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The latest Drought Monitor, released this morning, shows that moderate (D1) drought in southern Florida expanded over the last week due to the lack of rainfall but contracted in Puerto Rico. The rest of the region did not change from last week’s Monitor. With less than 0.5 inches of rain expected in South Florida in…
Posted in: Drought -
In recent years, climatologists have been hopeful that careful management of farm fields, including the use of cover crops, decreased tillage, and addition of manure, might allow carbon to be sequestered in the soil. This would be an advantage for farmers, who might be able to monetize the trapping of carbon as greenhouse gases in…
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The potential for wind and solar energy production varies a lot by state, depending on where they are. In the Southeast, we have a lot of potential for solar energy. although that is reduced by frequent cloud cover, but less potential for wind energy except near coastlines or along mountain ridges, because our average wind…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
Now that we are getting into the growing season and will be approaching tropical season before you know it, it is a good time to prepare your farm for extreme weather conditions (or any other kind of disaster) before they happen. The Wisconsin Agriculturalist published an article this past week on making plans for a…
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Now here’s something you don’t see every day. The American Geophysical Union has published an infographic comparing the size of raindrops on Earth to those expected on other planets (assuming they are warm enough to have rain instead of snow). The study factors in the force of gravity on each planet along with what we…
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Impacts from one bad weather event can often carry over into later growing seasons. For example, a flood can disturb the natural soil profiles and pull nutrients from the soil. Wind events like hurricanes can take multiple years to recover from, both in rebuilding infrastructure and in replanting crops and orchards. For example, corn from…
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A new fire-mapping online tool is now available for the Southeast. It enables resource managers to improve their regional or local approaches to managing wildfire risk and fire management needs through targeted prescribed burns and training. Fire management helps improve forest ecosystem health, increases timber values, reduces the risk of wildfire damage to life and…