Uncategorized
-
Temperatures across most of Georgia in August 2019 were mostly warmer than normal. Precipitation varied quite a bit across the region, with some areas receiving rainfall 200 percent of normal while others received less than 50 percent of normal. In Atlanta, the monthly average temperature was 82.5 degrees F (3.1 degrees above normal), in Athens…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
Every time there is a drought, I am asked how the latest drought compares to the historical droughts of the 1930s and 1950s, which were terrible droughts that covered a substantial part of the US. Now there is a new popular paper which discusses the comparison between the early 21st century drought from 1998-2014 (which…
-
A new IPCC report was released yesterday, and it has caused quite a stir in the international media. We know that agriculture, both crop and livestock production, can contribute to the increases in greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere which will result in warming and other related changes in climate that will affect us all…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
In the news today (see first story below) was a story that we can put a dent in climate change by planting billions or even trillions of trees, which will absorb and store carbon dioxide. While that will help slow the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere, it really only buys some time, since the…
-
In climatology we use wind roses to show the distribution of winds from different directions over time. Here is an interesting article which uses the same technique to describe the orientation of streets in different cities around the world. I grew up in the flat Midwest where most streets were on a regular grid, but…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
The heavy rain in the central US has caused huge problems for farmers in the Corn Belt, according to a story in Growing Georgia this week. According to the story, as of Sunday, only 49 percent of corn was planted, 31 percent behind the national average. This is the slowest start to the season in…
-
The National Hurricane Center released the last report of the 2018 season, covering Hurricane Florence. Florence caused tremendous damage to North and South Carolina due to heavy rain from the slow-moving system, which caused massive flooding and 22 direct and 30 indirect deaths from the storm. The damage was estimated at $24 billion. You can…