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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.
June 30 will be one second longer than the typical day. Rather than changing from 23:59:59 on June 30 to 00:00:00 on
July 1, the official time will get an extra second at 23:59:60. Credit: NASA. Read more.
Volcano / Earthquake Watch
Targeting the leading edge of Coronal Hole (CH521) on the solar corona that is situated at (16-21°N latitude), this feature may be indicative of a possible (7.2-7.5 Magnitude) earthquake in one of these listed locations during this watch period:
Mariana Islands, Mexico, Babuyan Islands, Luzon Philippines or possible volcanic activation in the Islands of Hawaii (Kilauea) Time Frame suggests July 3-5.
Targeting the leading edge of Coronal Hole(CH521) which may represent a potential (6.2 Magnitude) earthquake July 2-3. Deep characteristics with symmetry to the earth indicate an area to (5-9°N) Latitude would be most at risk. Possible locations that may be in line for this earthquake are:
Panama, Costa Rica, Northern Colombia, Mindanao/Moro Gulf Philippines or further possible volcano activity (Nevado del Ruiz) Colombia.
Time Frame July 2-3.
Another Impulsive M-Flare from AR 11513 was unleashed at 09:22 UTC yesterday peaking to M 2.2, the resulting blast may have produced a coronal mass ejection (CME) with an earth directed component and could brush the earth's magnetic-field some time during July 3rd. Large Coronal Hole CH521 will be earth facing shortly, a high speed solar wind stream from this Coronal Hole should arrive sometime July 2nd.
July 3rd Planetary Alignment
One very strong alignment involving (Jupiter-Earth-Venus) as well as significant astrological aspects involving the Moon which may represent a possible 6.7 Magnitude earthquake on this day.
Lunar modulation indicates the regions across the equator could be the area that receives this event. Best mapped location:
Ecuador or a possible volcanic eruption at Tungurahua.
Extreme Heat Across Most of the US
The eastern, central and southern U.S., close to half of the nation, faces another day or two of extreme heat and severe weath