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EarthSky had an interesting article this week on how a ‘blob’ of unusually warm water in the Pacific has been changing weather patterns for the last year. This pocket of warm water is in the central Pacific and is separate from the warm water along the equator associated with the present El Nino, although the…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
In February I posted a story about a UGA project to track harmful algal blooms in Southeastern lakes (link). Now that we are entering the heart of the boating and outdoor recreation season, I think it is worth repeating. Scientists at UGA are collecting reports of toxic algae in lakes at https://www.cyanotracker.uga.edu. You can go to…
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The latest climate outlooks for June and for June-August are now available from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. The outlooks show that Florida and the East Coast have a slightly increased chance of warm temperatures in June and most of the Southeast has an increased chance of wet conditions. For the three-month period from June through…
Posted in: Climate outlooks -
The latest National Drought Monitor map is out and shows only a very slight increase in dry conditions across the Southeast. Abnormally dry conditions expanded from 17.7 to 19.0 percent of the Southeast, while moderate D1 drought in the southern tip of Florida also expanded slightly. The dry conditions were reduced in Alabama but expanded…
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I had the pleasure last week to meet Jerry Adams, a satsuma farmer from near Bainbridge GA. Melissa Griffin, the Assistant State Climatologist for Florida, was with me. Satsumas are one of the most cold-hardy varieties of citrus, and one of several new crops that are being tried in Georgia, including olives. Jerry showed me…
Posted in: Crops -
Harvest Public Media posted a story online today about the “elusive” impacts that the California drought has had on Midwestern farmers. According to the story, so far benefits to the Midwestern farmers have been limited in spite of the four year drought in California because the CA farmers are mining ground water to keep their…
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Historical records of climate have only been around for about 150 years, although there are a few earlier records. Yet climatologists often talk about the climate hundreds and even millions of years ago? How do they know what the climate was long before weather instruments were available? The key is the use of what we…