Climate and Ag in the news
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Fifteen years ago a tragedy unfolded in clear skies over New York City and Washington DC. What you might not remember is that Hurricane Erin was to the east of the Northwest on that date. If it had followed a different path, history might have been quite different. You can read about the impacts of…
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High above the surface near the equator is a band of strong winds which alternate between westerly and easterly flow on a regular cycle. Surprisingly, the cycle is not tied to the calendar year but switches between phases in a 28-month period. I’ve put a graph of the oscillation, which is called the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation…
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The Packer reported earlier this week that Florida tomato growers had a tough time this year with their tomatoes due to a very wet winter and spring. They reported that “during the 2015-16 season, which ended in June, tomato growers packed 28.2 million 25-pound equivalent cartons of mature greens and vine-ripe tomatoes, down from 36.5…
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High Country News had a fascinating article this week about one of the longest-serving National Weather Service cooperative observers. Anna Mae Wright is a farmer who has been taking daily weather observations since the late 1940s in Redrock, New Mexico, which means she has been observing for seven decades. The NWS has depended on faithful…
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Phenology is the study of natural systems and how they change over the course of the year and from one year to the next. Things that are marked by phenologists include the first robin of the year, the first leaf on a tree or shrub each spring, the first wave of geese traveling south for…
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The Minneapolis Times-Tribune published an Associated Press report this week on a 17-year study undertaken by Stanford University scientists to test the impact of more carbon dioxide, more heat, and more nitrogen on plant growth in test plots outside Los Angeles. Test plots (132 in all) were treated with different amounts of carbon dioxide or…
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Jon Erdman of WunderBlog posted an article this week based on some work done by folks at the Southeast Regional Climate Center showing that summer was the hottest on record for a number of cities across the US, including many in the Southeast. Many more were the second hottest on record. You can read about…