Drought and more… Updated 10 January 2013

[Scroll to the end of the blog for most recent update entry]

From a private email written by me on 4 August 2011:

“There will also be earthquakes in unanticipated places, and a second dust bowl is possible in the heartland. Cornering the commodities markets continues and is in full swing. Prices skyrocket, especially for untainted seafood and drought-stricken grain.”

CNBC 11 July 2012:
“The U.S. government declared more than 1,000 counties in 26 states drought disasters, as the economic impact of the worst crop condition in 24 years begins to be felt….”

“The hardest hit areas have been across the southern and eastern areas of the corn belt. ‘We haven’t had a drought like this since 1988. We’ve had regional droughts, but nothing that goes from the Rockies to the Appalachians,’ said Shawn McCambridge of Jeffrey Backer.”

CNN 17 July 2012:
“The USDA has designated 39 additional counties in eight states as primary natural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by drought and excessive heat, CNN’s Brianna Keilar reports. During the 2012 crop year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 1,297 counties across 29 states as disaster areas, making all qualified farm operators in the area eligible for low-interest emergency loans….”

“The U.S. is facing the largest drought since the 1950’s, The National Climatic Data Center reported Monday, saying that about 55% of the country was in at least moderate short-term drought in June for the first time since December 1956, when 58% of the country was in a moderate to extreme drought”

“…. June, which ranked as the third driest month nationally in at least 118 years…”

CNN 1 August 2012:
“More than half of all U.S. counties have been designated disaster zones, the Department of Agriculture reported Wednesday (1 August), blaming excessive heat and a devastating drought that’s spread across the Corn Belt and is contributing to rising food prices.…
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday declared disaster zone designations for an additional 218 counties in 12 states because of damage and losses caused by drought and excessive heat. See more by following the link below:

Historic Drought

CNN 21 August 2012:
“An 11-mile stretch of the Mississippi River near Greenville Mississippi, was closed Monday to most vessel traffic because of low water levels, idling nearly a hundred boats and barges in the stream, according to the U.S. Coast Guard….”

“A historic drought and excessive heat have reduced water levels and scorched wide sections of the U.S. Midwest. Flooding last year may have worsened the situation on the Mississippi by leaving deposits of silt and debris in areas that would normally be clear. [Coast Guard Spokesman] Tippiets [sic] said he was unsure when the river would reopen or, once that happens, how long it would take to undo the gridlock.”

CNN 21 August 2012:
“Record radiation found in fish near Fukushima Plant”

CNN 9 January 2013:
“Hundreds of U.S. counties named disaster areas due to #drought….The U.S. Agriculture Department cited drought and heat on Wednesday in designating 597 counties in 14 states as primary natural disaster areas….The announcement comes a day after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that 2012 had been the hottest year on the record for the continental United States and the second-worst for ‘extreme’ weather such as hurricanes, droughts or floods.”

Justin Gillis in the New York Times 10 January 2013. See full article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/science/earth/2012-was-hottest-year-ever-in-us.html?hpw&_r=0

“The numbers are in: 2012, the year of a surreal March heat wave, a severe drought in the Corn Belt and a huge storm that caused broad devastation in the Middle Atlantic States, turns out to have been the hottest year ever recorded in the continuous United States….With the end of the growing season, coverage of the drought has waned, but the drought itself has not. Mr. Crouch pointed out that at the beginning of January, 61 percent of the country was still in moderate to severe drought conditions. ‘I foresee that it’s going to be a big story moving forward in 2013,” he said.”