WHY IS THIS NOT IN THE NEWS?

(NaturalNews) The year 2011 is shaping up to be one of the most treacherous years in recent history, at least as far as the nation's weather patterns are concerned. While much of the Midwestern US continues to get drenched by record rainfall and torrential flooding, the Southern US is experiencing tremendous heat and drought conditions that, combined with flood conditions to the north, will have devastating effects on the nation's food supply.

Extreme heat threatens US agriculture

For several weeks now, extreme heat conditions have afflicted much of the Southern and Midwestern US. According to the National Weather Service, Heat Advisories and Excessive Heat Warnings have been issued in 17 different states, with temperatures soaring over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (F) in many areas, and heat indexes topping 115 degrees F (http://www.examiner.com/weather-in-...).

The 17 states under heat advisories or warnings include Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. And cities that have reached record highs include Oklahoma City, Okla., at 105 degrees F, Tulsa, Okla., at 107 degrees F, Medicine Lodge, Kan., at 111 degrees F, and Columbus, Miss., at a scorching 116 degrees F (http://www.examiner.com/weather-in-...).

Besides threatening human life, these extreme heat conditions have contributed to the widespread destruction of US food crops. Back in June, WATE in Knoxville, Tenn., reported that crop fields in the eastern part of the state were wilting from extreme heat conditions (http://www.wate.com/story/14899573/...).

Similar crop failures have also taken place as a result of extreme heat in Alabama (http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-heat-...), North Carolina (http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-heat-...), and various other southern states as well.

And crops are not the only thing being harmed by the heat, either. Livestock across the Midwest and South are threatened by extremely hot and humid conditions that are either limiting production of their feed, or flat-out killing them.

"High temperatures, high humidity, low wind speed -- those are the three things that really create problems for cattle in confinement," said Todd Donner, spokesman for the Kansas Livestock Association, to The Kansas City Star in a recent interview. Both crops and livestock across the state face devastation as a result of such conditions.

"My biggest concern with the heat and wind is the fact we are already dry and our pastures need rain," added Ken Grecian, a Kansas rancher who has already had to cull back his herd by as much as 15 percent due to lack of adequate feeding grass, according to reports. "Our grass is less than half the growth we would normally expect due to the dry weather. I am concerned we are going to be running out of grass if we don't have precipitation out here in the next week or so" (http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/2...).

Extreme drought threatens US agriculture

To make matters even worse, many of the areas being hit by scorching heat are also experiencing devastating drought conditions that have left land parched and unusable.

A recent report in The New York Times (NYT) explains that at least 14 US states, stretching from Florida all the way to Arizona, are experiencing Dust Bowl-type conditions. Some of the worst drought areas happen to be in Texas, which NaturalNews reported back in March was experiencing its worst drought situation in over 44 years.

Texas, of course, is the nation's largest cattle producer, and the second-largest producer of winter wheat (http://www.naturalnews.com/031853_T...), and every single one of its 254 counties has been declared a "natural disaster area" as a result of extreme drought conditions.

"It's been horrible so far," said Mike Newberry, a Georgia farmer who grows cotton, corn, and peanuts, to the NYT concerning his crop failures. "There is no description for what we've been through since we started planting corn in March."

The same NYT piece explains that Oklahoma, which is hardly faring much better than Texas, is 72 percent short of its normal summer rainfall at this point in time. In other words, the state has only experienced a little over 25 percent of its normal rainfall, which in practical terms is utterly devastating the state's agriculture.

Extreme flooding threatens US agriculture

To top it all off, the extreme flood conditions that have devastated portions of many states along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers have also destroyed millions of acres of farmland in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and various other areas (http://www.naturalnews.com/032366_M...).

And the situation is only set to get worse as built-up snowpack in the northern Midwest and Canada continues to melt throughout the summer, increasing pressure on the levees and dams along the rivers (http://www.naturalnews.com/032870_F...).

This deadly combination of heat, drought, and flooding will eventually cause food prices to increase sharply as supply diminishes and demand increases. And despite the fact that the mainstream media is largely downplaying or ignoring the situation, its very real consequences will soon manifest themselves -- so now is the time to get prepared.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.examiner.com/weather-in-...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/u...

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032994_food_supply_extreme_weather.html#ixzz1SZTiIRZM

 

Record heat, drought,

SUPERBUGS, DROUGHTS, ECONOMY: COVER UP?

By now many of you have probably heard the news about the new ‘superbug,’ designated as MRSA infection. A staph infection, this virus is claiming over 18,000 lives each year which is more than AIDS, heart disease and auto accidents combined. Some 90,000 new cases are reported each year. For all practical purposes, the drug is immune to most antibiotics. What is even more disturbing is that these numbers and reported deaths have been around since at least 2005. Why are we just now hearing about this new pandemic? According to the New York Times (10/17/07), the CDC reported 19,000 deaths from this disease in 2005. The article goes on to say that the infection is cropping up in schools nationwide. Outbreaks of the infection of occurred in Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Florida.

This general lack of information concerning the state of our nation makes on wonder if there isn’t a covert conspiracy to keep the truth from the American public. When deaths begin to occur, the information starts to see the light of day but it is almost as if there is a ‘disinformation’ on the part of the government to play down key news that affects us all. Another example is the worsening droughts in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina., Tennessee and Kentucky. According to a recent news story, this is the worst drought on record since the 1800’s. Pictures on the news have shown major reservoirs looking like mud flats. According to an AP report (10/16/07), The Weather Service says that 26% of the southeast is experiencing an ‘exceptional’ drought, the worst Weather Service category. Another report issued by the National Climate Data Center says that 43% of the contiguous U.S. is experiencing moderate to severe drought. The TVA has shut down Brown’s Ferry number 2 nuclear power plant due to inadequate steamflow. What else is not making the headlines? What is happening to agriculture in all of those states and how are major cities going to deal with dried up water supplies. What is FEMA doing about this? If the new book, RAPING LOUISIANA: A DIARY OF DECEIT is any indication, we may all be headed for deep trouble. This is not be doom and gloom but rather to get someone to wake up and start doing some serious planning as to how we are going to cope with problems.

Take a look at the housing crisis. Why have three major banks agreed to pool their resources to create a safety net to deal with the housing mortgage crisis? To hear the government tell it, the economic system will self-correct. If this is so then why did Treasury Secretary Paulson say, "Let me be clear, despite strong economic fundamentals, the housing decline is still unfolding, and I view it as the most significant current risk to our economy. The longer housing prices remain stagnant or fall, the greater the penalty to our future economic growth," (AP). What is happening to the economy that has Paulson sounding the alarm? What is being kept from the American public?

Obviously, these events have made the news and are not being kept a big secret. Although, one cannot help but be skeptical as to whether we are being given all of the information. There is no overt conspiracy to hide this information, but it does have the appearance of a covert conspiracy to downplay some of the serious issues facing our nation. Do they think that the public will panic? Perhaps they will but I, for one, would like to know if I am in the road with a tractor trailer bearing down on me. Give me the choice.