-
A lot of good weather-related videos have shown up in my Facebook feed this week. You might enjoy them too. Marshall Shepherd of UGA pointed out a humorous short video called “Blame it on El Niño–Do you know what it really is?” here. The New York Times posted a descriptive video about how hurricanes form here.…
-
The Fruit Growers News had an interesting article today on the impacts of pruning on the cold hardiness of fruit trees such as peaches and apples. To me, the effects were surprisingly complex and depend on when and how much the trees are pruned. In addition, the reduction in cold hardiness can affect the tree…
-
There have been a number of stories in the news lately linking bad weather or climate to decreases in crop yields. Here is a sampling of them. The Packer reported here that volumes of tomatoes from Florida has been significantly reduced due to a combination of rains in excess of 14 inches plus record high…
-
If you have been getting questions about the Paris climate meetings and don’t know how to answer them, you might find the fact sheet from the World Bank listed on the website below helpful. It organizes the agreements from the meeting in a simple, easy-to-understand fashion. You can check it out at https://www.securenutritionplatform.org/Pages/DisplayResources.aspx?RID=388.
-
While a strong El Niño continues in the eastern Pacific Ocean, farmers are looking ahead to the next growing season, which may feel the impacts of the opposite atmospheric oscillation, La Niña. AgWeb posted an article yesterday talking about the impact of a La Niña on crop prices next year, particularly the impact on…
-
EarthSky reported recently that 2015 was the worst year on record for wildfires in the United States, based on area covered. Estimates by the National Interagency Fire Center were that more than 10 million acres burned. Many of those were in the western US, which has been plagued by severe drought and high temperatures this…
-
Subtropical Storm Alex transitioned and strengthened today and was declared the first Atlantic hurricane for 2016, a full six months earlier than the average date of the first named storm. This means that Alex has set a number of records. Some of these are detailed in this post at : Alex is only the 2nd-known…