Corn-crop damage from U.S. drought poised to worsen

By David Wilson19 July 2012 Corn is due for more damage from a drought that has produced the worst U.S. growing conditions in almost a quarter century, according to David Driscoll, a Citigroup Inc. analyst. The CHART OF THE DAY displays the percentage of the corn crop in good to excellent condition, according to data […]

Graph of the Day: Satellite View of Crop Damage in Midwest U.S. Caused by Drought, 10 July 2012

Caption by Adam Voiland17 July 2012 Farmers across the United States hoped for rain in July 2012 as a drought of historic proportions parched key commodity crops, including corn, soybeans, and wheat. On July 11, the United States Department of Agriculture announced that more than 1,000 counties in 26 states qualified as natural disaster areas—the […]

U.S. drought of 2012 rivals Dust Bowl

By Nick Wiltgen16 July 2012 The 2012 drought disaster is now the largest in over 50 years, and among the ten largest of the past century, according to a new report released by the National Climatic Data Center today. As The Weather Channel reported in an exclusive preview of the report Sunday, data computed from […]

Video: Is it now possible to blame extreme weather on global warming?

By Leo Hickman 3 July 2012 Whenever an episode of extreme weather – heatwave, flood, drought, etc – hits the headlines, someone somewhere is sure to point the finger of blame at human-induced climate change. Such claims are normally slapped down with the much-aired mantra: “You cannot blame a single episode of bad weather on […]

Midwest U.S. ranchers cull cattle as drought shrivels crops, pasture – No relief for weeks – ‘I have never seen anything like this’

By Carey Gillam, with additional reporting by Michael Hirtzer and Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by K.T. Arasu, John Picinich, and Sofina Mirza-Reid13 July 2012 CENTERVILLE, Iowa (Reuters) – Ranchers are rushing to sell off some of their cattle as the worst drought in nearly 25 years dries up pastures, thins hay supplies, and sends […]

U.S. drought could go through October – ‘We don’t have a reason for saying it’s going to improve’

By Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Dale Hudson and Cynthia Osterman19 July 2012 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hotter-than-normal temperatures are expected through October over most of the contiguous 48 U.S. states, with below-average precipitation for Midwest areas already hit by the worst drought in a half century, government forecasters said on Thursday. Experts at the National Oceanic […]

Drought in Central, Eastern Canada baking crops – ‘It’s almost as if the atmosphere has forgotten how to rain’

15 July 2012 (CBC News) – Most of Central and Eastern Canada is experiencing extreme heat and little rain causing drought conditions, a senior climatologist with Environment Canada says. “I’d call it a drought, no question about it,” David Phillips told the CBC News Network in an interview Sunday afternoon. “Besides the lack of precipitation, […]

The Big Heat in the Midwest U.S. – ‘It’s like farming in Hell’

By Elizabeth Kolbert 16 July 2012 (23 July 2012 issue of The New Yorker) […] It is now corn-sex season across the Midwest, and everything is not going well. High commodity prices spurred farmers to sow more acres this year, and unseasonable warmth in March prompted many to plant corn early. Just a few months […]

Senegal begins planting the Great Green Wall against climate change – ‘The dust is coming. The sand is going to cover us all.’

By Bobby Bascombe, www.guardian.co.uk 12 July 2012 Senegal’s capitol city Dakar sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean on a peninsula. It’s at least a thousand miles to the Sahara desert yet the air today is so thick with sand that the tops of buildings disappear in a sandy haze. It’s the worst sand storm in […]

Global warming threatens towns in Australia outback, says government report

By Kathy Marks  13 July 2012 Sydney – Climate change could transform the Australian outback, wiping dozens of small towns off the map, according to a new report commissioned by the federal government. With many rural towns struggling to survive, climate change – expected to make much of inland Australia hotter and drier – could […]

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