley, Iowa (Reuters) - For flood-weary residents and sandbag crews
in the Midwest, Sun was largely a day of rest.
Or, was it just the calm before the storm?
To be sure, there were some efforts up and down the Missouri River on Sun to
protect towns, homes and rail lines against the arrival of floodwaters.
But for the most part, the situation was quiet in eastern Nebraska and western I
owa.
"Waiting. Just waiting," said Terry Compton, who was working her shift at the
local convenience store. She knows the water is coming. The only question was wh
en.
Residents have been shoring up levees along the Missouri River from Montana
through Missouri as federal officials widen flood gates to allow record, or
near-record water releases to ease pressure on 6 major reservoirs swollen by
heavy rains and melting snow.
Six dams between Fort Peck in Montana and Gavins Point on the South
Dakota-Nebraska border were at peak releases or were expected to reach them
within days, and dam operators plan to maintain them at least until mid-August.
On Sun, releases at Fort Peck Dam were set to increase to 65k cubic feet
per second, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers.
The higher releases stemmed from in-flows at the dam well above previously
forecast levels and the need to balance flood storage between Fort Peck and
Garrison, the Corps said.
The Fort Peck releases were not expected to affect planned peak releases at
the 5 other Missouri River dams, the agency said.
Predicted heavy rains failed to materialize overnight in Missouri Valley, so
the streets were dry. The city's public swimming pool, surrounded by sandbags,
was open on Sat.
Downtown traffic was thin on Sun, though Union Pacific Railroad personnel
continued working to bolster rail beds with rock.
City employees who stopped for coffee seemed unwilling to discuss anything
related to sandbags, water or river levels.
"You can come by tomorrow," said one municipal worker who declined to give his
name. "We'll get our update then."
Interstate 29 just N of Omaha remained shut down, and the closure could extend
up to Missouri Valley next week. Transportation officials have already erected
signs and barricade arms to halt traffic when the time comes.
Officials say the dam releases from up N will bring a deluge by midweek.
Meanwhile, in Blair, Nebraska, just W of Missouri Valley, the river was
showing signs of quickly expanding to the east. Farmland that had been dry
just days ago was underwater.
A center pivot, a metal irrigation system that sprays crops with groundwater,
was submerged itself in Blair. A white pickup truck was stranded and filled
nearly to the top with water.
Some farmers had dug up planted crops, using the soil to build berms around
homes and equipment sheds.
The McDonald's restaurant in Missouri Valley has not opened its drive-through
for days. The eatery is surrounded by sandbags and tractor tires.
In Council Bluffs, Iowa, volunteers filled a half-million sandbags on
Sat. And, across the river in Omaha, they bolstered the levees to protect a
water treatment plant.
In Hamburg, Iowa, the Army Corps of Engineers worked "feverishly" to complete
a secondary levee around the city by Wed, said Mike Crecelius, emergency
management director in Fremont County.
He said the town expected to feel the effects of peak releases from Gavins
Point by Fri, if current timings hold.
MYREF: 20110613180002 msg201106131170
[218 more news items]
---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100
Mr Posting Robot
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[coal lobby spin]
New round of heavy rain claims 7 more lives [China]
Zheng Jinran
China Daily
2011-06-16 07:51
New round of heavy rain claims 7 more lives Firefighters carry out rescue work
in a village hit by landslides triggered by rainstorms in Ningguo city of
Anhui province on Wed. 2 villagers were killed in the accident.
Beijing - The floods in Central and S China have killed another 7 people and
left 7 more missing during the past 3 days, the government said on Wed.
Heavy rains that have lashed several southern regions since Mon have forced
about 88k people in 6 provinces to leave their homes, the Ministry of Civil
Affairs said.
With heavy rain predicted to fall until Fri, weather agencies in Hunan,
Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces issued a red rainstorm alert, the
highest level of the warning system, on Wed.
Floods since the beginning of June had left more than 170 people dead or
missing in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces.
Provinces along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River had received
30 to 50% more rainfall than in the same period last year, said Zhang Peiqun,
assistant chief engineer of the National Climate Center.
"It's all about the weather. We have no way to change it," Hu Xianqing, a
farmer from Shagang village of Yueyang city in Hunan province, told China
Daily on Wed.
His village experienced severe drought in May, when local reservoirs and lakes
were almost empty. "All my 27 hectares of rice were dried up. We can even put
fingers between the clefts in the ground," Hu recalled.
However, his farmland was now covered with water up to 4 cm deep
after heavy downpours hit the village. "Some lower parts of my farmland were
inundated by the floods. The rice harvest will be much smaller, that's for
sure," Hu said. The farmer added the village's once-dry lake, Xiaojiang Lake,
was now overflowing.
More than 72k people were evacuated from their homes in E China's Jiangxi
and Zhejiang provinces, which since Tue have been hit by a new round of rainstor
ms.
According to the Jiangxi Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief
Headquarters, torrential rains from Tue morning have pounded 25 counties and
cities in the province.
By Wed afternoon, the rain had forced the evacuation of 70,100 people in
Jiangxi and toppled 1,320 houses, said a spokesman with the headquarters.
Rescuers in the worst-hit city of Dexing are racing to relocate 5,200 people
trapped by floods to safe places, said the spokesman.
The meteorological station predicted that the rain would continue, exceeding
50 mm of accumulated rainfall in the provincial capital of Nanchang, Shangrao
city and Jingdezhen city.
In Zhejiang, heavy rains since Tue have forced the evacuation of 2,059 people
in 17 counties, where 79 houses were toppled and 2,370 hectares of farmland
damaged, said Liu Fayuan, deputy director of the provincial flood control and
drought relief headquarters.
The downpours resulted in a landslide in Qiandaohu town, where a row of
warehouses was buried at about 1:34 pm on Wed. One person was trapped for 4
hours before being rescued.
In the southwestern Chongqing municipality, where the heaviest daily rainfall
reached 104.2 mm, since Mon more than 110k people have been affected by the down
pours.
The rains toppled 120 houses, inflicting a direct economic loss of 55.5 mn
yuan ($8.56 million). No casualties have been reported.
Sun Jun, chief weatherman with the National Meteorological Center, told
People's Daily that the sudden change from drought to flood in those areas was
due to changes in atmospheric circulation.
Strong warm air from the Bay of Bengal met weak cold air from the Tibetan
Plateau around the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, bringing
heavy rainfall.
The water levels of more than 20 minor rivers, including branches of
Xiangjiang River in Hunan and Qiantang River in Zhejiang, had exceeded the
warning line by 0.05 meters to 4.03 meters, according to the State Flood
Control and Drought Relief Headquarters in Beijing.
MYREF: 20110616183001 msg2011061614894
[222 more news items]
Mr Posting Robot
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[coal lobby spin]
Missouri River floodwaters near Iowa town's new levee
By Michael Avok
Reuters
Wed Jun 15, 2011 1:52pm EDT
Related News
* Levee breaches threaten residents along Missouri River Wed, Jun 15 2011
* Missouri River levee near Hamburg, Iowa fails Mon, Jun 13 2011
* Midwesterners brace for new Missouri River flooding Sun, Jun 12 2011
* Some Iowa residents dig in for Missouri River flooding Fri, Jun 10 2011
* More rain could worsen flooding along Missouri River Thu, Jun 9 2011
Hamburg, Iowa (Reuters) - A handful of downtown businesses stood open on Wed
as contractors pushed to finish a temporary top to a floodwall that protects
Hamburg's southern section from approaching Missouri River floodwaters.
Federal flood officials expect additions to the secondary floodwall to be
completed by Wed evening, not long after water pouring from a Missouri River
levee breach 5 miles away is expected to reach the base of the protection.
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is scheduled to tour Hamburg, a city of 1,200 in
the southwest corner of the state, Wed night. About 300 residents of the S
side of Hamburg were under mandatory evacuation orders and water spilling from
the levee breach has forced some rural residents out of their homes and the
closing of parts of Interstate 29 and other roads.
At Stoner Drug, which was founded in 1896 and has one of the last
old-fashioned soda fountains in the area, soda jerk Stevii Warren wondered how
much longer she would be working.
"We rely on tourists," Warren said. "With the flood and the interstate closed,
I don't know how long they will need me."
Warren has her boyfriend's family living temporarily in her home on high
ground because their rural home is threatened.
"They didn't think they would get water, but it is right there," she
said. "The water has really spread since last night."
The Missouri River basin forms the northwest portion of the Mississippi River
basin that stretches from Montana to western New York and funnels water S into
the Gulf of Mexico.
Heavy winter snowmelt feeding the river's headwaters in the Rocky Mountains
and heavy spring rains have forced the US Army Corps of Engineers to release
water from 6 dams from Montana through S Dakota to relieve swollen reservoirs.
The Corps has planned to hold the top release rates until at least mid August,
creating a long-term strain on newly constructed and existing levees that were
built to varying strengths for more than 1,700 miles along the river basin.
Thousands of N Dakota and S Dakota residents also have evacuated homes from
communities along the river.
CROPS AT RISK, LEVEES STRAINED
The Corps reached its maximum planned release rate Tue at the Gavins Point Dam
along the S Dakota-Nebraska border, leaving peak flows running freely to the
confluence with the Mississippi River more than 800 miles downstream.
In Omaha, the NCAA College World Series opens Sat at a new downtown stadium
near the river where some 200 parking spaces were lost to flooding. Farther
north, Eppley Airfield has handled minor leaks in the levee protecting runways.
Several I-29 segments were closed due to flooding or threatened flooding,
including 20 miles N from Council Bluffs, Iowa, and part in Northeast Missouri.
A second levee breach near Big Lake, Missouri, 45 miles S of Hamburg, flooded
farmland and forced evacuations, but a secondary levee limited flooding,
officials said.
"We don't feel that water will come over the top of the levee but we are
concerned about water being high for a long period of time," Diana Phillips,
clerk and flood plain manager for the village of Big Lake, said on Wed.
Local officials reported multiple sand boils Tue on a 3rd levee, in Mills
County, Iowa, southeast of Omaha and across the river from Offutt Air Force
Base. The levee protects a mainly agricultural area that has a handful of homes.
The Missouri River flooding has put tens of 1000s of acres of cropland at risk
from Montana to Iowa. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is scheduled to tour
flooded areas in Iowa and Nebraska on Fri.
Heavy rains forced the US Army Corps of Engineers to raise the top planned
release rate from its Fort Peck Dam in Montana to 65k cubic feet per second,
from 50,000. It has left intact plans for top release rates of 150k cubic feet
per second from the other 5 dams.
The National Weather Service sees a threat for above normal precipitation for
the upper Missouri basin, the northern plains area for up to the next 2 weeks.
Daily showers were forecast for the US Midwest through the weekend, raising
the risk of more farmland to flood along the Missouri River, Mike Palmerino, a
forecaster with Telvent DTN weather service, said on Wed.
"It's going to keep pressure on the Missouri River -- the Missouri,
mid-Mississippi, Illinois river basins are continuing to be affected by the
heavy to moderate rainfall," he said.
The Missouri River is expected to reach up to 7 feet above flood stage at
Sioux City, Omaha and Kansas City when the flows from the maximum release
rates reach those areas.
MYREF: 20110616193002 msg2011061618373
[221 more news items]
---
[I am Luddite!]
You whackos just keep changing your "predictions" to suit reality!
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 16 Feb 2011 15:57 +1100
Mr Posting Robot v2.1
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[Aussie coal lobby spin]
Thai flooding threatens capital as residents seek refuge
[Floods described as "unprecedented" have caused BK's oldest
manufacturing precinct to be evacuated after sandbagging proved ineffective].
CNN
Oct 20, 2011
* The number of affected areas has grown as more rains lash the region
* "The situation is very uncertain," an aid worker says
* At least 14k factories have been affected nationwide
* Nearly 9 mn others are affected, authorities say
Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Thais waded through flooded streets Thu, their
belongings and children perched on their shoulders, as relentless floodwaters
inched toward Bangkok.
In some residential areas, scattered rooftops peeked through muddy waters.
In others, floodwaters gushed into homes, forcing residents to gingerly climb
out of apartments through windows.
It's the worst flood to hit the country in 1/2 a century. By Thu, the death
toll had risen to 320, with nearly 9 others mn affected, authorities said.
Bangkok's Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra ordered authorities to open the city's
floodgates to help drain water into the sea, saying the water passing through
canals in the city will be under control.
The governor's move, which means draining out water through canals in the
inner parts of the city, might lead to flooding if there are leakages, the
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said on its website.
"The situation is very uncertain as people are rushing to their homes to
protect their belongings," said Natasha Cheung, who works in northern Bangkok
for the Christian aid organization World Vision.
Flooding started 2 m ago, and the number of affected areas has grown as more
rains has lashed the region.
Officials predicted that water will enter northern Bangkok Fri.
Sukhumbhand said the situation in Bangkok is not critical, and officials did
not declare additional at-risk zones beyond the 7 districts announced Wed.
Residents in those districts were asked to move their valuables to upper floors.
Authorities also expressed confidence that the country's main international
airport, Suvarnabhumi Airport, was prepared to withstand the water's
impact. Airport officials said a 3.5-meter-high flood prevention wall protects
the airport.
Overall damage from the floods could top $2 billion, with the worst yet to
come as the waters destroy shops and paralyze factories nationwide, the Thai
finance ministry said.
A massive effort is under way to protect one of the nation's largest
industrial parks N of Bangkok that houses companies producing electronics and
components for the automotive industry.
At least 14k factories have been affected nationwide, with about 250k people
out of a job due to the floods, according to Richard Han, the CEO of Hana Microe
lectronics.
The flooding will also disrupt the production of computers, cameras and cars
because a lot of Japanese companieshave plants in the country, said Han, whose
company is among those affected.
Floodwaters have forced manufacturing sites N of Bangkok to halt
operations. Last week, Honda said the closure of its plant there affected the
production of at least 4,500 cars.
In Bangkok, crews scrambled to widen canals and strengthen flood barriers amid
fears that weekend rains and spring high tides would overwhelm parts of the city
.
In the ancient city of Ayutthaya, one of the worst-hit areas, officials said
the water was starting to flow toward the rivers.
The temples and monuments in the UNESCO-listed historical city have been
submerged for days, prompting concern that much of the water damage will be perm
anent.
Government officials said they have received $2.07 mn in donations, including
from other countries, as food and water aid pour in for the worst-hit areas.
MYREF: 20111020210001 msg2011102012911
[243 more news items]
---
I have never heard a precise definition of what "the earth is warming" is
supposed to mean.
Every other science defines its terms precisely. Not "climate science".
While they all say the earth is warming, I am not aware of a single
definition of this term, nor a scientific test which shows whether the earth
is in fact warming, cooling or staying the same.
-- "Peter Webb" <webbf...@DIESPAMDIEoptusnet.com.au>, 19 May 2011 14:37 +1000
Mr Posting Robot v2.1
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[Aussie coal lobby spin]
Cain Burdeau
AP
Oct 27 2011
New Orleans (AP) -- More than 6 y after Hurricane Katrina's rampage,
authorities have taken only halting steps toward identifying weaknesses in a
nationwide patchwork of levees intended to protect millions of Americans'
lives and property during potentially catastrophic floods.
The US Army Corps of Engineers, accused of building substandard levees and
floodwalls that failed when Katrina swamped the Gulf Coast in 2005, has spent
$56 mn since then developing the initial phase of a national levee inventory
as required by Congress. The Corps on Thu was releasing a database with
information about nearly 14k miles of levees under its jurisdiction.
But the inventory doesn't include what is believed to be more than 100k
additional miles of levees not covered by the Corps' safety program. Some are
little more than mounds of earth piled up more than a century ago to protect
farm fields. Others extend for miles and are made of concrete and steel, with
sophisticated pump and drainage systems. They shield homes, businesses and
infrastructure such as highways and power plants.
The National Committee on Levee Safety, established after the Katrina disaster
to evaluate the system and recommend improvements, issued a report in 2009
calling for the Corps to catalog and inspect every levee so deficiencies could
be fixed. But Corps officials say Congress has not provided enough authority
or money to add non-federal levees to the database, a massive undertaking that
would take years.
"The reality is, we don't know how many levees are out there," said Eric
Halpin, the Army Corps' special assistant for dam and levee safety and vice
chairman of the levee safety committee. He acknowledged the inventory
presently includes only about 10% of the likely total.
"I think we've done a great job putting forward a state-of-the-art tool,"
Halpin said. "It's a 1st step. It will be much more powerful once we can get
all the data in there."
For each levee system, the database will include its location, design and
rating following one or more safety inspections.
Inspection ratings from nearly 700 of the roughly 2k levee systems under the
Corps' jurisdiction have been added to the database thus far, said spokesman
Pete Pierce.
Of those, 77% had ratings of "minimally acceptable," meaning they have "minor
deficiencies" that make the levees less reliable but are not expected to
seriously impair their performance. An additional 11.6% were rated
"unacceptable," or likely to fail during a flood, while 11.3% were graded as
"acceptable," or without deficiencies.
Experts say the government is moving too slowly to complete the inventory.
"We need to be really candid with the American people," said Sam Riley
Medlock, policy counsel for the Association of State Floodplain Managers and a
member of the levee safety panel. "This is yet another class of infrastructure
that is aging and posing risks and we're going to have to do something about it.
"
Gerald Galloway, a former Army Corps district engineer and University of
Maryland engineering professor, told a Senate committee this m the levee
network has "significant" problems and received an overall grade of "D minus"
from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009. The group estimated that
$50 bn worth of improvements was needed over 5 years.
"So today 100s of levees, whose integrity is in question, are in place in
front of communities and properties with little realistic hope of funding for
inspection, repair or upgrade," Galloway said.
Concern about the levees dates to the 1920s and 1930s, when killer floods on
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers led Congress to order construction of more
levees. Many were designed for the biggest flood likely to strike a particular
area within 500 y or even 1k years.
But starting in the late 1960s, federal policies have inadvertently encouraged
the building of levees according to a less protective standard, the safety
committee report said. One required financially strapped local governments to
help cover levee building and maintenance costs.
Relatively low death tolls from major floods in recent decades also fed
complacency that ended with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the report
said. Together, they killed more than 1,800 people and caused $200 bn in
damages, spurring calls for a nationwide levee inventory and upgrades.
The portion of the inventory developed thus far includes data on about 13,500
of the 14,700 miles of levees covered by the Army Corps' safety program. Data
on the rest will be added by the end of the year, officials said. Many of the
levees are operated and maintained by the Corps, or were built by the Corps
and turned over to local officials.
John Paul Woodley Jr., who served as assistant secretary of the Army for
public works during the George W. Bush administration, said the Corps has made
good progress on the levee inventory but acknowledged "we're definitely behind
where everybody had hoped we'd be."
MYREF: 20111028011502 msg2011102826246
[242 more news items]
---
fundamentally erroneous.
consensus view"].
Mr Posting Robot v2.1
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[Aussie coal lobby spin]
[Worldwide laptop and DRAM prices have been hiked on news of floods in the
Thai capital's factory precincts].
Reuters/TVNZ
8:44PM Sun Oct 30, 2011
* Water everywhere, but not a lot to drink in Bangkok
Peak tides tested Bangkok's flood defences today as hope rose the centre of
the Thai capital might escape the worst floods in decades.
The floods have killed at least 381 people since July and affected more than 2
million.
Authorities have slashed growth forecasts for Southeast Asia's second biggest
economy and disruptions to auto and computer-part producers have been felt
worldwide.
Water flowing down the central Chao Phraya river basin from the N is
meeting peak tides surging in the Gulf of Thailand, 20 km S of Bangkok,
leading to fears the city's makeshift defences would be swamped.
The tides have pushed water in the river, which snakes its way through the
city past gilded temples and wooden shanties, about 2.5 metres above sea level
but dikes and sandbag walls have largely held.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a political novice who took over this y
after an election that many Thais hoped would heal chronic political
divisions, said the city's fate rested with its network of dikes and sandbag
walls.
Several parts of N Bangkok are also swamped by deep water while provinces just
north, such as Pathun Thani and Ayutthaya, have been largely inundated for
weeks. Fears about water-borne diseases and malaria are growing.
Matthew Cochrane of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies said the situation was critical and many people were living in
floodwater without access to food and water.
As well as the growing risk of diarrhoea and mosquito-borne diseases, skin
infections were a major problem, he said. Advertisement
In some areas, crocodiles have escaped from flooded farms and snakes searching
for dry land have slithered into homes.
Rice, computers and cars
The floods have submerged 4 mn acres (1.6 mn hectares), or roughly the size of
Kuwait, and follow unusually heavy monsoon rain.
But there have also been accusations that authorities mistakenly delayed
releasing water from dams early in the rainy season.
By the time they had to release it, rain was heavy and rivers full. The
weather has been clear for the last few days.
Thailand's worst floods in 1/2 a century have also wiped out a quarter of the
main rice crop in the world's biggest rice exporter.
The waters also inundated 7 industrial estates that have sprung up over the
past couple of decades on what used to be rice-growing land to the N of the
capital.
Thailand is the second-largest exporter of computer hard drives and global
prices are rising because of a flood-related shortage of major components used
in personal computers.
The president of S Korea's Samsung Electronics said he expected Thailand's
floods to hit the computer memory chip market further by hurting PC production
until the 1st quarter of next year.
Japan's Honda Motor Co is likely to be forced to keep its Thai factory shut
for about 6 m which would affect 3% of its annual global car output, the
Nikkei business daily reported.
The morning high tide flooded parts of Bangkok's normally bustling Chinatown,
and some streets around the glittering Grand Palace.
Buildings across Bangkok have been sandbagged or walled off for
protection. Many people have left their cars on elevated roads, although most
of the inner city is dry.
Many others have taken advantage of a special five-day holiday to flee the
city. Those left behind have stocked up and supplies of staples in many shops
have run out.
MYREF: 20111030203002 msg2011103019276
[240 more news items]
---
"Global warming" refers to the global-average temperature increase
that has been observed over the last one hundred years or more.
-- Dr Roy W. Spencer, "Global Warming", 2008
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [daily nymshifter], 3 Mar 2011 16:29 +1100
Mr Posting Robot v2.1
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[Aussie coal lobby spin]
AFP/Reuters/VOA
Nov 01, 2011
PHOTO: A man rows his passenger on a boat past the shadow of a flooded
Chatkaew Chongkolnee temple in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov 1, 2011.
Anger and frustration are rising in Bangkok's northern and western suburbs,
where successful efforts to save the city center from swirling floodwaters
have led to even more misery.
In some cases, vigilante groups have broken holes in the makeshift barriers
protecting central Bangkok to let the waist-deep floodwaters escape more
quickly from their own communities.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra ordered one floodgate opened an extra meter
to allow more water to drain to the sea. But city government officials warned
the action could put some downtown areas at risk.
Officials said the waters should begin to recede after an unusually high tide
passed Mon without forcing the Chao Phraya River to overflow the barriers
along its banks.
But in Bangkok's northern Laksi area, residents like Parait Pin-ngern said Tue
the water level is still rising.
"The water was stable and seemed to decrease around the 20th, so we came
back. But today it rises dramatically," said Pin-ngern. "This time, we're
almost too late to leave, as the water is one meter high in our house. This is
unexpected level because this place is on a high ground."
He said he was lucky to escape from his house before it was too late.
The argument over which neighborhoods to protect and which to let flood is
aggravated by Thailand's recent history of political strife.
The PM and the governor of Bangkok are from opposing political parties with
very different constituencies.
MYREF: 20111101230001 msg201111011545
[240 more news items]
---
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [daily nymshifter], 11 Feb 2011 12:20 +1100
Mr Posting Robot v2.1
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[Aussie coal lobby spin]
PHOTO: People walk past part of cars and debris in a street of Genoa after
heavy rainfall on 5 Nov 2011 6 people were killed in flash floods in Genoa on Fr
i
* Floods in France and Italy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-15613133
* Several dead in Italian floods
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15472504
The Italian authorities have issued fresh safety warnings as storms and
torrential rain continue to cause havoc across the country.
The River Po, Italy's longest river, rose 4m (13 feet) in the city of Turin,
as 1000s were told to evacuate.
One person has died in the province of Naples, bringing this week's
country-wide death toll to at least seven.
Heavy rains have hit the country over the past 2 weeks, especially in the north-
west.
The BBC's David Willey in Rome says millions of Italians, from Milan to
Venice, are at risk if the flooding continues.
Schools closed
Thousands of people in low-lying areas near Turin have been told to leave
their homes, while the city's schools, as well as those in Milan, were ordered
to close on Mon as a precaution.
In Naples, an alert was issued as heavy rain caused widespread flooding on Sun.
Local football matches were postponed, while a man was killed in Pozzuoli, N
of Naples, when a tree fell on his car.
The ruins of Pompeii, on the outskirts of the city, were temporarily closed
amid flooding fears, but later re-opened, according to the Associated Press
news agency.
Geologists accuse the government of failing to provide a national emergency
plan when bad weather batters the country.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has admitted that unauthorised building has
exacerbated the problem, blaming lax local construction laws.
On Fri 6 people were killed in Genoa, the largest city on Italy's
north-western coast.
Television footage showed cars floating and people wading knee-deep through
flooded streets in the city.
Hundreds of shops were flooded and emergency officials urged residents to move
to high ground as 2 rivers burst their banks.
Last wk the government declared a state of emergency in the north-western
Liguria region and in Tuscany, after storms lashed coastal regions, killing at
least 10 people and causing widespread flooding and mudslides.
MYREF: 20111107140002 msg201111078653
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---
[Weather is responsible for climate change:]
And that's the only reason for the heat!
Strong northeast winds being superheated desert air from the inland to the
the southern capitals.
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [daily nymshifter], 31 Jan 2011 13:42 +1100
Mr Posting Robot v2.1
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[Aussie coal lobby spin]
Related:
* Thai flood frustration grows Tue, Nov 1 2011
* Thais hope flooded factories back up in 3 m Mon, Oct 31 2011
* Rare, deadly Oct snowstorm batters Northeast Sun, Oct 30 2011
* Peak tides test Thai capital's flood defenses Sun, Oct 30 2011
* Thai PM says Bangkok may dodge flood disaster Sat, Oct 29 2011
* As world population hits 7 billion, megacities pose growing risks
* Libya's revolution pushes democracy forward
Reuters
Sun Nov 6, 2011 12:07pm EST
Paris (Reuters) - Heavy rains and flooding in southern France over the weekend
forced the evacuation of about 6 100 people, and 3 people died in
weather-related deaths as a dozen local regions remained on alert on Sun.
Rivers overran their banks, flooding streets and homes and leaving hundreds
stranded. Television images showed cars floating along roads and residents
mopping up their sodden, muddy homes.
A retired couple, both aged 71, in the southeastern coastal town of Bagnols en
Foret died late Sat night or Sun morning from carbon monoxide poisoning while
trying to bail out rising water in their cellar, police said.
On Sat, police told Reuters they found the body of a 51-year-old homeless man
who had been washed away from his campsite in the Herault southern region.
Some 600 people have already been evacuated along the coast and in the Alps in
the S E of the country, authorities said. Firefighters helped rescue around
1,200 people affected by the storms, using helicopters to save about 30 people.
An orange alert -- the second-highest weather alert after red -- remained in
place in 12 southern regions on Sun, down from about 16 on Sat.
The regions affected are the low-lying areas near the Pyrenees in the south
west, where it continued to rain on Sun, and in the flooded Alps region.
In the past 2 days, the level of the Var river in the southeast rose from 1.5
meters (4.9 feet) to 5 meters, said Europe 1 radio.
Elsewhere in Europe, at least 7 people were killed in Genoa on Fri as
torrential flooding hit the city following days of heavy storms which killed
at least 10 people in northern and central Italian regions.
MYREF: 20111107143002 msg201111073658
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---
So you really, really believe that our universe just came about by
sheer chance? I prersonally, find that extremely hard to accept.
-- BONZO@27-32-240-172 [daily nymshifter], 11 Jan 2011 15:02 +1100
Mr Posting Robot v2.1
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[Aussie coal lobby spin]
AP
Nov 06, 2011 - 6:11 pm
Lincoln, Neb. -- A hydrologist with the National Weather Service will speak
about Missouri River flooding this wk in Lincoln.
David Pearson will give the talk, "The Missouri River Flood of 2011: Its
Causes and Impacts, at 7 p.m. Tue at Hardin Hall on the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln campus. It's free and open to the public.
The US Army Corps of Engineers released massive amounts of water from the dams
along the river this y to deal with heavy rains and above-average snow melt,
causing record flooding in eastern Nebraska.
Pearson says that without those dams to control the flow of water, the heavy
rain and snowpack could have caused worse flooding. He estimated Omaha could
have seen 4 feet higher water levels on the river.
MYREF: 20111107160001 msg201111078433
[240 more news items]
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The recent Murray Darling run-off since the floods would have provided
enought irrigation water to last at least 15 years.
Instead it has all run out to sea!
Crazy anti-dam greenies!
Mr Posting Robot v2.1
BONZO@27-32-240-172 [numerous nyms] wrote:
>[Aussie coal lobby spin]
Amelie Bottollier-Depois
Nov 6 2011
Bangkok (AFP) -- The Thai capital, built on swampland, is slowly sinking and
the floods currently besieging Bangkok could be merely a foretaste of a grim
future as climate change makes its impact felt, experts say.
The low-lying metropolis lies just 30 km (18 miles) N of the Gulf of Thailand,
where various experts forecast sea level will rise by 19 to 29 cm (7 to 11
inches) by 2050 as a result of global warming.
Water levels would also increase in Bangkok's main Chao Phraya river, which
already overflows regularly.
If no action is taken to protect the city, "in 50 years... most of Bangkok
will be below sea level," said Anond Snidvongs, a climate change expert at the
capital's Chulalongkorn University.
But global warming is not the only threat. The capital's gradual sinking has
also been blamed on y of aggressive groundwater extraction to meet the growing
needs of the city's factories and its 12 mn inhabitants.
As a result Bangkok was sinking by 10 cm a y in the late 1970s, according to a
study published last y by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and
the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
That rate has since dropped to less than one cm annually, they said, thanks to
government measures to control groundwater pumping.
If those efforts continued, the report authors said, they hoped the subsidence
rate could slow by another 10% each year.
But Anond disputed their projections, saying Bangkok was still sinking at "an
alarming rate" of one to 3 cm per year.
While scientists may argue over the exact figures, they agree about what lies
in store for the sprawling megacity.
"There is no going back. The city is not going to rise again," said the ADB's
lead climate change specialist David McCauley.
Faced with the combined threats of land subsidence and rising temperatures and
sea levels, the World Bank has predicted that Bangkok's flood risk will
increase four-fold from now by 2050.
And the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has classified
the Thai capital among the 10 cities in the world facing the biggest potential
impact from coastal flooding by 2070.
For now, Bangkok is relying on a complex system of dykes, canals, locks and
pumping stations to keep the rising waters at bay.
The flood protection efforts, however, failed to prevent an onslaught of
run-off water from the N from swamping at least one-fifth of the capital.
The murky floodwaters, triggered by 3 m of heavy monsoon rains, are edging in
on Bangkok's glitzy downtown area, threatening luxury hotels, office buildings
and shopping malls.
Rapid urbanisation is one reason why the inundations are affecting the
sprawling city so badly, according to experts.
As the area that needs flood protection gets larger and more built-up, the
water "has fewer places to go", said Francois Molle, a water management expert
at France's Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement.
Molle said that in the long term, Bangkok would eventually be under
water. "The only question is when."
Experts say Thai authorities must address the capital's land use and planning
challenges and consider relocating factories or industrial parks in
flood-prone areas.
Or even moving the entire city.
"It may be appropriate for the people who want to be dry 24 hours a day, 365
days a year, to be setting up a new city," said Anond.
"We do have areas where we can develop a new city that would be completely
dry. There's a lot of land in this country," he said.
It may sound like a drastic scenario, but there is little doubt that Bangkok
will have to act if it wants to avoid the fate of the fabled sunken city of Atla
ntis.
"To remain where it is, the city will need better protection," said Robert
Nicholls, a professor of coastal engineering at Britain's University of Southamp
ton.
He said he expected Bangkok's current flood misery to "trigger massive
investment in defences over the next 10 to 20 years".
Dealing with the phenomenon will be expensive elsewhere too. Across the
Asia-Pacific region the ADB has estimated it will cost a minimum of $10
billion a y to adapt to climate change.
MYREF: 20111107230002 msg2011110730637
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nation. Since the modern nation-state was invented around the year 1500, a
succession of countries have taken turns at being top nation, first Spain,
then France, Britain, America. Each turn lasted about 150 years. Ours began in
1920, so it should end about 2070.