227 replies to this topic

[Shortpoet-GTD]

They're saying it's the worst drought in 50 years. But others say it rivals or exceeds the dust bowl
days of the 30's; which is around 80 years.
Over half of the lower 48 are in drought.
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
http://www.weather.c...w-data-20120715




Your thoughts on this horrible situation?

India and China have been dealing with this much longer.
Stats here-
http://www.statista....major-droughts/

[Windstrument]

Wow check these pics from NYC today. We were just reading about the 100+ temps on Long Island. Then this storm rolled in. Flooded subway and the Stormy sky pic 3rd down most striking.

This is the counter side of the Droughts. Too much or Too little is the name of the game for the next several decades.

[ACSAPA]

It's either feast or famine, either you have flooding or you have drought and your city puts restrictions on water usage, and your lawn dies.  I can only control what I do in my house, not the weather or what other people do, so I have a washing machine that drains out in my backyard and waters the back lawn with my laundry water. I use a rain barrel so that when it does pour rain , I can use it later to water my herbs.

I try to be thoughtful in my everyday use of water and that's all I can do. What we can learn from the drought is to not take water for granted and use it wisely.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Mississippi levels are 30-50 feet below normal levels in some places, due to the drought.
It is impacting barge traffic.
They're having to use more with lighter loads, so they don't get stuck on sand bars and may have to have one lane of traffic.
Charts and grafts in link also.
http://www.accuweath...mississip/67963

[Shortpoet-GTD]

June 2012. was the third driest across the country, in the 118-year of record keeping;
and the month ranked among the top-10 driest for 11 states, including Wyoming, which reported its driest June ever.

More of the U.S. is experiencing drought conditions than at any time in the last half century; 55%
of the U.S. is in some stage of drought.
Demand for water has outstripped supply for over a year.
The heat is also contributing to poor air quality and ozone levels are above acceptable levels in some states.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/drought/

[Sandra Piddock]

Perhaps the deniers of global warming should be pointed towards this thread. Some of these consequences are staggering, and it will take more than a few days of rain to redress the balance. If the Mississippi is 30 - 50 feet lower than normal, it's going to take a lot of rain to sort that out - probably enough to bring floods. It's going to be a tricky road back from this one.

[DeeNeely]

The spread of this drought is something to see. I found a video from NOAA showing how it has spread across the country.


If you look at the area covered I think this drought is worse than the Dust Bowl because it covers so much.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

It is worse.
The dust bowl days were more localized. It was the practice of farmers at that time that caused the issues
of blowing dust.
They were educated for proper tilling, and planting covers crops, etc. ; so we don't see the soil becoming
wind blown like back then, but it is larger.
And it's not just America. Many countries are in drought too.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Global weirding rears it's ugly head, yet again.

While we're bone dry in many states in America, Beijing is seeing the worst flooding in 6 decades.
Fangshan district received 18.4 inches of rain, breaking a record set in 1951. It's also causing mudslides.
http://www.npr.org/2...ain-in-60-years

[E3 wise]

The cost of water in the United States has been on the rise, but it’s important to remember a few facts about the hydrological cycle and the effects that climate change is having on where water is available and how it is used.

   The media has focused on the affects to agriculture much of it on the corn crop.  One of the facts that get forgotten is that corn is that it requires large amounts of water to grow.  Corn is use in food, feed, sweeteners, oils, starch, and of course ethanol.
Now I am not anti corn, but what is important to remember is that as we transfer our reliance on one product more and more, the potential for problems increases.  This drought is going to cause prices to increase across the board on a lot of products Americans use, at a time when budgets are already strapped.

Yet the ratio of money used for food in the American Budget pales in comparison to poorer countries where upwards of 50% of daily income goes to food.  If you are living on the equivalent of less than $2.00 dollars a day as many in the developing world are, that increase will be much more substantial causing greater hunger worldwide.

Climate change is bringing in to stark contrast that as weather patterns change and are disrupted that fresh water, already our planets most threatened natural resource will become even more precious to our lives and economy.

The time has come for a systematic change in how we treat water in our daily lives and focus on ways we can maximize water resources.  For many years we have advocated for water recycling and reclamation practices.  Specifically the introduction of water harvesting by reintroducing old technologies back into our modern world.

Cistern systems for residential and commercial structures that capture runoff before it reaches roads and parking lots where it can be polluted.

Rain barrels for homes, should be reintroduced as a way to lessen usage for gardens.

Renewed focus on low flow toilets and sinks, along with other water saving practices in the home.

Xeriscaping and use of local natural plants that are drought tolerant.

Waste water reclamation and purification.

Transfering products made from heavy water users like corn to plants that use less water.

These are a few ways to mitigate water usage, because as these droughts become worse and more frequent people need to understand the true cost of water and the need we all have for it.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Something to consider-
blackouts.

Our energy sectors use more water than agriculture does.
Food for thought.

[ashmonn]

Boy, and the global warming naysayers are even trying to kill the term 'global warming', as if, it can erase the facts that we are really witnessing, as a consequence of it, namely this epic drought that we have had this summer.

I live in Michigan, which has historically had an unpredictable climate, due to the massive lake system that surrounds it, however I can't remember a time, since I have been alive where the temperatures have been so extreme and the lack of precipitation has been so extreme at the same time.

[steph84]

I live in California and we are in a drought. If we didn't have all of this water being pumped in from other states then there would be no way we could survive.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

26 states.
Strike that.
31 now.

[still learning]

 steph84, on 24 July 2012 - 06:40 PM, said:

I live in California and we are in a drought. If we didn't have all of this water being pumped in from other states then there would be no way we could survive.

Hmm....
I live in California too.
What other states do we have water pumped in from?
Southern California does get a fair proportion of it's water from the Colorado River, pumped from that river along the Califiornia-Arizona border and that water does mostly originate several states away, but otherwise water comes from in-state.  Lots of water is mover around instate, most notably the via California Aqueduct.
Lots of water is moved from Northern California to Southern California.
There are people who think that Southern and Northern California might as well be two different states. Or should be anyway.

The "drought" we're in?  Nothing remarkable, unlike losts of places eastward.  An ordinary kind of dry year.

"California has the unfortunate characteristic of being prone to prolonged and severe droughts at any time." is the lead sentence here: http://www.cadrought...et/watshort.htm

Seems like we never actually have enough water to go around, statewide, any more.  Too many demands, not enough rain and snow.

Climate change is expected to make things drier though, in the southern half of the state anyway, maybe the northern half too.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

US-
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
World-
http://www.eldoradoc...ought-risk.html

[Shortpoet-GTD]

This Grist article speaks to the fact of more insects invading our homes and I can personally say, it's true.
I've lived in this house since 93 and have never been bothered with black widow spiders.
So far this year? I've killed 5.
(I know, they're a part of the circle of life, and have their purpose but they can cause horrible pain, so forgive me,
but I killed them.)

And the heat and drought are causing all kinds of other problems too. Planes are being stuck in the tarmac
at airports, because the asphalt was so hot, it melted around the tires. OMG.

Cooling ponds at nuclear facilities are becoming overheated and that could be a huge issue.
Roads buckling, twisted train tracks.
It's not just the crops although that is the main concern, and the rising prices from lack of product to market.
Article here.
Photos here.
http://grist.org/lis...ng-in-the-heat/
http://usnews.nbcnew..._utmk=261890510

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Wasn't easy to do but I found a plus side to this drought-
smaller dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.noaanews....estdrought.html

[MyDigitalpoint]

Indeed it has to be the worst drough and keep extending to other states in America and to other countries according to the news.  I was watching a documentary that reveals how this problem is taking over Mexico too, which northern states show truly dramatic views, what is ironic because in southern states problem is the floods.

[dconklin]

 Shortpoet-GTD, on 27 July 2012 - 03:51 AM, said:

This Grist article speaks to the fact of more insects invading our homes and I can personally say, it's true.
I've lived in this house since 93 and have never been bothered with black widow spiders.
So far this year? I've killed 5.
(I know, they're a part of the circle of life, and have their purpose but they can cause horrible pain, so forgive me,
but I killed them.)

I don't blame you for killing the black widow!! We have been having some strange looking spiders lately, but mostly out on our deck and in the yard.  I am ok with them there as long as weird unidentifiable ones do not come in the house!

This drought is horrible!! We are not as bad here in NJ, tho our rivers are a little lower then they usually are we have had some rain and it is raining tonight.

I have talked with other people online and they were saying that their wells are now officially dried up.