Climate and Ag in the news
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If I asked you to list some greenhouse gases, you would probably start by listing carbon dioxide and then perhaps methane. But for agriculture, nitrous oxide is arguably more important, because many sources of nitrous oxide are from farming, for example from microbes in fertilized soil or animal manure. And nitrous oxide has 300 times…
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The heat and droughts that have occurred in Europe in the past few years has put stress on the forests of Europe. One of the most beautiful and managed forests is at the gardens at Versailles, the French palace just outside Paris. The foresters who take care of these trees are slowly changing the make-up…
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Today marks the autumnal equinox, the start of astronomical fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Of course climatologists already started climatological fall on September 1. For an explanation of the difference between the two definitions, check out this article from NCEI at https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/meteorological-versus-astronomical-seasons. Or else read this article from USA Today here. Happy fall y’all!
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The North Carolina Climate Office has issued the latest in their series of blog posts looking at historical hurricanes and their impacts on the state. Next up is Hurricane Hugo, which hit North Carolina in September 1989, causing huge problems inland because of the strong winds associated with the hurricane’s rapid movement through the region.…
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They grow a lot of corn in Iowa. And with the recent flooding followed by dry conditions, farmers in Iowa are very concerned about the potential for more extreme weather and how it may affect their bottom line as businesses. Since Iowa is one of the key states in setting the agenda for the election…
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The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks were released by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center earlier this week. They lean towards warmer than normal temperatures for both October and the October-December period across the region. This is based on long-term warming trends along with the neutral ENSO conditions we are currently in. For precipitation, there is a…
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This week marks the 30th anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Hugo on the South Carolina coast. Hugo caused tremendous damage along the coast, wiping out a lot of property as well as causing tremendous damage inland from the strong winds. I remember flying into Charlotte NC the day after Hugo and seeing many trees…