• Fox News reported on a recent research study which looked at the temperatures of 235 freshwater lakes around the world and noted that their temperatures were rising faster than those of the atmosphere or ocean.  This research was presented at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco last week. The rising temperatures are putting…

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  • Heather Kolich, the Forsyth County GA Extension Agent, has published a timely article in the Athens Banner-Herald this week.  In the article, she explains why now is such a good time to test your home water wells.  Recent rainy weather had the potential to wash pollutants and chemicals into your water table, which could negatively…

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  • ENSO stories

    ENSO, or the El Niñ0 Southern Oscillation, is the term for both halves of the oscillation in the eastern Pacific Ocean known as El Niño (for unusually warm water) and La Niña (unusually cold water).  Since we are near the peak of a strong El Niñ0 but are expected to decline and perhaps swing to a…

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  • Several articles on this blog have shown how warm November and December so far have been for large portions of the eastern US.  One of the consequences of this warmth is that winter wheat in Kansas and other parts of the Midwest has not reached dormancy yet. This is a potential problem because the wheat…

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  • Now that the next episode of Star Wars has been released, I thought you might enjoy this look at the science behind the weather of the original Star Wars series, courtesy of Dr. Marshall Shepherd, UGA in Forbes.com.  No spoilers, I promise! In the blog post, Dr. Shepherd points out that there is a website…

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  • By Monday rain will start to return to the Southeast and is expected to affect the area for most of the week.  Parts of Alabama and southwest Georgia, especially near the coast, could see several inches.  The only place that should be mostly dry is southern Florida, which is recovering from heavy rains last week.…

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  • The recent heavy rains in south Florida did significant damage to winter yellow squash, zucchini and green beans in the area, according to The Packer in an article this week. According to the article, “The 15 inches of rain that pounded the Florida City and Homestead, Fla., area Dec. 4-7 also hurt tomatoes and sweet…

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