Global Refugee Camps

Interactive map showing all of the refugee camps in the world provided by MillionSoulsAware.org.  Click on the title above for access.

Columbia University Study - El Nino and Armed Conflicts Linked

In a study conducted at Columbia University and published in Nature, it was determined that the number of armed conflicts double during El Nino years. The research looked at armed conflicts between 1950 and 2004 in the tropical parts of South America, Africa, Asia-Pacific region, and included parts of Australia.  The data showed that fully 1/5 of them could be linked to the 4 to 7 year El Nino climate cycles. 

What I find so interesting about the study is that even though a correlation was established, the authors could only speculate as to the underlying factors that might actually trigger the violence.  They suggest that the armed conflicts are a result of the heat that causes failed harvests, and the subsequent loss of food and income.

They also speculate that additional results of the erratic weather, are an increase in the number of hurricanes, an increase in the area and durations of droughts, and the increase in disease.  

As Day Turns Into Night

It wasn't the first time day turned into night.  The people stood still, looking at the horizon, squinting their eyes, their shoulders already weary form what was about to come.  They quickly gathered their children together and brought them inside, closing the doors behind them and shutting all the windows tightly.  As the cloud moved closer, the air became heavy with stifling heat, and breathing was hampered.  The dust storm was here, and those caught outside sought shelter wherever possible, in cars, in buildings, and under bridges.  Clothing was pulled up to protect eyes and noses from the stinging, flying dust, and lips were pinched closed to keep the fine powder out of lungs.  There was nothing to do but huddle... huddle, sweat, weep and wait it out as one dried-out field after another blew through the city. 

*******************************

This may sound like America in the 1930's, but it isn’t.  It's Phoenix, Arizona, 2011, and it has had 3 large dust storms hit in the last 6 weeks.  Dust storms aren’t unusual for this part of the country, but the sheer size and power of these storms are. 

Obama’s New Initiative to Meet Military Fuel Demands

Even though the world has passed peak oil production, no one in authority ever speaks of it except to deny its existence.  They will generally talk about supply and demand, as if oil is renewable and readily available, and infer that the price highs and lows are nothing more than a reaction to the whims of consumers.  But over the last 5 years, oil price volatility can be seen much differently.  Up until then, a spike in the price of oil would kill demand, causing the price to drop and stabilize, until the next spike in usage.  Now, the increase in oil prices still kills demand, but emerging economies soak up every drop of oil consumers in industrialized nations can’t afford to purchase.  So, rising oil prices aren’t about killing demand any longer, they are about shifting product.  

What to Expect: Food Prices Up, Available Meat Down

It’s going to be a double-whammy for American’s trying to cope with a reduction in meat production and an increase in food prices next year.     

Because of the heat wave, drought and flooding in many areas, there has been a reduction in the production of corn, soybeans and wheat.  This immediately translates to an increase in food prices, including the price of food we will need to feed our livestock.  Add to that an increased difficulty our cattle will have reproducing due to heat, and we are looking at double-trouble.