Climate and Ag in the news
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The National Drought Monitor collects and disseminates drought information for the United States each Thursday morning after seeking input from climatologists and other stakeholders around the country. One of the products they provide is a map of changes in drought status for the US. The map below shows the change in drought status for the…
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The heat wave expected to hit the Southeast over the next few days has finally caught the attention of forecasters and emergency managers. The Vane posted a new blog entry on the temperatures expected for the next few days. Of course, here in the Southeast it is not just the heat but also the humidity…
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With all the active weather this growing season, it’s no wonder there are a lot of stories about the impacts of the weather and climate conditions on crops. Here is a sampling of some of the stories I have seen lately. Heavy rains in the Midwest have caused problems for corn and soybean farmers. In…
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NASA released a satellite time-lapse video earlier this week showing this year’s return of the monsoon rains to India. You can view it at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasa-sees-the-start-of-indias-monsoon-season. The official start of the monsoon season this year was June 5, a little later than usual. A strong heat wave in the days before the delayed start of the…
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In NOAA’s latest “Beyond the Data” blog entry, Deke Arndt talks about the impacts of an El Nino year on the likelihood that 2015 may be the warmest year ever in recorded history. He presents the graph below, which shows the temperature differences from the long-term average, for each month starting in 1982. Bars in…
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Now that summer is well and truly underway, it’s a good idea to review the safety information for heat-related illnesses. The National Weather Service has provided a handy guide at https://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/heat/index.shtml. This information is important for anyone who works with kids outside as well as those who are managing outdoor workers like farm hands or foresters.…
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On April 22, 2015, Calbuco Volcano erupted in Chile. I discussed it in my blog here. Now one of the lovely results of this eruption is a series of volcanic sunrises and sunsets in Africa and other Southern Hemisphere locations as the high level aerosol layer reflects sunlight back when the sun is just below…