Europe Has Summer of Extreme Weather

Flooding, fires and droughts have left Europe reeling over the past several months as weather-related calamities have uprooted one country after another.

Thousands of tourists and residents were forced to flee ahead of raging wildfires that have engulfed parts of the Canary Islands since the weekend, the latest in a string of bizarre, weather-related calamities to hit Europe this summer.

Local officials said that at least 13,000 people evacuated homes, hotels, campgrounds and other areas of the seven Canaries, Spanish territory in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of southern Morocco. More than 86,000 acres have been burned or otherwise affected by the fires since Friday, mostly on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria, according to a spokeswoman for the islands' government who was not allowed to be quoted by name.

England Sees Worst Flooding in Modern History

In was has amounted to the heaviest flooding in modern history, England prepares for even more rain over the next 24 hours. Additionally, 350,000 homes lost access to running water that could create one of the largest humanitarian disasters the nation has ever seen. The storm is next expected to impact London.

Also, HERE is another big reason why we have been warned to maintain adequate food storage. These poor people are driving over 15 miles to find clean water.

SKY News reports:

Submerged areas are bracing themselves for further chaos with water levels not expected to peak until tomorrow morning.

Gloucestershire is likely to be hit by yet more flooding as the River Severn is expected to rise once again in the early hours.

Severn Trent Water confirmed "at least" 350,000 homes in the county will be without water by this evening.

The peak level of the Thames is expected to travel through Oxford at about 2.45am and Abingdon at about 6.45am.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has told MPs the flooding emergency is "far from over".

West London and the Thames Valley could be the next parts of Britain to go underwater as the floods spread east.

Hundreds of homes could be flooded when torrential rain hits the capital in the next 24 hours.

Moderate Earthquake in San Francisco

A 4.2-magnitude earthquake shook the San Francisco area Friday at 4:42 a.m. PT (7:42 a.m. ET), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake was centered about two miles east-northeast of Oakland, at a depth of 3.6 miles. Oakland is just east of San Francisco, across San Francisco Bay.

Kansas Continues to Struggle

More record floods in the US as Kansas struggles to pump itself out of some of the worst flooding they've seen in generations.

UPDATE: Oil spill adds insult to injury.

Major Flooding in Britain, Fires in California

As England struggles with it's largest amount of June rainfall ever recorded, lake Tahoe in northern California is struggling with some of the worst fires in that area's history.

World Running Out of Oil

According to this report, we only have 4 years left until the world hits its peak production of oil. After that, its all downhill. Of course, BP says we have 40 years left. My guess is that the truth is somewhere in the middle. But either way, oil depletion will wreak havoc with the world economy.

Large Earthquake Rocks Guatemala

As far as earthquakes go, this is a pretty big one.

6.8

Worst Drought in a Generation

This is something that has gone largely unnoticed in the media. The entire western half of North America is in the grips of a crippling drought.

"America is facing its worst summer drought since the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression. Or perhaps worse still.

From the mountains and desert of the West, now into an eighth consecutive dry year, to the wheat farms of Alabama, where crops are failing because of rainfall levels 12 inches lower than usual, to the vast soupy expanse of Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida, which has become so dry it actually caught fire a couple of weeks ago, a continent is crying out for water.

In the south-east, usually a lush, humid region, it is the driest few months since records began in 1895. California and Nevada, where burgeoning population centres co-exist with an often harsh, barren landscape, have seen less rain over the past year than at any time since 1924. The Sierra Nevada range, which straddles the two states, received only 27 per cent of its usual snowfall in winter, with immediate knock-on effects on water supplies for the populations of Las Vegas and Los Angeles."

Nuclear Rhetoric Heats up

Putin has put Europe on notice by saying he'll aim his nuclear missiles at the Old Continent in response to the US wanting to install a missile defense shield. I haven't heard threats like this since the Cold War. And now NATO is getting involved.

It would appear that Russia, and Putin in particular, it trying to restore the old superpower's clout in the world. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union would threaten Europe (directly and indirectly) as a means to assert it's authority in the region. Having Putin start this game again is something an unstable world cannot afford at this time.

From Russia With Threats

In a chilling reversal of the good will that has existed between Russia and the US for more than a decade, Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a series of very serious threats in response to what he sees as US aggression in central Europe.

MOSCOW (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin issued an acerbic warning Thursday to the United States, saying the recent test of a new Russian missile was a direct response to US actions and condemning "imperialism" in world affairs.

"Our American partners have quit the ABM Treaty," Putin told reporters after meeting his Greek counterpart, referring to the landmark 1972 US-Soviet treaty limiting the missile defenses of the Cold War superpower foes.

"We warned them then that we would come out with a response to maintain the strategic balance in the world. Yesterday we conducted a test of a new strategic ballistic missile with multiple warheads, and of a new cruise missile, and will continue to improve our resources."

Unfortunately, this is a sobering reminder that the likelihood of conflict (although remote) still exists between the former superpower and the US.