The Drought Thread Pt. 2 (merged)

[kiwichick]

see.... that was easy

[M_B_S]

Mass die off in Mexico!

Monarch butterflies drop 28 percent in Mexico

http://www.cbs8.com/story/17170447/mona ... -in-mexico

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No problem? Only nice butterflies dieing.....puh

Mum why is Mexican Tortilla so expensive this year?

Oh my dear son there is a big drought in Texas and other parts of hole America!

Why is there a big drought mum?

Oh Dad drills for oil in the gulf of mexico for example so i can drive you to the football game with our nice mega SUV !

Thats nice mum I love football....... so much.

Mum I am so hungry!

Shut up you son of a bi.... i have to fill up our car.....

M_B_S

[M_B_S]

Energy Resources
Drought spreads to Brazil, crop yields hitDrought has spread from Argentina and Paraguay to Brazil and is hitting soy yields at a time of growing concerns that regional growth may suffer as pressures mount on commodity prices.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy ... z1pkCupC5X
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The drought dead-zone is expanding while CO2 emissions are on record high levels worldwide!

Famine is on the way!

M_B_S

[dohboi]

Thanks for the update on that worsening situation.

Here's a visual of the spreading zone of dried out vegetation in the region:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=37239

At least our friends in Texas seem to be getting a bit of relief.

[ritter]

Here's a visual of the spreading zone of dried out vegetation in the region:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=37239

Hasn't that area been tropical rainforest for thousands of years? At least until we started clearing it for cattle, timber, etc.

[dohboi]

IIRC, there is some recent evidence that an earlier South American civilization(s?) did a lot of clearing of the rain forest, too.

http://freethoughtnation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=284:ancient-civilization-discovered-in-amazon&catid=53:archaeology-archaeoastronomy

But I guess that was further north in the Amazon, not around the Piranha.

[dohboi]

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/03/23/450537/warming-fueled-texas-drought-cost-farmers-76-billion-no-one-alive-has-seen-drought-damage-this-extent/

Warming-Fueled Texas Drought Cost Farmers $7.6 Billion: ‘No One Alive Has Seen Single-Year Drought Damage To This Extent’

Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon explained last September:

Warmer temperatures lead to greater water demand, faster evaporation, and greater drying-out of potential fuels for fire. Thus, the impacts of the drought were enhanced by global warming, much of which has been caused by man.

(I wonder how long that guy will be able to keep his job in that very Republican=ant-AGW-science state.)

[dohboi]

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/mexican-drought-fuels-dispair/63221

Mexican Drought Fuels Despair

While drought conditions have recently let up across the state of Texas in the United States, a drought of record proportions continues in Mexico.

The drought in northern Mexico has led to massive starvation amongst cattle, who have nothing to graze. Normally in these situations, farmers would be able to increase the amount of grain in their cattles' diet; however, the drought has drastically increased the price of grain as well.

Across Mexico, farmland is scattered with carcasses of farm animals who have died of starvation

[dohboi]

Europe's in trouble, too:

European Crops Damaged by Winter Freeze Now Face Drought

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-22/european-crops-damaged-by-winter-freeze-now-face-drought.html

Rainfall in northern France, England and the north of Italy this year was 23 percent to 47 percent below the long-term average, data from the EU’s Monitoring Agricultural Resources unit show. In Spain and France’s Mediterranean region, amounts were 59 percent to 78 percent lower.

An area of high atmospheric pressure is causing a so-called blocking effect that prevents Atlantic Ocean frontal systems from moving into Europe, Jim Dale, a senior meteorologist at British Weather Services, said by phone.

[dohboi]

Drought, though lightening in parts of East Texas, is gradually spreading throughout the rest of the country:

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

[AgentR11]

[(I wonder how long that guy will be able to keep his job in that very Republican=ant-AGW-science state.)

You missed the part where he doesn't tell the government folks what their tax policy should be.

Thus, his job is as safe as any other government job.

[dohboi]

Yes, doubtless it is a party even more obsessed with being against taxes than it is about being against science (when it suits itself to be).

More on the impact on trees in your parts:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/05/MNGK1NVD42.DTL

Texas drought destroys half a billion trees

"When you lose that many trees, you're losing all the benefits, which include how those trees clean our air, water and soil to begin with," said Steve Houser, a master gardener with the Texas Agriculture Extension Service.

Houser said native Texas trees, such as the post oak, tend to stand a better chance of survival, but that non-native trees, such as the silver maple, don't fare as well in extreme heat.

"That's one of the reasons it's native; if it's going to survive the Texas heat, it has to be one tough dude."

I wonder what percentage of the total number of trees in the state that is.

And I wonder how many trees that didn't die are now so damaged that even a mild additional drought will do them in.

[dohboi]

[url]http://www.agrimoney.com/news/drought-hit-spanish-barley-crop-faces-40percent-plunge–4327.html[/url]

A severe rain shortage has been observed since December in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, the driest period in our climatological record for southern Spain

[Lore]

[url]http://www.agrimoney.com/news/drought-hit-spanish-barley-crop-faces-40percent-plunge–4327.html[/url]

A severe rain shortage has been observed since December in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, the driest period in our climatological record for southern Spain

There goes the beer!


http://youtu.be/7bcYeP8Kk8k

[dohboi]

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Nearly 2/3 of the lower 48 are now abnormally dry or (mostly) is some stage of drought. You can walk from Peninsula Michigan to Washington state, then down the coast all the way to San Diego, then across to the southern tip of TX, then back up through the high plains to Canada, and never leave an area that is in one of these conditions. Same with walking down the East Coast from the tip of Maine to Miami. And the big patches of dry in west TN and KY are spreading, as is the one in Illinois. They will probably soon join up with the angry red patch in the deep south and the darkening are in the upper midwest to form another walkable swath from FA to North Dakota and Wyoming.

[M_B_S]

[img]http://www.digtriad.com/images/640/360/2/assetpool/images/120413074716_drought_map.jpg
[/img]

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/stor ... yid=224731

The USA hasn't been this dry in almost five years.
Still reeling from last year's devastating drought that led to at least $10 billion in agricultural losses across Texas and the South, the nation is enduring another unusually parched year.

A mostly dry, mild winter has put nearly 61% of the lower 48 states in "abnormally dry" or drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly federal tracking of drought. That's the highest percentage of dry or drought conditions since September 2007, when 61.5% of the country was listed in those categories.....
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We all knew what 2008 happened when crop prices hit worldwide record levels.

It should indicate that 2012/2013 will be the same....

When the US corn belt falls dry, the world corn market falls dry two.

A worldwide famine follows.

M_B_S

[PeakOiler]

I'm just glad our county isn't in exceptional drought conditions anymore. Burnet county has improved to just moderate drought conditions recently, but the drought is over a year old now. The last year Burnet county had over-average annual rainfall was 2007!

The last rain event here was March 20th, and things are getting dry again around here.

We did have a good bluebonnet season:

[dohboi]

It looks like it will be the worst in at least ten years, not just five, at least in CO:

This year worse than 2002 drought

The Eagle River basin is melting four to eight weeks earlier than normal this year because of below average snowfall, warm spring temperatures and wind, according to the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, presenting what could be the worst water supply year in Eagle County history.

This year's local water supply is shaping up to be worse — much worse — than 2002, the worst drought year Colorado had seen in about 250 years.

And that means fires won't be far behind:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h_-rSJBn7fRovSzIMqpEiKGO_TZA?docId=68ac4b7edc3146229fef2ab2bae5513d

Western states prepare for dangerous fire season

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20382333/state-by-state-glance-at-western-fire-season

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"When the US corn belt falls dry, the world corn market falls dry two.

A worldwide famine follows."

And revolution, and...

To paraphrase a popular song:

"The dog days are over
the dog days are gone
the [four] horse [men] are coming
so you better run"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWOyfLBYtuU

[Lore]

Here is a segment from yesterdays MSNBC Nightly News, with Brian Williams on the U.S. drought conditions. Look for much higher food prices this summer.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp ... 8#47046198

[dohboi]

"Parts of 48 states are abnormally dry or in some stage of drought"

"I can't remember conditions like this, ever."

Unbelievable.

But also criminal that they don't mention global warming, at the least to say that these are exactly the conditions we should expect much more of and ever more severe as GW takes ever firmer hold.