The worst global famine in 800 years may lie ahead

I have recently discovered an 800-year cycle of PARCHING DROUGHT and GLOBAL FAMINE. It last occurred in the early 1200s and is due to return sometime between September of 2015 and October of 2018. If this cycle repeats itself, then ISOLATED FOOD RIOTS IN THE STREETS IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD ARE LIKELY!

This probable extreme food shortage situation is also feared by the United Nations and NASA. These organizations are very concerned that much of North Africa, Asia, the mid-Pacific Ocean nations, parts of Europe, Russia, India, South America and even North America may see food shortages so severe that impoverished remote populations may vanish from the face of the Earth!

In some of the hardest-hit regions of massive crop failures likely due to extreme drought, as much as 80 percent of livestock may die of hunger and thirst. This is worse than what happened in the 'Feed the World' 1980s during a similar, but far less intense famine in Africa. But now, in 2014-15, we have more than 7 billion people to feed on the planet and the dread disease 'Ebola' in West Africa.

This situation may develop as the SUN, the ultimate cause of global climate changes, goes into HIBERNATION in the next several years. We should see the lowest numbers of sunspots since at least the record cold period of the 'Maunder Minimum' in the mid 1600s, when the Thames River in London froze solid almost every winter season allowing for 'Ice Fairs' and other cold weather activities.

Not only will we see far less solar heat, but there will likely be the strongest cold water 'LA NINA' sea-surface temperature event in the waters of the east-central Pacific Ocean in at least 200 years since the 'Dalton Minimum' period of the early 1800s.

This frigid combination of climatological factors is why I'm predicting a winter season locally in North Idaho late this decade into the early 2020s with as much as 200 inches of snow in Coeur d'Alene and 600 inches or more in the nearby mountains along the Montana/Idaho border.

Remember, we had similar snowy weather patterns during the 28-month span from late 2007 through the early spring of 2009, when an all-time record 318.5 inches of snow was measured in the back-to-back winter seasons of 2007-08 and 2008-09 while we were in the worst economic depression since at least the 1930s, likewise a period of wide weather 'extremes.'

In summing things up weatherwise and otherwise, while much of the rest of the world suffers from SEVERE DROUGHT and FAMINE, we should be having FAR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION and probable SPRING FLOODING from extensive snowmelt locally in North Idaho. Again, one WIDE WEATHER 'EXTREME' to the other.

Also, based upon another seven-year financial cycle, I see at least a MINOR CRASH in the STOCK MARKET by no later than September or October of 2015. Some economic forecasters also believe this may be case as they feel the market is currently 'overbought.' Stay tuned.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

Following a record nine-day early to mid November coldwave, when the mercury never exceeded 32 degrees at my station on Player Drive until 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, we finally saw our first measurable snowfall of the 'El Nino'-influenced 2014-15 winter season on Thursday. A sloppy 1-inch accumulation made driving conditions somewhat hazardous with scattered traffic accidents.

But, things could be far worse. My cousin, Sharon Inskip in Hamburg, N.Y., where I started my career in weather nearly 63 years ago in 1952, had measured a whopping 86 inches of snow this week as of 8 a.m. on Friday. This was an all-time four-day snowfall record for Hamburg, where my grandfather, Warren Inskip, kept the weather station for several decades. Sharon has to go upstairs to look outside, because the snows have blocked the lower windows. Many buildings are collapsing due to the heavy wet snow. Serious flooding is likely to occur when all of this snow melts early this week in temperatures expected to soar into the upper 50s and lower 60s along Lake Erie south of Buffalo.

As I said in the main article, we will probably see similar record snows in North Idaho late this decade or in the early 2020s, after the sun goes into 'hibernation' and the strongest cold water 'LA NINA' in at least two centuries builds in the Pacific Ocean regions.

In the meantime, we will be milder than usual, thanks to 'El Nino,' with periods of rain or wet snow, especially at night, between now and early December.

While we have mostly rain below 2,500 feet, however, there will be plenty of new snow for the skiers and snowboarders at the nearby ski resorts, particularly at elevations above 4,000 feet.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com