ss Programme (DIPECHO). This year € 35 million has been allocated to
help those at risk from natural disasters. DIPECHO funding comes through a dedicated budget line that
has grown over the years from € 8 million in 1998 to € 35 million in 2012.
An important pillar of the DIPECHO programme is the people-centred and community-based approach in disaster-prone regions of the world. This has proven to be extremely successful because in addition to their impact on disaster risk reduction they provide a partner base in often remote areas. Read More.
Extreme Weather Of The Week Photo Essay
The first week of July saw extreme weather hit across much of the country, with a heat wave, drought and severe wildfires all leaving their mark. High temperatures in the past week have shattered many records, with 262 daily high records tied or broken nationwide on July 4. According to the Associated Press, at least 46 deaths across the U.S. can be blamed on the recent heat.
Along with the heat, dry and drought conditions exist in much of the U.S. A report released last week found that "just under 56 percent of the contiguous United States is in drought conditions," reported LiveScience. This marks the most extensive drought area since records began 12 years ago. Michael Hayes, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said in a statement, "The recent heat and dryness is catching up with us on a national scale."
Animals – Natural Disaster Detectors?
There will always be those who believe that animals can detect signs of an impending natural disaster and those who shrug it off as pure hogwash.
Conservationist Debbie Martyr when speaking to BBC News about this said, “Wild animals in particular are extremely sensitive. They’ve got extremely good hearing and they [probably] heard this flood coming in from a distance.
There would have been vibration, and there may also have been changes in the air pressure [that would] have alerted them and made them move to wherever they felt safer.” Click here to read more.
Drought Effect Crops & Stocks
More than 1,000 counties in 26 states are being named natural-disaster areas, the biggest such declaration ever by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as drought grips the Midwest.
Moderate to extreme drought now covers about 53 percent of the Midwest, the country’s main growing region, fueling
crop- price gains that are the biggest this year among the 24 commodities tracked by the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index.
The rallies are boosting costs for companies from McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Coca-Cola Co. (KO) to Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) and Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD). Read More.
Extreme Heat Wave Hits US
Highways buckled across the country, the waters of Lake Michigan were unusually warm for this time of year and even a minor train derailment outside Washington was blamed on heat as the hot weather gripping much of the country only worsened Saturday.
A map of projected high temperatures for the United States as a heat wave swamps much of the nation Saturday, July 7, 2012. The National Weather Service says heat warnings and advisories will be continued or expanded Saturday, with the heat largely centered over Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic states. Read More.
The temperature reached 100 degrees in Washington on Friday and that apparently softened the airport paving enough to immobilize the airplane. The small vehicle that usually tows planes away from the gate tugged and pulled, but the plane was stuck. Read more and see a photo of the tires sunk into the pavement.
Another Second added to Our Day
If the day seems a little longer than usual on Saturday, June 30, 2012, that's because it will be. An extra second, or "leap" second, will be added at midnight to account for the fact that it is taking Earth longer and longer to complete one full turn—a day—or, technically, a solar day.
"The solar day is gradually getting longer because Earth's rotation is slowing down ever so slightly," says Daniel MacMillan of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
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