No drought-busting rains seen for U.S. crop belt

By Sam Nelson; editing by John Wallace21 August 2012 CHICAGO (Reuters) – Benign weather is expected for the next week or two in the U.S. Midwest crop region, with no serious delays of early harvest but also no significant relief to corn and soybeans from the worst drought in half a century, an agricultural meteorologist […]

Drought-stricken Farm Belt not headed for another Dust Bowl, say seed companies

[Indeed; we could be headed for something much worse. –Des] By Chuck Raasch, USA TODAY19 August 2012 The severe drought that has hit the Farm Belt does not immediately threaten to create another Dust Bowl or widespread crop failure, thanks to rapid innovations in the past 20 years in seed quality, planting practices and farming […]

Horses fall victim to hard times and dry times on the range

By FERNANDA SANTOS18 August 2012 AZTEC, New Mexico – The land is parched, the fields are withering and thousands of the nation’s horses are being left to fend for themselves on the dried range, abandoned by people who can no longer afford to feed them. They have been dropping dead in the Navajo reservation in […]

Drought-stricken ranchers lose hope U.S. Congress will provide money for feed in time to save herds

OMAHA, Nebraska, 19 August 2012 (AP) – It’s hard to tell what frustrates Todd Eggerling more – the weather or Congress. Searing temperatures and drought scorched Eggerling’s land in southeast Nebraska, leaving little grass to feed his 100 cattle. Then Congress left for a five-week break without agreeing on aid to help ranchers through one […]

Climate change poses risks to food supplies beyond U.S. drought

By Alister Doyle17 August 2012 Downpours and heat waves caused by climate change could disrupt food supplies from the fields to the supermarkets, raising the risk of more price spikes such as this year’s leap triggered by drought in the United States. Food security experts working on a chapter in a U.N. overview of global […]

What country faces the worst climate change?

By Jeremy Hsu, InnovationNewsDaily Senior Writer, LiveScience.com 14 August 2012 Rising seas threaten to drown island countries such as the Maldives and Kiribati in the era of global warming — a dire scenario that has forced leaders to plan for floating cities or consider moving their entire populations to neighboring countries. Most countries won’t need […]

Typhoon Kai-Tak affects 1.26 million people in south China – 500,000 evacuated in 3 provinces

NANNING, 18 August 2012 (Xinhua) – Typhoon Kai-Tak had affected more than 1.26 million people in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, leaving one dead and two missing, local authorities said Saturday. As of 4:30 p.m., 1.2615 million people had been reported affected in 26 counties of six cities, and 68,600 people had been relocated […]

In fragmented Brazil forest, few species survive – ‘The results are actually pretty gloomy’

By KELLY SLIVKA14 August 2012 The Atlantic Forest in Brazil, which runs along the country’s southeastern shore near Rio de Janeiro, has been fragmented by centuries of human habitation. While the rain forest originally spanned over half a million square miles – an area comparable to the size of South Africa – almost 90 percent […]

World over-using underground water reserves for agriculture

By Chris Wickham; Editing by Mark Heinrich10 August 2012 LONDON (Reuters) – The world is depleting underground water reserves faster than they can be replenished due to over-exploitation, according to scientists in Canada and the Netherlands. The researchers, from McGill University in Montreal and Utrecht University in the Netherlands, combined groundwater usage data from around […]

Emergency well drilling brings relief to U.S. farmers stricken by drought

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy By Thanh Truong, NBC News14 August 2012 WARREN COUNTY, Missouri – There’s a desperate search for water under way throughout Missouri where 95 percent of the state is enduring extreme levels of drought.  In the rural area of Truxton, farmer Rusty Lee estimates […]

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