California Experiencing Most Severe Drought Ever Recorded

One of the worst North American droughts in history could be getting a whole lot worse. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Map released on Tuesday, more than 58 percent of California is in an “exceptional drought” stage. That’s up a staggering 22 percent from last week’s report. And, in its latest drought report released earlier today, the National Drought Mitigation Center warned that “bone-dry” conditions are overtaking much of the Golden State, and noted that, overall, California is “short more than one year’s worth of reservoir water, or 11.6 million acre-feet, for this time of year.”

All across California, streams are drying up, crops are dying off and local communities are struggling to maintain access to water, thanks to 3 years of persistent drought conditions. 
The situation is so dire that on Tuesday, California implemented state-wide emergency water-conservation measures, in an effort preserved what remaining water there is. Under the new measures, Californians can face fines of up to $500 per day for using hoses to clean sidewalks, run decorative fountains, and other water-guzzling activities.
Unfortunately, while the situation in California is already pretty bleak, it looks like things are only going to get worse. In fact, it’s possible that all of the American southwest could soon be seeing the devastating drought conditions that Californians are facing. That’s because the largest surge of heat ever recorded moving west to east in the Pacific Ocean, often referred to as a Kelvin Wave, which was supposed to start an El Nino and bring tropical-like rains to the West Coast and southwest, just dissipated, after it was absorbed by abnormally warm ocean waters.

An El Nino is marked by the prolonged warming of Pacific Ocean surface temperatures, when compared to the average temperature. El Ninos usually happen every two to seven years, and can last anywhere between nine months and two years. As warm water spreads from the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the eastern Pacific, it brings rain and moisture with it, bringing rain to California and the American Southwest. 
So, during an El Nino period, winters are often a lot wetter than usual in the southwest U.S., including in central and southern California, where drought conditions are currently the worst. That’s why Californians were hoping for a strong El Nino period, to bring the rains and moisture that’s needed to help ease the drought.

Unfortunately, while some weather models are still predicting that an El Nino is possible, the chances of an El Nino strong enough to break the devastating drought that California is seeing are now very, very slim. As a result, there’s probably no end in sight to the current drought conditions in California. And, since warm ocean waters that bring rain are moving farther north up the Pacific, while Oregon and Washington and Alaska will get rain, the jet stream is set to extend drought-like conditions to much of the southwest.......................................ecowatch.com
1/8/14

Φονική η «Κλεοπάτρα» στη Σαρδηνία (2+1 video)

Πρωτοφανείς καταστροφές κατά το πέρασμα του κυκλώνα «Κλεοπάτρα» στη Σαρδηνία, που άφησε πίσω του 18 νεκρούς.

Τους δεκαοκτώ έφτασαν οι νεκροί από το πρωτοφανές κύμα κακοκαιρίας που πλήττει τη Σαρδηνία, σύμφωνα με την τοπική εφημερίδα Nuova Sardegna. Την ίδια ώρα, η υπηρεσία πολιτικής Προστασίας της Ιταλίας, κάνει λόγο για προσωρινό απολογισμό δεκαέξι νεκρών.
Ο κυκλώνας «Κλεοπάτρα» έπληξε τις βόρειες περιοχές του νησιού, όπου βρίσκονται οι περιφέρειες της Όλμπια, Οριστάνο, Νουόρο και Ολιάστρα.
«Προσπαθούμε να βοηθήσουμε όλες τις οικογένειες που αναγκάσθηκαν να εγκαταλείψουν τα σπίτια τους», δήλωσε ο επικεφαλής της ιταλικής υπηρεσίας πολιτικής προστασίας Φράνκο Γκαμπριέλλι.

«Οι άμεσες προτεραιότητές μας είναι η εξασφάλιση μιας στέγης για όλους τους πολίτες και να προσπαθήσουμε να δώσουμε στην κυκλοφορία όλες τις οδικές αρτηρίες του νησιού», συμπλήρωσε ο περιφερειάρχης της Σαρδηνίας Ούγκο Καπελάτσι.
Λόγω των αδιάκοπων βροχοπτώσεων, που συνεχίσθηκαν για πάνω από ένα εικοσιτετράωρο, πολλοί ποταμοί έσπασαν τα φράγματα και προκάλεσαν την κατάρρευση κυρίων τμημάτων σε τουλάχιστον τέσσερις γέφυρες.
Τα ιταλικά μέσα ενημέρωσης κάνουν λόγο για ανεξακρίβωτο, έως τώρα, αριθμό αγνοουμένων. Στα θύματα συγκαταλέγεται και ένα παιδί δύο μόλις ετών.
Πολλοί οδηγοί εγκλωβίσθηκαν μέσα στα αυτοκίνητά τους, ενώ αρκετά από τα θύματα δεν κατάφεραν να βγουν από τα σπίτια τους, τα οποία και πλημμύρισαν μέσα σε λίγα δευτερόλεπτα.
efsyn.gr με πληροφορίες από ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
19/11/13 
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 video:

• Italian authorities have declared a state of emergency in Sardinia after a cyclone struck the Mediterranean island.

At least 16 people are known to have died and hundreds have been moved from their homes after winds of up to 125 kilometres an hour and sheets of rain brought devastation.
Several people are reported missing.

In the northeastern town of Olbia, the mayor said sudden flooding had burst “like a bomb”. The skies dumped as much rain in an hour as falls on Milan in six months, Gianni Giovanelli added.

The mayor said houses across the area had been left half submerged by the floods and rescuers were still searching for possible victims.

“We’ve just found a dead child we had been searching all night for,” he told Italian television.

A Brazilian family of four were reported drowned after their basement flat filled with water.

Elsewhere cars were swept away, homes were flooded and bridges collapsed as rivers burst their banks.

Italy’s prime minister Enrico Letta called it a “national tragedy”, saying the state of emergency meant extra resources would be made immediately available to reach affected areas.

Flights to and from mainland Italy were disrupted.The storm has been described as the worst for “decades”, with no part of Sardinia being spared.

Italy declares state of emergency in Sardinia... από euronews-en