Climate and Ag in the news
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The Post and Courier published a long-form story this week on the changes that are occurring along the South Carolina coast, including erosion, changes to the marshes, and rising sea levels. Much of this is also occurring in the Georgia and North Carolina regions. The story has a wonderful description of the marshes now and…
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Peanuts are a great crop for Southeastern farmers because of their value in the market. Here is an interesting story from Southeast Farm Press about how some farmers in northern Alabama (outside the usual peanut area) are now growing peanuts as part of a regular rotation, even in dryland fields. As you can imagine, the…
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I have not had the flu so far this year, and I feel pretty lucky, because many of my friends have suffered through a miserable flu season so far this winter. I was interested to read this article by Bob Henson of Weather Underground discussing the impacts of weather on flu transmission. It turns out…
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The Miami Herald discussed the health implications of the warming climate in a recent story about asthma and heart disease in older and poorer populations in southern Florida. As the heat rises, poor asthma sufferers try to fight it by running their air conditioners more often, but often have trouble paying the bills for the…
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The Southeast Cattle Advisor published a useful guide on alfalfa by Dr. Jennifer Tucker this week. If you are growing or planning to grow alfalfa for a forage crop this year, you should check this out! You can read it at https://www.secattleadvisor.com/2018/02/09/alfalfa-in-the-deep-south-three-things-to-do-by-spring/.
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UF/IFAS published an article by Michael Mulvaney this week discussing the kinds of considerations producers need to make when planning for this year’s growing season. While most of the things to think about, he does mention that in the predicted climate we are expected to have in March through May, with above-normal temperatures more likely…
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If you’ve ever wondered about how archaeologists figure out how old a bone or other piece of ancient material is, you will be interested in this description of radiocarbon dating from EarthSky. Atmospheric chemists use the same principles to determine that most of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not from recent burning but…