Climate and Ag in the news
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I’ve recently seen a few stories promoting the use of widespread tree planting as a way to absorb carbon and reduce greenhouse gases. But if you do the numbers, we can never plant enough trees to absorb all the greenhouse gases that are being emitted, much less the excess that is already in the atmosphere.…
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While we have all been watching the current strong El Nino for signs of weakening and swinging to La Nina, that is not the only factor that will impact the weather across the United States this summer. This year another big factor will be the sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic, which are currently far…
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Chill hours are generally low in Florida because it is so far south that it does not often experience temperatures below 45 F. But in the past few years, the chill accumulation has been even lower than average, resulting in challenges to peach producers there. That does not mean they can’t be grown, but the…
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Weather can change rapidly from one set of conditions to another after the passage of a strong front or other event. We can also see relatively rapid changes of weather patterns at times leading to very quick changes in the local temperature, wind, and humidity. On longer time scales, a drought can end quickly if…
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If you live in or near Florida or are just interested in what is happening in that part of the Southeast, you may want to listen to or read this story from WUSF featuring David Zierden, the Florida State Climatologist. In this piece, he describes the record-setting temperatures in Florida in 2023 and the outlook…
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If you follow weather news, you probably saw a story this week about a new scientific article that discussed the need for a category 6 hurricane with winds much stronger than the typical category 5 storm at 192 mph or greater. According to the authors, “Since 2013, five storms — all in the Pacific —…
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This past week we celebrated Groundhog Day on February 2, when a chubby rodent is pulled out of his winter hibernation to “predict” whether there will be an early end to winter or six more weeks of cold. By most statistics, the groundhog does not do very well, with incorrect predictions 60-70 percent of the…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news