The world’s rainforests are under attack at a rate of 2.5 acres per second. Global warming and clear-cutting for growing palm oil and raising cattle are some of the biggest annihilators. The repercussions are devastating. For example, one of the consequences is harmful alteration of hydrological cycles for major grain-growing regions of the planet. But, that’s just the start of trouble.
Throughout the world heat waves, flooding and uncontrollable wildfires have caused widespread havoc, lives have been lost, homes destroyed, livelihoods ruined.
Humans are a funny species. They create settlements along fault lines that, on moving, can create catastrophe, killing thousands. They construct homes facing rivers that will, at some point, break their banks, carrying of their precious property. Importantly, they return in the aftermath. Existence continues.
DOUMA, SYRIA (Opinion) — The reported “chemical attack” at Douma, Russia has claimed, was fake news. One U.S. news agency has now confirmed from the location of the reported attack that April 7, 2018 was an uneventful day in this Syrian city and not one single person in Douma corroborated the story of a chemical attack taking place.
As a result of a 20th-century project to drain nearby swamps, water from the Atlantic Ocean began seeping in to the Biscayne Aquifer, Miami's main source of freshwater. Infographic credit: YouTube (source)by Gaius PubliusOne last follow-up to the Cape Town water crisis story.
What water rationing looks like, minus the anger (source).by Gaius PubliusEarlier we wrote about the extreme water shortage in Cape Town, South Africa.
Roadside sign in Cape Town, South Africa, from February 2017 (source)by Gaius PubliusIn Cape Town, South Africa, they're calling it the day the water taps could be turned off. They're also calling it, not an impending crisis, but a "deep deep deep" crisis now. It's also a vision, perhaps, of the future of California and the American Southwest.
Abnormally dry conditions now cover 100 percent of South Dakota according to U.S. Drought Monitorby Gaius PubliusThe climate crisis has already started. Early signs include the refugee crisis in Europe, begun in large part by a deadly drought in Syria.
The California desert landscape is usually barren, but right now it’s bursting with color thanks to a “superbloom” of wildflowers. [1]
Source: SFGate
The superbloom – a term used to describe an explosion of wildflowers that exceeds normal spring blooms – has transformed the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southeastern California into a rainbow of greenery, poppies, primroses, and lilies.
Kathy DeMunck, an assistant manager at the desert’s nature center, explained earlier this month:
