Last Week in Collapse: September 24-30, 2023

Warlordism, diseases, and heat waves. The New Abnormal.

Last Week in Collapse: September 24-30, 2023

This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter bringing together some of the most important, timely, useful, depressing, ironic, astonishing, or otherwise must-see moments in Collapse.

This is the 92nd newsletter. You can find the September 17-23 edition here if you missed it last week. Thank you for subscribing to the Substack.

As drought dries the great Mississippi River, and saltwater crawls upstream, the U.S. Army has a solution: barge in 36M gallons of freshwater to New Orleans—every day. As the water crisis unfolds, American companies are worried that their mines won’t have enough water to function, further complicating our energy transition and collection of minerals.

The UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a 352-page report on methane emissions in livestock and rice production. Livestock currently generates about 30% of CH4 emissions, while rice creates around 8%. The most recent IPCC report estimates that methane emissions have contributed about .5 °C to global warming. A German study concluded that hidden methane leaks (through underground pipelines, “incomplete combustion,” and “fugitive emissions”) are also contributing to this issue.

Switzerland’s glaciers have lost 10% of volume over the last two years. Bolivia set new September heat records; last winter was its hottest on record. More than 2/3rds of Mexico is officially in drought. Parts of Iowa’s crops have been hard hit by this year’s drought.

The American power grid survived a sweltering summer, but experts fear disaster in the future. In another moment of good news, the global rhino population is up to about 27,000 (including all species of rhinoceros).

As Germany’s once-legendary economy is now stalling amid energy issues, the public is being confronted with a difficult choice: deindustrialize and go green while losing wealth, or prolong their reliance on fossil fuels to keep the economy chugging along. India is facing a similar dilemma, with the pressure of a rapidly developing population to support.

The UK saw their first “bomb cyclone” of the 2023-2024 season make landfall last week. Record temperatures in Australia and in eastern Asia. Coral bleaching continues, and some scientists are using crabs to combat the coral-killing algae. Over 100 dolphins died from a marine heat wave. Brown bears in Japan starved to death because of a salmon shortage which researchers blamed on climate change.

A “global ice emergency” is looming, based on a 248-page report about the Hindu Kush river basins. The region contains more ice than anywhere on earth, except the North & South Poles, and it’s making its final journey out. Peak Water for the region is expected by mid-century, with decreasing amounts from there onward. The loss of the cryosphere will result in the dieoff of countless local species. The Hindu Kush Himalayas are experiencing a temperature rise of 0.28 °C per decade. Roughly 130M farmers depend on regional meltwater for irrigation. The world water crisis is still in its early stages…

Flash flooding struck New York City, dropping 8 inches (20 cm) in a day. Subway stations were flooded, and a terminal at LaGuardia airport was forced to close for a day. An unprecedented heat wave struck Central & Eastern Europe.

The data is in: Antarctica suffered the greatest heat wave of 2022. It happened in March 2022, when temperatures rose 44 °C above normal. Scientists say that the warm air from Australia reached Antarctica for “probably the first time that at least it’s happened that fast.” Heat waves are expected to continue into October in Europe.

——————————

Around 1,000 people died from dengue in Bangladesh in the last few weeks. Dengue fever is spread by mosquitoes, and globally has a CFR of less than 1%—but allegedly there is a stronger strain circulating in Bangladesh. Dengue deaths this year have eclipsed dengue deaths in recent decades in the country. Rising temperatures, rain patterns, and sanitation problems have extended the dengue season longer than it was previously. Cholera and dengue are rising in Sudan.

Diphtheria has come to Nigeria, where it has slain 453 people in the last 10 months. UNICEF sent 9M+ vaccines There have been 7,000+ confirmed cases and thousands of suspected cases. Diphtheria is a bacterial infection transmitted through contact or through the air, and has a CFR of between 5-20%.

Food inflation lingers, especially in poorer nations. Some bankers are saying “this is the most intense period” in world economics since the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

The ongoing diesel shortage is theorized by some to lead to a worldwide economic crisis in just a few months. The U.S. strategic reserve of petroleum has yet to be replenished from last year, when about half of it was consumed to pressure prices down.

What will happen when China hits Peak Oil? Some expect China to cross this point later in 2023, moving forward to a future more heavily dependent on coal and renewable energy. Coal currently accounts for 56% of China’s energy consumption; oil is 26%.

A pestilential mite, deadly for bees, was discovered in Australia in June 2022. Since then, over 100M AUD has been committed to eradicate the plague. The government has now announced that its spread is uncontainable, and cannot be eradicated. The nation’s pollinators (and all whom they support) may be living on borrowed time.

A 157-page report on global maritime shipping was released last week. Over 80% of global trade uses the seas & oceans. After a dip in total trade volume last year, a small increase has been achieved so far in 2023. The industry is still unsure how it can successfully decarbonize while trade demand grows. I did not have time to process this report, but it’s got a lot of useful graphics.

——————————

As Iran edges closer to achieving the Bomb, Saudi Arabia claims it wants nuclear weapons if Iran has them. Regardless, Saudi Arabia has announced its intent to construct a nuclear power program—though it has not yet indicated where the power plants might be.

30 Serbian terror suspects battled Kosovo police in a monastery in northern Kosovo, leading NATO to commit more troops to keep the fragile “peace.” Sweden is experiencing record gun deaths since records began 7 years ago. The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has begun an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

Tensions are growing over a migrant shelter in Chicago. A similar sentiment is boiling over in Staten Island, New York. In Europe, green politics are being derailed by populism and dependence on old economic models. A warehouse blew up in Tashkent, killing one and injuring 162.