By NEIL MacFARQUHAR6 September 2011 UNITED NATIONS — The global economy faces a decade-long stagnation because governments are pursuing deficit cuts and other austerity measures rather than providing the needed stimulus packages, said a United Nations economic report released Tuesday. Instead of new regulation of the financial system to address the problems that helped bring […]
By Eric Berger 7 September 2011 A couple of weeks ago I reported on the possibility of the current drought plaguing Texas extending into next summer. This is because of the 50 percent probability that La Niña will redevelop after this fall, bringing another dry winter to the state of Texas. With this in mind, […]
By Christine Stebbins; Editing by Peter Bohan5 September 2011 CHICAGO (Reuters) – It can’t happen here, can it? The United States, the breadbasket and supplier of last resort for a hungry world, has been such an amazing food producer in the last half-century that most Americans take for granted annual bounteous harvests of grain, meat, dairy, […]
By Dan Huber26 August 2011 Texas climatologists have recently stated that the ongoing dry spell is the worst one-year drought since Texas rainfall data started being recorded in 1895. The majority of the state has earned the highest rating of “exceptional” drought and the remaining areas are not far behind with “extreme” or “severe” ratings […]
By Andrew Prince19 April 2011 Two-thirds of the Arctic coastline is made of permafrost — an environment that is very sensitive to warming temperatures. A new report says erosion is causing these coastline regions to recede by an average of 1.5 feet per year. Unlike rock shoreline, permafrost loses its structure when it warms above […]
By Evan V. Symon 6 September 2011 If you turn on the news and hear that some city is being devastated by its fourth flood in 20 years, or that a village at the foot of some volcano has just been buried under lava, there is a 100 percent chance that someone in the room […]
By Dave Montgomery, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, with contributions from Anna Tinsley and Alex Branch5 September 2011 BASTROP, Texas — Firefighters from across the state swarmed into Central Texas on Labor Day to combat devastating wildfires that left hundreds homeless and prompted Gov. Rick Perry to abruptly return from a scheduled East Coast political appearance. At […]
By Eric Luebehusen, U.S. Department of Agriculture31 August 2011 Southern Plains: The beat goes on across the southern Plains. In Texas and southern Oklahoma, another week of above-normal temperatures (up to 14°F above normal, with highs eclipsing 110°F) and sunny skies further offset the benefits of early month rainfall. Consequently, drought intensified over many of […]
Increased temperatures pose a threat to the region’s fisheries and other marine species, which are important both to the economy and as a food supply, especially to Native populations. Warmer air and water temperatures have already resulted in a shift northward of species important to the region, with implications for the ecosystem and local communities. […]
Photographs by Jay JannerStory by Brenda BellAustin American-Statesman staff The meanest drought in modern Texas history looks different out here, away from the cities. There are no emerald swaths of St. Augustine lawns, no blooming shrubs, no misters cooling bar patrons as the sun goes down on another cloudless, 105-degree day. The disconnect between what […]