Koreas suffering worst drought in a century

[CanadaSue]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle4370639/

[dyrt]

This is shaping up to be a summer of death. Bread baskets all over the world are reporting problems. The rich nations that have traditionally bailed out the poor countries are bankrupt, at the same time that basic food prices are going up in price.

[CanadaSue]

Locally, our fields are in dire shape. Most of eastern Ontario is reporting the same & there's a LOT of farming here - all manner of crops & herds.

Here at home, we're already planning to stock up as best we can at harvest time. I suspect many livestock farmers will choose not to carry many animals over the winter - feed costs may be too high. I'm hoping a lot of meat will hit the market at the same time & if so - my freezer gets stuffed to within an inch of its life.

[penguinzee]

We noticed on our road trip (from Florida to northern Virginia) that all the corn crops were not doing well at all... wilting under the heat... got some of those same reports in Ohio (friend of mine's relatives have fields in northern Ohio)... No, not good, not good at all...

Franc (penguinzee)

[Ross]

# Most of the world looks pretty cold to me .

# Droughts are not necessarily due to heat . Cold weather and/or
cold water can cause ocean evaporation failure and so the onshore
wind carries little moisture .

[BuilderBob]

Originally Posted by Ross

# Most of the world looks pretty cold to me .

# Droughts are not necessarily due to heat . Cold weather and/or
cold water can cause ocean evaporation failure and so the onshore
wind carries little moisture .

Took a while for that to sink in. That chart Ross posted derives the zero baseline from 30 years of data. The actual data shown is for just one day, 7th July 2012. Most of the surface of ourplanet, some 70%, is covered in water.

The planet surface area at the poles is hugely over represented because of the projection used. Miller Cylindrical I guess. The scary red areas of Russia, China, Canada and Greenland would look much smaller in orthographic projection.

The current 'heat wave' in the USA is being blamed on the jet stream. Certainly giving us a cold wet summer here in Wales. DW commented on the mould on the pavements (sidewalks to you over the pond), they are turning green.

[rootdiggr]

I thought that the headline said "Kansas" not "Koreas". Too early in the day, I guess.

But on our recent drive to Denver, it was evident that the mid-west needs watering. We drove through Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado. Every pond, river, creek, source of water of any kind, was way down. Or dried up. And we got rained on exactly once during the 8-day trip. And that was for only a few minutes. Things don't look good out there, folks.