DROUGHT AND FAMINE AHEAD

From the Horn of Africa, to Texas, to New Mexico

http://globaldisasterwatch.blogspot.com/2011/07/sunday-july-3-2011.html

- Extreme weather & climate taking their toll. Three extreme weather stories to which you probably should be paying attention: 1) Fire continues to threaten Los Alamos National Laboratory and its store of radioactive waste stored (shockingly) in drums outside; 2) the drought in Texas is so bad that the entire state has been declared a disaster area; 3) ongoing drought in the Horn of Africa and East Africa is sending masses of what are essentially climate refugees from Somalia into Kenya.
Democracy Now reports that some 10 million people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda have been affected by the drought, which has been described as the WORST IN 60 YEARS and in some areas near-famine conditions exist. "Unless we are able to take action now, I think that we are likely to see not just more migration, but a level of deaths in Somalia that takes us back almost 20 years and certainly has been UNPARALLELED in the recent decade."
Texas is experiencing the WORST DROUGHT SINCE RECORDS BEGAN 116 YEARS AGO. Over 70% of the state is in "exceptional" drought conditions and the USDA has declared the entire state a natural disaster area. Earlier in the spring, when the area should have started receiving rain, a half million acres of wildfires came instead. [Tropical storm Arlene has brought some rain.]
Wildfires continue in New Mexico, threatening Los Alamos National Laboratory. The big threat is to radioactive waste stored there. The Environmental Protection Agency has deployed air monitors and aircraft that can monitor radiation levels, amid fears the blaze could reach a cache of 30,000 drums, each containing 55 gallons (208 litres) of plutonium-contaminated waste. Fire managers said foam could be sprayed on the barrels containing the radioactive materials to ensure they were not damaged by fire, a procedure which would only be carried out as a last resort.