Climate and Ag in the news
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If you live near the coast in the Southeast, you are no doubt aware that storm surges associated with land-falling hurricanes can cause tremendous devastation. Storm surges from Ivan and Katrina caused tremendous damage to coastal areas. At the same time coastlines are being developed at a rapid rate, putting more people in harm’s way…
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The New York Times published a story earlier this week discussing the changes that changing climate may cause to soil microbe populations. Their focus was on grazing lands in the Southwest, but it is a question that could be asked across the country. The story focused on cyanobacteria, a critical component of surface soils in…
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Since fall has just started, the media is full of stories about autumn colors and the difference between astronomical and climatological fall. Here are two I thought were especially interesting. Slate magazine produced an online video which discusses why American trees produce both red and yellow leaves but European leaves only produce yellow leaves. The…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
The latest 3-month outlook for the last three months of the year has been released by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. It shows an increased chance of above normal temperatures and higher than normal rainfall, particularly in the southern part of the region. The patterns they show are consistent with a developing El Nino, which as…
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Agriculture is one of the industries with the highest concentrations of outdoor workers in the US. The Centers for Disease Control published an article today on the risks that outdoor workers may face in a warmer climate. You can read the article here. Among the risks are increased growth of poison ivy and other poisonous…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
Last week I mentioned that some Georgia farmers were looking to grow pomegranates as a new crop in the Southeast. Georgia Farm Monitor released a video on this subject a few days later, explaining how growing pomegranates mesh nicely with blueberries because they ripen at different times of year. You can watch the video by…
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The latest release from the National Agriculture Statistics Service shows that 79 percent of subsurface soils are short on moisture, according to Growing Georgia. This continuing lack of rainfall has caused crops like soybeans, cotton and peanuts to fade and pastures to stop producing grass. Even crops that were going to be baled for filler…