El Nino, La Nina, Climate Change and the Horrific Drought in Somalia

ecocentric.blogs.time.com ^ | 4 Aug 2011 | Bryan Walsh

[smokingfrog]

As I write this, Somalia is suffering its worst drought in 60 years. The lack of rain—combined with civil unrest and political interference from the al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab group—has produced catastrophic results. Yesterday Nancy Linborg, an official with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), told a Congressional committee that more than 29,000 children under the age of 5 had died over the past three months in Somalia, thanks to the famine. If conditions worsen—and there's little reason to expected that they won't—upwards to 800,000 children may die of hunger and other causes.

The violent political situation on the ground has multiplied the effect of the famine, preventing UN and other aid groups from helping the starving. But the drought itself is crippling—rainfall over the Horn of Africa, which includes Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya in East Africa, between February and July 2011 has been 2 to 8 inches below normal...

-- snip --

It's always difficult to tell what might be driving extreme weather events like the Horn of Africa drought. Climate change is often fingered as the culprit, but the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change actually predicted that East Africa would receive more rainfall as temperatures warmed, not less.

[Lazlo in PA]

I don't understand what the big deal is about the Climbing Change. Who cares about how people climb?

[mylife]

Poor bastards!

We live in Texas, deal with it.

[hinckley buzzard]

Climate change is often fingered as the culprit, but the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change actually predicted that East Africa would receive more rainfall as temperatures warmed, not less.

Another swing and a miss from the usual snake oil salesmen.

[fortheDeclaration]

The fruits of Islam

[BigCinBigD]

I don’t give a flying crap about the drought in Somalia. It’s the one in Texas that bothers me.

[Cyman]

Sam Kinison was right. The answer is U-Hauls.

[mylife]

Amen!

What if we took to pirating and looting as an excuse?

**** the whiny Somali bastards and their “faith”

[mylife]

“You Live in a desert! MOVE!” LoL

[mylife]

Don’t haul them here!

[Terry Mross]

I asked my wife tonight “What would you do if you turned on the faucette and nothing came out? And then the officials announced there would be none for a while and announced a place where you could go to get two gallons of water per person each day?”

This very well could happen if we don’t get rain soon. We’d have to move to an area where there is rainfall.

[Pelham]

Emily Litella. Now there’s a blast from the past.

Where’s Roseanne Roseannadanna?

[Lazlo in PA]

Boy. I hated that character. Thanks for reminding me.

[expatguy]

bttt

[b4its2late]

Somalia sucks.

[WellyP]

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.pdf

[Sequoyah101]

Watching water well levels drop now.

http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/gwrd/waterlevels/waterlevels.html

I dreamed all night about my well sanding up or going dry.

We can’t do much for Africa if we can’t do for ourselves can we? oblabla wants to share the wealth so we become like Africa though.

[Faith-Hope]

Please pray for all of the Farmer's and Rancher's in Texas. They are dealing with the very existence of their lives. We went to Carrizo Springs yesterday and it was 106. Most ranchers and farmers in that area are protected by oil leases. Thank you Lord or they would be hanging by a thread. The ranch and farm owners in North Texas have had to deal with the fires. For those of us who live in south Texas it is very depressing. Please join us in prayer for much needed rain.