Climate and Ag in the news
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NOAA reported this morning (link) that the World Meteorological Organization has retired the storm names “Matthew” and “Otto” from their list of storm names. You probably remember the impacts of Matthew, which hit the East Coast and caused incredible damage to eastern North Carolina as well as brought rain to the coasts of Georgia and…
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Recent rains in California have not only provided a superbloom of wildflowers but have provided desperately needed rain for the vineyards there. The Los Angeles Times reports: “It’s hard to imagine what might have happened to the region without this season’s rains. Record low rainfall levels, coupled with record average temperatures in an age of…
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The Vegetable Growers News this week published a story describing the calculations needed to determine if it is worthwhile to put in an irrigation system to help protect against drought. The calculations needed include consideration of a number of factors, including the frequency of drought, the cost of the equipment, and how climate is likely to…
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People frequently mix up weather and climate when they discuss the impacts of climate change. For example, you can still get a snowstorm (weather) as the winters get warmer (climate). The Christian Science Monitor has a good simple explanation of some of the differences in this article from early March. As you’ll see, the relationship…
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The Washington Post had a light-hearted (I think) opinion piece this week about “phenology anxiety”, which is essentially worrying about early signs of spring and what they might mean for your garden and back yard. People with this anxiety watch carefully for signs of the arrival of spring in the timing of birds, buds and…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
In a report this week in the Washington Post, “According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the sheet of Arctic sea ice, which expands and contracts in an annual cycle, probably reached its maximum size this year on March 7, when it spanned 14.42 million square kilometers, or 5.57 million square miles, atop the Arctic ocean. That’s an…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
If you’ve been watching the livestock news or reading this blog, you know how devastating recent wildfires in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas have been to livestock there. Here is a news release from Texas A&M about the critical fire weather conditions that are currently present in western Texas. Critical fire weather conditions present over Western…