Climate and Ag in the news
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California’s current drought is one of the worst ever seen in the state’s history, according to a recent study by UC-Davis. In the story, published here, it points out that California produces 80 percent of the world’s almonds and that it takes 1.1 gallons of water to produce each almond. Because of the lack of…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
Some of you may remember the early predictions for last year’s hurricane season, showing a chance of a very active season. Instead, the season was very calm, with few hurricanes and tropical storms in the Atlantic basin. NOAA has put out an article on Climate.gov which explains where scientists went wrong. You can view it…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
The Florida Climate Institute has put together an excellent list of FAQs on climate variability, climate change and their impacts on Florida. Many of these FAQs apply broadly across the Southeast, and address El Nino, hurricanes, changing sea level, and the vulnerability of infrastructure. You can find the list at https://floridaclimateinstitute.org/resources/faqs.
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The latest Drought Monitor has brought abnormally dry (D0) conditions back to Georgia for the first time since last December (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/). According to the discussion for the Southeast, 30-day moisture deficits and declining soil moisture and pasture conditions have led the authors to conclude that we may be in the early stages of a “flash”…
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Recent observations of the eastern Pacific Ocean show that the expected El Nino has not developed as predicted and that even though the ocean temperatures are showing warming, the atmosphere has not followed suit, leading to mediocre El Nino signals. This makes it more likely that if El Nino develops (as is still expected), it…
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You may have seen some news reports mentioning that NOAA recently reinstated July 1936 as the hottest month on record for the US, and heard the subsequent uproar from political commentators. Here is a column from David Zierden, the Florida State Climatologist, discussing this topic: “NOAA Reinstates July 1936 as the Hottest Month on Record”…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
The Packer noted this week that lemons could top $50 per box this year due to frost in Chile and the drought in California in this article posted here. Lemons are no longer grown commercially in Florida due to the severe frosts of the 1970’s, which wiped out many groves, according to the Tampa Bay…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news