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A New Jersey-sized area of the Gulf of Mexico has been declared a dead one this year, the largest ever observed in the region. This means that the nutrient load in the water is so high that algal blooms which feed on the nutrients have depleted all of the oxygen in the water, making it…
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The US Fish and Wildlife Service had an interesting story this week about two farmers in the Southeast who are working to restore longleaf pine forests in the region. Longleaf pine acreage was reduced to about 3 million acres at one time but is now making a comeback thanks to the work of these folks. …
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The Pew Trusts released a comprehensive report this week describing how vulnerable the nation’s schools are to flooding, either from storm surge and coastal flooding or from inland flooding, especially if they are built in or near floodplains. The report shows that the schools in the Southeast, with the exception of those located near the…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
The latest 7-day QPF forecast shows that another rainy week is expected across most of the Southeast. This week the focus of highest rain amounts shifts to southern Georgia and Alabama and coastal areas of the Carolinas, which should help to alleviate abnormally dry conditions there. The wet conditions continue to cause problems for some…
Posted in: Climate outlooks -
While there is no drought in the Southeast this summer, we are still seeing impacts of past droughts on trees around the area. WABE published a story this week describing the consequences of drought-damaged trees when severe storms bring high winds to the area. You can read about it at https://news.wabe.org/post/summer-storms-bring-down-drought-damaged-trees-atlanta.
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The biggest climate news this week was the release of the annual State of the Climate report for 2016. Written by nearly 500 scientists from 60 different countries (including a number of my friends) who look at many different aspects of the earth-ocean-atmosphere system and the trends in many variables, it provides an unparalleled look…
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According to a recent New York Times article, a recent study in Geophysical Research Letters has shown that sea levels in parts of the Southeast are rising at six times the global average rise. Scientists have proposed a new mechanism for this oddity: Two large-scale atmospheric patterns had intersected to push up the water off the…