The Top 10 Hardest-Hit States for Crop Damage
The searing U.S. drought of 2012 devastated the nation’s corn crop, pushing yields down in some states to their lowest levels in nearly 30 years. According to recently-released numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Missouri, Illinois and Indiana were among the hardest hit Corn Belt states, with yields at 28-, 26-, and 22-year … Read More
Good News, Bad News Continues for Drought Across U.S.
Thursday’s release of the latest U.S. Drought Monitor brought slivers of good news for some parts of the continental U.S., while more bad news for other regions. Storms that swept across the Southeast over the past week made a significant dent in drought conditions, eradicating the areas of “exceptional” drought — the worst category. Those rains … Read More
NASA to Launch New Earth-Observing Satellite
If the weather holds, NASA will launch its newest Earth-observing satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California late Monday morning. An Atlas V rocket is scheduled to carry Landsat 8 into space just after 11 a.m. Pacific time. Once in orbit, the $855 million probe will begin capturing detailed images of Earth’s surface, adding to… Read More
Ongoing Coverage of Historic Drought in U.S.
After a warm and dry spring and a scorchingly hot start to the summer, the U.S. is in the grips of one of its top 10 worst drought events on record. The drought extends from Delaware to California, with the most intense drought conditions centered in the nation's heartland. Corn growers and ranchers have been hard-hit this year, prompting fears of … Read More
Drought to Last Through April; Southwest May Improve
Large storms brought some short-term relief to drought afflicted areas over the past week, and allowed the footprint of the national drought to shrink slightly. However, while similar rainstorms are forecasted to continue during the coming weeks, there is only slight potential for drought recovery expected for the rest of the season.… Read More
India Confronts Huge Climate Change Challenge
India has to find a new model of development if the twin challenges of job creation and climate change are to be met, says an Oxford University academic, Barbara Harriss-White, of the Oxford Department of International Development.… Read More
U.S. Drought Hangs Tough Through January
People all across the West, Plains and Southeast continued to hold their breath this week, as another seven days of below average precipitation and above average temperatures brought no reprieve to the historic drought that has plagued these areas since early last spring. Some areas, such as Texas and Georgia, have been suffering from drought since… Read More
Global Food Crisis Will Worsen as Heat Waves Increase
The world's food crisis, where 1 billion people are already going hungry and a further 2 billion people will be affected by 2050, is set to worsen as increasing heat waves reverse the rising crop yields seen over the last 50 years, according to new research.… Read More
