Drought!

We had a hell of a La Nina over 2010 - 2011, so much water was dumped on Austraslia and South America that you can actually see a corresponding dip in the global sea level over the period:

1028117main_sea%20level%20drop.jpg


http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/whatonearth/posts/post_1323211578062.html

It's growing increasingly likely that we are moving into an El Nino this year, so Australia can expect to return to the extreme drought conditions of a few years ago, we can probably expect another record breaking global temperature too.
 
And no matter how bad the drought is, law dictates that we'll still be putting at least 40% of the corn crop in our gas tanks.
 
We have had a little over one inch of rain since January. Last year at this time we were making sandbags for flood conditions. One thing I'm noticing is the range cattle plowing through fencelines trying to get to whatever little water there is left. And of course we are burning. All except two counties in the state are in federal emergency status.
 
There's still quite a bit of land here that will remain unseeded due to last year's flooding. The temperatures here have been mostly seasonal since June, with some rain, not terribly much though. It's humid today, the weather people say thunder showers tonight.
 
BenBurch said:
Some of what I saw in Indiana yesterday isn't going to tassel. Joined the Choir Invisible it has.
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Shoot, the problem with the corn around these parts of Indiana is that they tassled WAY too soon. So stressed, they basically quit growing (probably a foot short) and just started tassling. I think the plant decided that it better seed up now or it was going to be dead.

There is an old saying, corn should be "Knee high by the 4th of July." This is the second year out of three that the local corn all hit knee high by the 4th of June, but the first time I ever remember corn tassling before the 4th of July (and a lot was tassling out before July even)

The field in our back yard is firing, and yesterday's nice downpour was too little too late. Very small ears, and I don't know how much corn is on it.
 
warmest-12-months-on-record-warmest-first-half-of-the-year-biggest-drought-.gif


The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released its chart-filled “State of the Climate Global Analysis” for June 2012:
The big stories are the heat and drought:
  • The average temperature for the contiguous U.S. during June was 71.2°F, which is 2.0°F above the 20th century average. Scorching temperatures during the second half of the month led to at least 170 all-time high temperature records broken or tied. The June temperatures contributed to a record-warm first half of the year and the warmest 12-month period the nation has experienced since recordkeeping began in 1895.
  • According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, as of July 3, 56.0 percent of the contiguous U.S. experienced drought conditions, marking the largest percentage of the nation experiencing drought conditions in the 12-year record of the U.S. Drought Monitor.
How off-the-charts has the last year been? NOAA has done the math:
  • During the June 2011-June 2012 period, each of the 13 consecutive months ranked among the warmest third of their historical distribution for the first time in the 1895-present record. The odds of this occurring randomly is 1 in 1,594,323.
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http://thinkprogress.org/climate/20...-calls-record-heat-a-one-in-16-million-event/
 
bit_pattern said:
We had a hell of a La Nina over 2010 - 2011, so much water was dumped on Austraslia and South America that you can actually see a corresponding dip in the global sea level over the period:

[qimg]http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/whatonearth.blog/1028117main_sea%20level%20drop.jpg[/qimg]

http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/whatonearth/posts/post_1323211578062.html

It's growing increasingly likely that we are moving into an El Nino this year, so Australia can expect to return to the extreme drought conditions of a few years ago, we can probably expect another record breaking global temperature too.
Click to expand...

We're still getting way above average rainfall in Victoria at the moment.
 
Crop analyst on the radio here yesterday said the next 14 days will tell the story, but if significant rain does not come, the corn harvest for Illinois will be a record low.

He went on to say this could result in a 200%-300% increase in the price of pork and beef next Spring.

What this means for the rest of the planet is anybody's guess at this point, but I don't think this is a good scenario unfolding here.
 
Though in the shorter term, beef prices may plummet. I remember a few years ago when crops were terrible. Farmers started slaughtering and selling, and prices actually came down quite a bit -- for awhile.

Next spring though?
 
DrDave said:
Well in the UK, it's the coldest 6 months I remember so I guess it all evens out ;)
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OT a bit, but I got a chuckle when I heard the forecast for the cricket at Manchester. 15C and rain. Precisely the same as chilly Melbourne in the middle of winter. ;)
 
Beerina said:
Though in the shorter term, beef prices may plummet. I remember a few years ago when crops were terrible. Farmers started slaughtering and selling, and prices actually came down quite a bit -- for awhile.

Next spring though?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can see that. No reason to keep them if you can't afford to feed them.

If I believed in a cloud-being, I'd be asking him for rain...
 
MG1962 said:
It helps in Australia that our dam systems are so efficient. When we get the rain it does not take long to get them full again. But I am sure you have heard the old saying - You know when the droughts over when the flood starts lol
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"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, "before the year is out."
 
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