The Dutch Recession, The End of American Pandemic Savings, and Why One House Survived the Hawaii Fires
Last Week in Collapse: August 13–19, 2023
Last Week in Collapse is a new weekly round-up, bringing together some of the most important, timely, useful, depressing, ironic, amazing, or otherwise must-see moments in Collapse. Get LWIC delivered directly to your email inbox for free.
Conflict
ECOWAS has approved a military intervention into Niger to “stabilize” the situation and restore the ousted President to power. Nigeria is expected to lead the mission, with troops from Benin and the Ivory Coast. The Niger coup also has implications for human trafficking in the Sahel.
A ceasefire was rejected in Sudan, as the War reached its 5-month anniversary. There reportedly are missile strikes in Omdurman (pop: 2.7M?), Sudan’s second-largest city. It is next to Khartoum, Sudan’s largest city (pop: 6M?). Over 6M Sudanese are expected to be at Stage 4 Hunger this autumn (there are 5 stages).
The ethnic-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan has been blockaded for months, and people are starting to die. Some are calling it genocide. Russian soldiers were monitoring the ceasefire, but Russia is preoccupied with the Ukraine War and the situation is deteriorating. Azerbaijan is trying to pressure the reportedly 120,000 inhabitants to fully submit to Azeri authorities and yield their claims on the land. Instead, a war may break out again.
Believe it or not, one analyst believes that Iran has enough uranium for 15 bombs. Others believe a nuclear test may occur soon. More countries are turning to nuclear power — and eying its weapons potential.
China is building an airstrip on an island claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The United States and China are seeing each other more and more as rivals in the tumultuous future ahead.
Violence has escalated in Haiti, where 5,000+ people allegedly fled the capital this week for other parts of Haiti. Wagner Group has been labeled as an educational organization in Belarus.
7 died and over 125 wounded at a Russian missile attack against a university & theater in central Chernihiv. Friction has set in, and Ukraine’s counteroffensive is failing to retake significant territory. Some analysts think it will drag on for many years. The ongoing War complicates efforts to rebuild when a future Russian missile could destroy reconstruction.
Environment
Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo, one of the world’s oldest and largest “lakes” is helplessly polluted, a mix of fertilizers, sewage, and other chemicals. Decades of garbage and oil extraction have taken their toll, and a massive fish dieoff is almost complete. RIP.
It’s hard to believe, but the UN has finished the oil transfer off the decaying vessel FSO Safer, stranded off the coast of Yemen. 20,000+ barrels of oil still remain in the ship but the job is essentially done. This has prevented what would have been one of the world’s worst all-time oil spills, if the Safer had broken apart while holding all that crude.
Türkiye broke its nationwide heat record by 0.4 °C with a temperature of 49.5 °C in central Türkiye. The devastating heat dome around Texas is moving north, into central U.S.
Hawai’i’s wildfire death count is up to 106 now. Yet one wooden house survived the waterfront blaze entirely, due to two factors: burnable foliage near the house was cut away, and the asphalt roof was replaced with a metal one.
“When this was all happening, there were pieces of wood — six, twelve inches long — that were on fire and just almost floating through the air with the wind and everything…They would hit people’s roofs, and if it was an asphalt {a petroleum product} roof, it would catch on fire. And otherwise, they would fall off the roof and then ignite the foliage around the house.” -the homeowner.
A study from June argues that a massive population correction, basically caused by resource scarcity, is destined to hit earth by the end of this century. But let’s not forget antimicrobial resistance and the possibility of a super plague rolling through our species. Although today it is common to read the word “sustainability” in articles, it is rare for many media outlets to even publish an article mentioning the human population.
Apocalyptic wildfires around Yellowknife, Canada (pop: 21,000), a remote city where there is only one route out. One wonders how the country and people would react if all roads were blocked by encroaching flames.
Cracks are growing in Arctic sea ice. A study from the EU’s Copernicus Programme measured ice cracks and temperatures using infrared spectrometer tools onboard satellites. The feedback loops are unstoppable. We lack the technology to repair what we have discovered.
New record temperature in part of Japan and part of the Caribbean. Record temperature in the Gulf of Mexico. The global average sea temperature was broken — again — last week, and sea ice hit a new record low.
Saudi Arabia is leaning heavily into desalination projects while much of the world is becoming thirstier and dryer. A lake in Iraq which held 3.3 billion cubic meters of water in 2020 now holds just 500M. Iraq’s strategic reserve of water is the lowest it’s been in 100+ years; the heatwave isn’t helping anyone.
Bahrain is building a wall to keep the rising sea level out, although Pacific islands are expected to suffer faster from higher ocean levels. Meanwhile a storm in southern Norway took down a bridge. Wildfires blaze on the Spanish island of Tenerife, forcing thousands to evacuate.
New heat records in the Philippines. Mexico also broke heat records for the month of July. And a hail storm in Minnesota badly damaged thousands of acres of crops.
Economics
The Chinese economy is growing slower than expected as a result of local austerity and falling demand. This, combined with a sinking housing market, is putting deflationary pressure on the Chinese Yuan. Some thinkers believe economics is the way we fight Wars now, and the current next War will be waged through sanctions, shortages, export controls, and market manipulation. The real Forever Wars were Economics all along…
Syria is encountering an uncontrollable cost of living crisis, chasing out even more Syrians. The idea of home has been obliterated by years of Civil War. Aid is being cut off from parts of Syria and the government has doubled government salaries to try and control the situation.
Egypt’s economy and electricity situation are worsening, with more load-shedding, higher prices, and greater taxes. How long can a nation endure these difficulties and remain solvent? Zimbabwe is also suffering from blackouts which perpetuate a downward economic spiral for the ailing state. Lebanon too is dealing with similar issues.
In Iran, hours-long queues for petrol have become commonplace, and analysts say Iran’s oil consumption has never been higher. The one-year anniversary of the Mahsa Amini protests, which have since died down, still concern the government: 13 people were arrested last week while “in the process of creating the conditions for unrest and insecurity” in some regions of Iran.
The Netherlands has entered recession after two consecutive quarters of “negative growth.” I call that unintended degrowth. China’s Evergrande corporation is filing for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. amid debt troubles. Americans are reportedly exhausting the last of their pandemic savings next month.
A landslide killed 32 in Myanmar. Heavy rains and landslides killed 60+ in India. A landslide in China claimed 21+ lives.
Dhaka (pop: 10M), Bangladesh (pop: 170M) is currently facing its wettest August on record — and there’s still a third of August left.
Health
Updated COVID booster shots are allegedly rolling out in the U.S. in September, tailored for the Eris variant and whatever other modifications were advisable. One wonders what percent of Americans will get this round of the shots — 15%? A new symptom of Long COVID has been discovered — in one individual, anyway — rapid purple discoloration. Eris, which is said to have originated in Indonesia, is now the dominant variant in many countries, though it is no more deadly than previous strains.
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