Some experts believe that the most severe drought on record is giving North Carolina a taste of things to come.
In two far Western North Carolina counties, about 60 springs and shallow wells have virtually dried up, forcing people to buy water or gather it from creeks and community springs. Customers relying on municipal water systems are faring better.
But, according to Gov. Mike Easley and other water officials, the drought may be a harbinger. We need look only to Atlanta, where there’s less than a 90-day supply in Lake Lanier, the city’s main source of water, and city and state officials are scrambling to find solutions. Their efforts portend the water wars that may come if unrestrained development continues without adequate planning.
It's there ...
LARGE swathes of southern and eastern Australia have been in the grip of drought for 11 years and recent rains have done nothing to alleviate the situation.
The Bureau of Meteorology yesterday also revealed the Murray-Darling Basin has just experienced its equal driest six-year period on record. It had an average of 389mm of rainfall a year, 20 per cent below the long-term average.
The head of climate analysis at the bureau's National Climate Centre, David Jones, said the low rainfall in the Murray-Darling Basin was equal to the period 1939-45, but this drought was hotter.
"With global warming, it is no surprise the Murray-Darling Basin is about a degree hotter, so perhaps the drought is worse than any previous drought," Dr Jones said.
Its everywhere ... except where there are disastrous floods.
Like Mexico and Central America:
Military trucks hauled bottled water, food and clothing to Mexico's flooded Gulf coast Friday as rescue workers in helicopters and boats worked furiously to retrieve thousands of victims stranded on rooftops.
With flooding across nearly all of the Gulf coast state of Tabasco and food and drinking water scarce, health officials warned against epidemics of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
An estimated 900,000 people had their homes flooded, damaged or cut off, and as of Thursday 300,000 still had not been rescued, Tabasco Gov. Andres Granier said. Police, soldiers and military workers were still trying to reach them.
and Great Britian:
The summer floods of 2007 were the worst natural disaster to strike Britain in a generation. Thousands were evacuated – and thousands saw their houses and possessions washed away. It's been four months since the waters receded. Are they home and dry?
Some people are trying to do something about it:
PUTRAJAYA, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- The number of flood relief centres in the country will be increased to 4,565 to be able to cater up to 1.2 million evacuees, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
However, he said this did not mean that major floods were about to happen.
"As of now, we do not want to make any predictions openly. It's just that in December and January, we expect generally, rainfall to be higher than normal but it does not necessarily mean there will be floods.
And then there are the climate change deniers.
Even those who admit that something might be going on refuse to accept that WE human beings might have something to do with it all. They look are the following statistics, shrug and say the statistics are irrelevant. You look at the statistics and tell me what you think:
Population Growth of the Planet (from before the Pyramids to Present)
Source: Wikipedia
"Americans represent 5 percent of the world's population but contribute 45 percent of the world's emission of carbon dioxide, the main pollutant that causes global warming, according to a report by the nonprofit group Environmental Defense.
Americans own 30 percent of the world's vehicles, drive farther each year than the international average and burn more fuel per mile, the report says. Additionally, the sport-utility boom of the past decade put vehicles on the road that could be spewing carbon dioxide for years to come." (Washington Post)
Maybe it IS our "freedoms" that generate all that heat of hate.
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