Tropical weather
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Here is a very interesting story in Gizmodo Earther about the decline of a rare conifer called Torreya Taxifolia, which is found in only a few isolated spots in the Florida panhandle and southwest Georgia. These trees are remnants of the last Ice Age forest, when many tree species were pushed south by the combination of…
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In this recent story from the Panama City News-Herald, continuing impacts from Hurricane Michael are discussed. They include an increased chance of bad wildfires due to all of the tree debris in the Florida panhandle, flooding from both damming of streams by large trees and the lack of trees to soak up rain water, and…
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One of the unexpected consequences of all of the trees blown down by Hurricane Michael last year in the Florida Panhandle was that flooding of creeks has increased. The downed tress are acting as dams in creeks they cross, slowing the water and backing it up into areas that are not usually flooded. Removing the…
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The official hurricane forecast for the Atlantic basin from Colorado State University was released yesterday. It shows that they are expecting slightly fewer storms than usual for the basin, due in part to the continuing influence of the weak to moderate El Niño that is occurring now. You can read the official forecast here and…
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IFAS posted a story last week which discussed the increase in weeds that are likely coming to pastures this years. The wet conditions may encourage some weeds, and the increase in sunlight due to the large number of downed trees will stimulate the growth of many more. You can read more about the problems that…
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The Tampa Bay Times reported this week that a large number of dead trees remaining on the ground following Hurricane Michael last year contributed to the spread of a wildfire near Panama City to almost 600 acres. Authorities note that because there is so much dead vegetation on the ground this year after the storm…
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Here’s an audio story on the huge decreases in pecan production that happened in 2018 due to the impacts of Hurricane Michael (as well as Irma in 2017, which also blew down a lot of trees). In Georgia it cut the production from 105 million pounds in 2017 to 56 million pounds in 2018, and…