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The National Weather Service issued this map along with its Seasonal Drought Outlook on Thursday.
A double-barreled dose of bad news came out Thursday: Not only did the drought worsen over the last week, but it's likely to widen and intensify through the end of October, according to the seasonal outlook prepared by government forecasters.
"Unfortunately, all indicators (short and medium-term, August, and August-October) favor above normal temperatures," the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center said in its Seasonal Drought Outlook released Thursday.
"We don't see a reason to say it will improve," Kelly Helm Smith, a specialist at the National Drought Mitigation Center, told reporters. "I'm in the Midwest," she said, referring to her office at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, "it's really unpleasant."
The outlook noted that "a dramatic shift in the weather pattern" would be required "to provide significant relief to this drought, and most tools and models do not forecast this."
Drought could take hold in the northern plains by October, the Climate Prediction Center added.
Moreover, last week saw a continued "downward spiral of drought conditions," according to the weekly Drought Monitor issued Thursday.
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Nearly 81 percent of the contiguous U.S. was "abnormally dry" or in drought, weather.com reported in analyzing the data, while 64 percent was in some degree of drought, up 3 percentage points from the previous week. About 42 percent was "severe" or worse.
The Weather Channel's Carl Parker reports on the worst drought in years, and the state of agriculture in the Midwest.
The monitor also noted these dire indicators for food production:
- 38 percent of the U.S. corn crop was in "poor to very poor condition" -- up from 30 percent a week ago;
- 30 percent of soybeans were in poor to very poor condition -- up from 27 percent.
- 54 percent of pastures and rangelands were in poor to very poor condition -- up from 50 percent and an all-time high since that measure began in 1995.
- Stream flows were at or near record low values across much of the Midwest and parts of the central Plains, West, Southeast, and even parts of New England.
Forecasters have called the drought the most widespread since 1956, though 1988 was worse in terms of crop losses due to an extremely dry year for the Midwest.
Experts said that could still change.
"It's too soon to know how much this one will cost" since farmers are still harvesting, Helm Smith told NBC News.
"There's a possibility that this could get worse," added Jake Crouch, an expert at the National Climatic Data Center.
"It's something to keep an eye on in the next couple of weeks," he told NBC News.
The federal government on Wednesday added 39 more counties to its drought disaster list, speeding up low-cost loans for farmers and ranchers. That's now 1,297 counties across 29 states with access to those loans.
Related: Sagging homes a sign of the times
The head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, said it was particularly painful for farmers because they planted for bumper crops, with many now instead potentially facing bankruptcy.
"Part of the problem we're facing is that weather conditions were so good at the beginning of the season that farmers got in the field early, and as a result this drought comes at a very difficult and painful time in their ability to have their crops have good yield," Vilsack told reporters Wednesday after briefing President Barack Obama on the drought.
"I get on my knees everyday and I'm saying an extra prayer right now," he added. "If I had a rain prayer or a rain dance I could do, I would do it."
R.J. Matson / Roll Call, Politicalcartoons.com
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Get those C130s up and seed the clouds. Providing of course there are clouds.
This GODS punishment for Americas Republican Party; The United States of American should disdain, and absolutely discord the Republican Party. Turn your back on them and their lies, they make a mockery of the Election System, and they lie, cheat, and abuse the US Citizens and The US Military. Please listen closely, and never vote Republican ever again.
Hey Bill shut up, nut jobs like you blame your God for this? If this is your God then I want nothing to do with him. You say it is punishment for the Republican party? TELL me Bill Bob, how is this not going to effect Democrats? Are their fields going to get the moisture from your God and overlook his Republican neighbors? Put a shirt on and crawl back under your rock.
God's PUNISHMENT for growing genetically engineer crops which the GOP doesn't eat.
An exec on fiercebiotech.com said CEO's are BRATS and should be punished with lump of coal.
SIN CROPS and should not be doing this to the basic needs food crops, no soy, soy lethicin, corn fed to cattle is UNNATURAL, painful, abuse, FACTORY FARMS, factory hospitals are abusive and cruel.
Read The Treatment by Martha Stephens, Radiation experiments in conjunction with "the Pentagon". Kills.
Bull @!$%#; you just described the democrat party and I belong to the democrat party. It used to be a good party, before it was hi-jacked by the socialist.
My god, judge! Must everything be politicized with liberal idiots like you? What the hell does this weather pattern have to do with either the dems or repubs? Are you really that retarded or are you making an extra effort today?
***
to grow what, GMO CROPS or have they GMOd the clouds, rape seed is the word, RAPING the country.
SIN Crops and they deserve to DIE for GMO "food" for animals and people. YOU LIE< YOU DIE. Glad to see it happen. screw MONSANTO, GE and aspartame and all other crap. Bout time nature struck back.
When looking at the map above I first though I was looking at the Republican party .... states all in the..... RED. Isn't it odd.... all the states in the worst drought ever are....... Republicans. Could it be their god of corruption....... is punishing them????????????????
I CAN AND WILL END THIS DROUGHT IN A HEARTBEAT, provided of course you all admit that the publication of the new BOOK by the INTERNATIONAL JEW, that responds to the hateful lies of a US industrialist in the 20th century, has first priority in your minds, this is the background, MR JOSHUA BETHEL the INTERNATIONAL JEW, is finally tired of being tarred and feathered by the KINGS who lurk in the secretive hangouts and will "attack them in their fortresses"! For this he has "started a climate war" or so he says, because of the unwillingness of the liberal media, that is only liberal in name to tell the truth about both who really was behind the biggest genocide against Jews in the history of Europe and also who in the world first started to put the United States into debt to the kings of Europe by "disabling and robbing the national bank" here in the US!
ALL THESE EVIL SECRETS will be disclosed in the new book, that is bound to raise the hair of some faithful kings of the mystic tie, for it will disclose secrets that have been faithfully kept by "MILLIONS OF ADHERENTS" of an order that replied when I asked them who they were in a lodge that is secular of this world and worldly:
WE ARE THE KINGS THAT CAN DO NO WRONG!
I am curious how many bright green lawns reside around these farms. I say this for while Colorado was in a severe drought a few years ago, and a small town about 12 hours downhill from me had no water coming the taps, as the creek that supplied such was almost bare.
However along the way to that town, too many of the wealthier than most had bright green manicured lawns, with hoses and sisterns hidden in the creek sucking out each last drop of water for their nicely groomed lawn.
Something is very wrong when a wealthy person can have a bright green lawn when others depend on the same water for sustenance! In fact such is disgraceful at best and highly shameful and disrespectful to their neighbors! Do the wealthy care---not one bit---they must keep up their image don't ya know to the detriment of anyone else!
FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT "CLIMATE WAR", in the year 1993 I was personally told I was denied employment in the United States of America because I did not pay my tithes? Does that sound right to you, for a government in SLC Utah to tell me I did not pay my tithing and for that reason I was not given employment?
Needless to say in addition that was a lie that sullies the pure waters of ANTI HUN SENTIMENT, because I am an "INTERNATIONAL HUN" meaning I know first hand what really happened in that nation under the INTERNATIONAL NAZIS, who went to war against the International JEW because a "US INDUSTRIALIST" gave them the ammunition necessary to claim the JEWS were trying to take over the world! OR SO HE STATED, now the kings cannot claim that that US INDUSTRIALIST was not a card carrying member of their fraternity for he is mentioned in one of their own publications, as a member of their fraternity!
Therefore when they stated I did not pay my tithing I merely said, you can control the job market, but not the amount of rain that is "pouring from the sky" therefore I stated I wanted my blessings in the form of both rain and snow, or general precipitation, after which Utah got clobbered with so much snow since it was Winter at the time that roofs started to collapse, after which I stated, I think that serves the purpose, you can stop now! After that in addition just to prove a point there was a 500 year flood in the Midwest that pushed Valmeyer onto higher ground! Needless to state the kings no longer claim I did not pay my tithes, now they consider me an alien, that is manipulating the weather, since a member of their fraternity asked a librarian in my home town, in my earshot, if they had any literature that referes to "aliens" no doubt from outer space manipulating the weather!
Since I have no funds from which to pay my tithes, the weather has been kind of sparse lately it is your own fault for allowing these evil kings to bar me from all money making opportunities!
AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED YOU ARE ALL EQUALLY GUILTY AND DESERVE THIS DROUGHT!
Tin foil hat alert.
To be "relieved from this drought" this is what you must do first of all:
You must ask the International JEW MR JOSHUA BETHEL for forgiveness for trying to block his publication which he will graciously accept provided of course you are serious about it, you must "inundate" the two book publishing companies Exlibris.com, and DORRANCEPUBLISHING.com with so many hits, that they drown in demand for publishing the book, that will reveal the secrets of the temples that are secular of this world and worldly and have "no religious purpose whatsoever", and finally if you want to write to THE SECRET.TV and ask them to make a movie that is called:
TOP SECRET, what the governments of the world do not want you to know and what they kept you in the dark about, that also would help, but most of all, you must "WRITE TO THE WHITE HOUSE" and demand a "declassification" of the secrets that are discussed in that book, for when asked when the book that details these "EVIL SECRETS" would be printed a secret service agent responded to me after I personally saw the US president at the WHITE HOUSE CHURCH, meaning the St. John Episcopal Church across the White House Lawn, that this would not be happening until the RAIDERS win the SUPERBOWL, needless to say the PRESIDENT IS SCARED @!$%#LESS excuse that expression, that as soon as that information comes out, someone will be coming for his head, since these kings did in their time also threaten the sixth president of the US with these exact words in an anonymous letter, after he referred to their fraternity as a "wicked conspiracy and the seed of evil", and these are the ANONYMOUS THREATENING WORDS that paraphrase one the first "BRUTAL PENALTY" as John Quincy Adams referred to them:
BY NEXT MAY FIRST I WILL CUT YOUR THROAT FROM EAR TO EAR, needless to say I am putting myself at risk by putting this out, just remember if I show up dead somewhere, you might guess who killed me!
Just so that you may know I am not coming up with this out of my own hat, and that indeed I do intend to prove to you that the suppression of the press and the weather in this regard are connected, read Isaiah Chapter 28 where a link between unpleasant weather conditions and a "covenant with death and with hell" is clearly mentioned! Also I did ask for the Universe to "put the hammer" on the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA yesterday, it started in Manhattan with both hail and rain, expect more of the same across the United States of America for it states:
THE HAIL SHALL SWEEP AWAY THE REFUGE OF LIES, and water shall cover the hiding place!
I am formally proposing what I call the "C. Montgomery Burns Plan to Mitigate Human Impacts on Climate Change". In the two-part "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" episodes of The Simpsons, Monty built an enormous dish on the hill above Springfield. His dish followed the sun's trajectory and cast Springfield into perpetual shade so that the citizens would need to rely entirely upon his beloved nuclear plant. Under the "C. Montgomery Burns Plan to Mitigate Human Impacts on Climate Change", we would place large, expandable mirrors into high earth orbit to reflect the sun's light back into space. That way we can cut down on the amount of solar radiation before it reaches the daggone stratosphere! It would of course reflect only a small amount, but that's all it should take, and if we powered them with some photovoltaic cells, the mirrors could rotate to let the radiation through to land and my all-important garden plants. I'm thinking that we should make several of them that only reflect the radiation when over the open ocean.
Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and become more ecologically responsible. Obviously we need to do that as well, but even if we quit producing greenhouse gases today, we'd still need to reduce the amount of C02 in the atmosphere. You heard it here first, and I'm rather serious about this, because it sure beats fertilizing the oceans or the stratosphere as some have proposed. Please pass this idea on to the powers in charge. It would be great if we could get this done in the next couple of days. The corn's done, beans are hurtin' and I'm
withering under this heat.
Wow, the whack jobs are out enforce today.
Hope it rains soon.
When looking at the map above of the drought areas.....one could think they are looking at a map of all Republican Districts.
Whether it be economic forecasting or weather forecasting, when the experts forecast something, go the other way! I think I will save their forecast and whip it out later for kicks.
'The federal government on Wednesday added 39 more counties to its drought disaster list, speeding up low-cost loans for farmers and ranchers. That's now 1,297 counties across 29 states with access to those loans.' - Low cost loans, you mean socialist wealth distribution to provide assistance to mostly right-wing Republicans? Why don't these farmers rely on the free-market and if they didn't save enough for a rough year, well, that's how Capitalism/Creative Destruction works, right? Of course, they only want free-market capitalism for all of those 'elites' on the coasts, and free money/subsidies from the government for themselves...which somehow isn't socialism. In keeping with the current meme on this thread..I'm sure this drought is somehow an ultra-secret conspiracy between jews, gypsies and Monty Burns to turn Republican districts into sub-saharan wastelands, populated by zombies....well, actually repubs are pretty much zombies already....maybe this thread isn't that crazy :)
This has happened before!
"This has happened before." Sure. There's nothing new under the sun; everything has happened before. However, this is happening because we are trapping more energy in the atmosphere by seeding it with a 33% increase in greenhouse gases.
You can't beat mother nature, but you can abuse her, and suffer the consequences. And simply denying that it is hot is not going to help, nor is saying "this has happened before." The only thing that will help is an educated population that learns the mechanisms behind this drought, and recognizes the need to do something about them.
Kornfed: "when the experts forecast something, go the other way!"
I understand your use of exagerration for humor, but if you followed that advice literally, you'd be pretty ignorant until your early death. Experts can be wrong, but less often than non-experts.
Sunnytoo do your realize that introducing drought tolerant traits into GM seed would prevent this type of disaster? Luckily the research is almost complete for the next stacked-trait seed, expected in 2014, which will be drought and salinity resistant. Thank goodness for scientific progress, because we have a global population of 8 billion to sustain!
Also, interesting that you read fiercebiotech, keep on reading it you may yet realize the benefits of the biotech industry.
ScientistX is correct. Regarding his comment:
These (warmer temperature, rise in sea level, late arrival of monsoons in India, thawing of Russian permafrost at an alarming rate, more of Manhattan size icebergs floating around, faster receding of glaciers, etc.) are going to happen often and at a more rapid pace, if we (all over the world) don't:
1. Cut our fossil fuel consumption (both oil and coal) or banning their mining is even better.
2. drastically reduce the population, even if it means forced sterlizations, free condoms to younsters, etc.
3. Reduce our consumption of natural resources (iron, copper, zinc, etc.) and increase taxes on mining companies.
If we don't, in 50 years we will have 10 Billion people in this planet and all crammed in much lesser area than we have now, more warmer temparature (may be 125 degrees will be common in North America - who knows).
I am exaggerating?
Hmmm.. this is not a GOP/Democrat or a "POLITICAL" issue yet....... We are all going to pay for this one in the grocery store.
What will be interesting to see.. is if the GOP keeps their party stance:
Remember of course, that sending millions of tons of poisons into the air, water, and land, cutting down the forests, paving over the fields, and breeding like rats has nothing to do with why our world is becoming a more vicious and ugly place. It's not our fault, of course. It's nor our machines' fault. It's just a natural sunspot cycle.
Dont worry Karl, nature will thin the herd. You may not like how she does it, for it is not just, nor fair. Nature does not practice liberalism.
77obs- thanks for the thought, but there's only a few tiny puffs of white out my window right now. And not many expected for the current 10 day forcast. In fact, unless the current forecast changes, we'll pass our record consecutive days above 90 some time next week. (current record is 34). I'm hoping a tropical storm swings up through Texas to bring us some real rain. We had a bit this morning, and it's amazing how excited everyone got over a typical summer storm.
You got my vote Bill.
"I am exaggerating?"
Obviously.
And I'm normally a great speller, but that is one word that just never looks right.
Kornfed: "Nature does not practice liberalism."
We agree on that. Perhaps we disagree on whether we should be better than that.
Better than what? Than nature? We are not capable, just as she is not.
Let the anti-oil wackos that insisted we needed to empty our graineries and turn our food supply into ethanol, drink it. Food shortage, energy shortage, overpopulation, and unemployment problems solved immediately.
If they planted oats or spring barley instead of so much corn the wheather wouldn,t be an issue.
The weather might still be an issue but our graineries would be full.
The record HIGH prices for corn will also exacerbate the price of other commodities and groceries period. A steep price to pay for using FOOD as fuel. Due to AG mostly growing soy bean and corn being subsidized [for corporate farms] to stabilize there wages in off years... Why isn't America the MOST diverse in AG growing?
Even with the world market WE pushed on everyone we should still be growing our own food from [Casey Veggies nowwithrocnationwtf?] to Fruit and nuts. ; ] There is still room in a world market for self sufficiency and another steep price is being paid for keeping HORRID domain over this earth we inherited. ; ]
Sup Kendric, Dom!
Cheers
ScientistX, Tomorrow hasn't happened before, get ready for it. For all you Yanky God Botherers', it's called Karma, not so calm. You have treated the planet and occupants with so much contempt, thinking that God will serve you well, the time is here, thank God, Steinbeck wrote it, you may have read it, now you will feel it, it's about time. And as far as Zathrose and the comment on 'our granaries will be full', Zathrose is Full of S@%T.
Shyte happens, even to you.
Spoken like a true environmental wacko religious zealot, Stephen.
Here's a kicker for you all!
We are in a drought and gas companies are still using millions of gallons of water for their fracking.
I think you call that double indemnity? They pollute the water to extract carbon fuel to pollute the atmosphere that contributes to climate change that causes drought.
Crimes against humanity, when will it all end?
NEVER! Simply because they are cornering the market on bottled Agua. Yes indeed, the goal is to squeeze every ounce of fossil fuel from the ground until maximum value is achieved WITH tax payers help in the form of subsidies. THEN and only then when the agua is most scarce will they have the GREAT capitalistic opportunity to rape Americans in particular and in greater part the world of there last few bucks pounds and franks for agua.
It is just like the drug war excepting an made opiates but the lobby's of pharmaceuticals NOT wanting a holistic path for people to grow for free there own pot, they then say" why should water be free"?.. Why should people get water so cheap from a city etc. with a monthly water bill or at the store in bottle form. Water my friends is the next bastion of barons sheiks and tycoons... ;]
God grows pot and God makes rain but hey! Hes gotta be wrong, were christian right?
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Cheers
Judge Bill - Yes, by all means let us support thosewho support the slaughter of over 4,000 babies per day. And let us not forget the support of the homosexual agendas as well... Thus, go ahead and support your democrats who support two of the greatest abominations against God's WORD.
Man’s so called wisdom in thinking he knows all that there is to be known has always amazed me. True wisdom is gained from what man has experienced in life and comes from the One Sovereign God. There is nothing in this life that man can say for a certainty, unless he has seen, or experienced directly or indirectly that which pertains to his statements, beliefs, or faith. In other words, for man to say, “I know God does not exist,” just because he personally has not experienced a life changing event is nothing less than pure ignorance.
One revelation from God is worth far more than the knowledge gained from all the books in the world written by men who have no understanding or comprehension of the absolute truth of God’s WORD.
Judge Bill - If you think this dought or 9/11 was something than just set back and watch, because as bad as they have been, they are nothing compared to what is coming for America.
Just as it is told in the Old Testament that God brought heathen nations against Israel, so too is He doing the same to America. Just as He gave Israel unrighteous leaders in hopes of drawing the hearts of the Israelites back to Him, so too is He doing the same to America. And just as the majority of the Israelites refuse to return to God, so too is it the same for the majority of Americans.
God warned the israelites that 1/3 would die to the sword, 1/3 would die through famine and 1/3 would be carried off to captivity There is a lot more destruction coming our way for America. God has made His judgment clear to those who are listening.
To read God’s judgment for America’s future or lack thereof, google: “The Message For America, Hand of Help Ministries.” and for 2nd major terrorist attack, google; “The Eagle and the Serpents, Hand of Help.” And for again, what I believe will be the location of the 2nd attack, google: “Watchman On The Wall, The Eagle and the Serpents (Part 2).”
The map above looks like a map of all the Republican Districts. It looks like God is now making these people pay for their corruption. Call it their living hell.
Fosz---You are a dingbat!
If, in the future, your house burns down around your ears...we'll know it's because you're a Democrat???
All these things were foretold long ago....read your bible....Revelations
No man can stop what's coming...it's not politics, it's the reward for our human nature.
CWDancer: for the human nature that god gave us? how can he be so perfect if he created imperfection, because he did so on purpose? Hogwash. I just don't buy this scenario, put forward by the written-by-MAN-bible: "I am GOD. I am LONELY, so I created YOU to WORSHIP ME. Do so, or have your FREE CHOICE. But if you choose FREE CHOICE, I will make you SUFFER FORVEVER."
What a wonderful guy! I suppose this is just him shaking his at farm again, hmm?
God did great a perfect man and woman in the beginning. He gave man the ability to chose..... He did not want a robot.... Where you made to love your parents? No! It is about choosing to love and obeying your parents... Adam and Eve chose not to obey God's Word, thus sin entered into the world and from that moment on the sin nature as been passed from generation to generation... Thus we have contaminated our DNA. The wages of sin is death.
In the Old Testament there were over 300 prophecies spoken of a coming Savior/Redeemer and only One man, Jesus fulfilled all of those prophecies... God has placed it in every heart to want to believe in Him, but man chooses to seek his only desires and not the desires that God has for his life.... Know this, the desire could very well have been destroyed by an incident, a parent or even ones self.
A life that could be fill with His love He does promise.... He does not promise us a life without heartaches, but He does promise us that what ever we must go through He will strengthen us even unto death.
Man’s so called wisdom in thinking he knows all that there is to be known has always amazed me. True wisdom is gained from what man has experienced in life and comes from the One Sovereign God. There is nothing in this life that man can say for a certainty, unless he has seen, or experienced directly or indirectly that which pertains to his statements, beliefs, or faith. In other words, for man to say, “I know God does not exist,” just because he personally has not experienced a life changing event is nothing less than pure ignorance.
One revelation from God is worth far more than the knowledge gained from all the books in the world written by men who have no understanding or comprehension of the absolute truth of God’s WORD.
If you are interested in research then I would suggest you reading a book written by Lee Strobel, titled: The Case For Christ.... Wouldn't it be better to be 100% accurate in your belief than to have doubts?
The odds that God exists as per the story of any religious scripture seems to be so small that I will not even entertain following any of it. That being said, I do believe in intelligent design. In fact, there is no doubt in my mind that life is intelligently designed. The argument is, what form does this inteligence take. I remember Carl Sagan saying, if one says that God created the Universe and the life in it, then why not go one step further and ask what created God? I am paraphrasing of course, but that was the jist of what he said. Well, one could also ask what created the atoms and the quarks and what ever other substances atoms are made of that we have not discovered. Did they just exist? And if so, couldn't "God" have just existed? Either scenario considered, seems to involve some incomprehensible magic.
I would like to think we will get a glimpse of the answer when we die. But until then, none of us will ever truly know, and most likely, never will
It is beginning to look a lot like a repeat of the 1930s: drought in the farmbelt and depression all over the country.
Just a Blip in the weather nothing to worry about. Before too long people will be saying that we are getting too much rain. There is No normal anymore. You get what you gets and that's it. No happy medium.
Great point Tarz,
Nowadays people want to control everything,
We just aren't that powerful.....
Tarzan, I'm not sure the farmer who has already mowed down his dead crops would minimze the drought in the same way you do. No offense intended, but a lot of small farmers can't afford crop insurance and this is going to really hurt them. I just keep hoping for the best. We'll see. If it doesn't rain soon I won't be able to find hay for sale to feed my horses through the winter and what I do find will be really expensive.
I am now giving you the very reason why the United States was given no rain during the 3Os, it was simply because they were "planning to commit genocide against Jews" in their secretive ruling councils and that is why the LORD did not bless them with rain, for it is against UNIVERSAL JUSTICE to provide those with rain that are secretly conspiring to murder people who have made a covenant with the ruling power of the Universe, this is simply not "KOSHER" and the International Jew will state as much!
You may of course "accept or reject that explanation" another explanation of course might be that Henry Ford and other Automotive manufacturers and Industrialists like him put so much pollution in the air, that the global temperature rose and drought and misery rose with it, and as a result global warming targeted specifically the United States for a drought since God hates industry and wants us all to live in the primitive Garden of Eden, rather than pollute the Environment with both nitrous oxides, sulfur dioxides, methane gas, mercury, cyanide and all other resources in the wrong place which is known as pollution, as a matter of fact, when Enoch had an interview with the planet in the long ago history this is what planet earth, or Mother Earth complained of:
Woe is me, see, she is in pain, and who caused this pain? Woe is me the mother of MEN, when shall I be cleansed from this "FILTH" that is come out of me, now you could argue who is referred to when it speaks of filth, perhaps it is all the "nuclear waste" that has been dug up by modern man, or perhaps it speaks of the pollution that has been unleased by Industry, Agricultural runoff, and atmospheric poisoning, but most of all, it could refer to the genocidal murderers that have been hiding out under a PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTION!
Dude get your facts straight, the dust bowl was caused by a combination of the loss of the sod to hold the soil in place, causing drought to dry up the soil and create the dust storms. I know I may be partial to atheism but STOP YOUR END OF THE WORLD GOD PROPHECIES, we have collectively survived all this time by problem solving, not clinging on to our "gods". If there is drought find irrigation or try to find a way to mitigate the circumstance... although in this case, the drought may be too systemic to mitigate with traditional methods...
This does not even come close to the drought of the 1930's. There were two others that were worse. One was in the 1970's and the other one around 1986, at least in this area. Farming methods are worlds better now than they were then. But we do have a much higher population.
confusedwonder -it is hard to irrigate a whole state like Indiana where i live water table is really down where are you going to pump water from ? the corn is pitiful , corn feeds people and live stock and they make fuel from it get ready to pay high prices every where
A butterfly flaps its wings in Beijing...you get a drought in the US... its chaos!
Time to start picking the grapes of wrath
HE HAS LOOSED THE FATEFUL LIGHTNING OF HIS TERRIBLE SWIFT SWORD, AND IS TRAMPLING DOWN THE VINTAGE WHERE THE GRAPES OF WRATH ARE STORED, I used to tread on the grapes when I was a teenager, to make sure they fit propery into the container we put them in, then we put them into the winepress and "SQUEEZED" THEM, WE WILL DO THE SAME WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, until PURE WINE and not all that "adulterated" political trash, is coming out from the White House, the House of REPRESENTATIVES and the Senate, which according to "Senator and General ZACHARY TAYLOR" had become a "secret conclave" where deeds the most abhorrent could be done and then later whitewashed because those who laid the foundation of the "national debt" were never punished for their evil deeds of putting us under the slavery of secretive kings who now have the money while we have the debt, all that will be explained in detail in the book, and here is the title for all of you who are dying to know it:
THE INTERNATIONAL MASON, the world's foremost problem!
Doesn't the map above look like the mapping of all Republican Districts??????????? God is now punishing them for their corruption. Amen.
It does look like the map. But the Repub map is also the working class, and the Democrat "anti-map" is the all the liberal social blood suckers feeding off the ones who do all the work. We also use the democrat states as the map of places to NOT live.
@BlackCat, the 'democrat' states also subsidize the 'Republican' states. Either the free market isn't working since you need that hand out, or you enjoy most of the benefits of socialism - (farm subsidies, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security) whilst bashing it at the same time. I would love to see at least a few Republicans completely reject all farm subsidies and government health care and rely instead on the free market, instead of practicing hypocrisy.
God, send down the rains. 40 days and 40 nights. steady rain.
I'm not sure flash flooding would be any better.
AG- it is extreme where I live. We have had 21" of rain where I live but only about 4 did any good. Came down in buckets and ran off or pounded everything into the ground. On our 3rd week of 90-100 degree with no rain and I fear we are in a bad cycle.
The above map........looks like a political map. All the RED areas are REPUBLICAN areas.
Fosz,
That is the political problem. Nothing will be done unless the voters demand it, since the solutions will be costly in any case. You would think that there would be a high demand from the voters in the affected regions for something to be done to save them. But they are insisting that we abandon them to their fate. By the time they wake up, it really will be too late.
Look again, Fosz. The biggest red area is Colorado, a nominally blue state at the moment, and many of the others are purple. What does it matter anyway? Like the weather is somehow influenced by state politics? No, that would just be you.
Also, Ohio, Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada, Iowa, Minnesota are in the drought on the map. I believe those states voted dem in 2008.
Where is Jesse Ventura and his HARP conspiracy theory?
haarp.alaska.edu/ you can see it for yourself. it is no longer a conspiracy fool.
And it is not "HIS" theory.
Let's keep fracking, and poisoning what water is left.
It would probably help if they would let the farmers in Colorado use the wells they drilled just for this but thanks to the EPA they are not allowed to use the water for irrigation.
So Sun, when are you going to give up car and start walking everywhere? Put your money where your mouth is!
Rally, really cool you have a car that runs on Natural gas....
JOHNQ you are absolutely correct. Wonder if the EPA is in the GOP, but the search for such will destroy this home of our---the planet Earth pockets for they obviously favor fracking over water and sustenance!
All the oil in the world unfortunately will not produce food and clean water. In fact as our Govts search for more oil, they deplete the earth of sustenance and eventually one day this search and fgreed for more oil will destroy our home, The Planet Earth!
JQ1 - It is not the EPA. It is called Senior Water Rights. First users are Senior. The rest are SOL.
H.A.A.R.P.
When the rain wont let up this fall people will see the true reason behind the drought H.A.A.R.P has created. Search the Future US Navy Map and use it as a reference to get away from the areas that will be flooded. Food shortages will cause people to be starving in our Country.
Not likely to improve at all, but most likely to get a lot worse. The stroms on the east coast have been nuts this summer. The storms are getting worse every time we have one. We lose roofs and trees are beingg ripped out of the ground, and rivers flooding over every time now.
Getting storms in Northern MN that I haven't seen in my lifetime. Last one had 100mph straight winds. Pushed 40 year old trees over in our cemetary like they were twigs. One tree went down and popped a coffin out of the ground. I took pictures of it!
Don't worry.......the worst drought and storms..... will only happen in the... Republican Party areas.
Probably, since not even mother nature wants to go into the liberal money suckers' areas.
Grab a root and growl.
What ever the reason get ready for higher food and fuel prices. Corn is the major commodity as a fuel additive and for animal food. Good luck everyone
Within time ..... people will be killing each other....over the water rights. Corn will be a thing of the past.
Excuse most animals that I know of Farm, Domestic or wild eat grass rather than being hand fed corn by products.
Maybe we need to stop developing so many open areas so that we can all eat fresh and well again just our ancerstors did and stop corps from poisoning our food with pesiticides, HGH, chemicals added for shelf life etc.
Silly Shrinks
I grew up in farm country and I can assure you, there are QUITE a few that are given corn as part of their food. The best meat in this country comes from animals that are cornfed.
As for the rest of your comment, I don't think a drought has anything to do with developing so many areas. I am from Iowa and I can assure you, all of the same farmland there has been used for generations.
This is the beginning of the " survival " period that many have been peparing for. Like everyone I have my opinions about what should or shouldn't be and some people agree and others not and that's just fine. But we all have to deal with reality regardless of who or what is to blame. Yes indeed, good luck.
The drought map above looks very much like the Republican voting districts. God is now punishing them for their corruption.
Silly Shrinks, what do you think corn is? It's a blend of 3 grasses so the cows eat grass if they eat corn.
Maybe if we did something real to change the way we live in todays world, instead of just looking up in the sky and praying. Even if you believe in God, don't you think he would be looking down on us and thinking to him/herself, "man these people are just too stupid, time to cleanse the earth and let nature take it's course.
We can do something real.
Sign up and volunteer with the http://www.climateprediction.net, a huge experiment that pulls real data from people like us to confirm or change current climate models. This will help climate scientists better understand and forecast what is in store for us and what we can do, especially in our local environments.
Or, you could just complain some more. That always helps ;-)
Earlier this year Obama raised by 50%, the amount of ethanol that must be blended with our gasoline. We will use 60% of our corn crop to meet that requirement. The drought in the corn belt is drastically reducing the yield this year...so much so that it may require all of our croup to meet Obama's ethanol requirement.
This program is perhaps the most stupid thing our government has ever done. Were Obama to end the ethanol program, I would vote for him...
Thats an interesting imagination you have. The stupidest thing our government has ever done would be - without any sliver of doubt - Vietnam. The second stupidest thing our government has ever done would be the Iraq War. If the ethanol program is that big of a deal to you, then you're not looking hard enough.
Obama did this? What law was it that the executive branch passed this year to mandate this?
Just think....in time....America will be squeezing the oil out of sand ....but, you need water for that process.
Not that we need to have a political debate on a topic such as farmland and weather, but it was Bush who imposed the ethanol mandate.
In any case, one must understand that not all corn is edible for humans. Drought or no drought, corn destined for fermentation could not otherwise be eaten.
Bobo.....Obama did it by executive order.
The Fosz....yup, you need water to get oil, and water to get corn. Maybe a little more for the corn. Then you need lots of water to convert the corn to ethanol.
SandShark75....you nailed me. Vietnam wins. Barbara Tuckman's "The March of Folly" deals with how we got in that mess and the shocking betrayal of our military by politicians running the war.
Someone's got wrong information. The percentage of the total corn crop used for ethanol is less than 10%. After the ethanol process has finished, there is a mash left over, higher in protein and other nutrients than regular corn, which is then used for cattle feed and animal feed. Right around 90% of the corn crop has been going for livestock feed for over 60 years. Much of the 10% going for ethanol still makes it into the same livestock in the form of the leftover mash that it would have anyway.
It's such a shame that more people do not realize this.
It sure looks like the drought map above .... looks like the Republican voting district map. Maybe God is trying to stop the corruption of these areas????????????
Snugglepuss you're correct. BUT with the ended ethanol subsidy, it goes up 5 cents per E10 gallon. This week I was able to purchase real gasoline with no ethanol and my car got a solid 10% better gas mileage. The overall loss of mileage plus the fuel useage to produce it, offsets the overall value of Ethanol. At this point we are saving nothing, just making our cars run worse. The 2011 Z71 with E85 drops from 18 on gas to 12 mpg in controlled conditions. Wow, that's a world saver, huh?
A direct result of unwieldy corporate farms consisting of 1000's of acres each.
Really? Then what about my garden that is less than an acre and is being devastated day after day? When I moved here I was told that AC is really not necessary as we get less than 10 days a year above 90 degrees. I live in Colorado. Guess what...
Current conditions (along with our warm and stormy winters) are consistent with what scientists have said will happen for decades. It's not the size of the farm. It's the carbon footprint of humans.
Well Al stop leaving a footprint by using your computer. How did you till your soil for your garden? Did you use a gas powered engine? Not very efficient and green of you if you did. Everyone of you clowns blame it on humans but you NEVER want to give up one of your modern conveniences people did without years ago.
FYI scienticks predicted an ice age 3 decades ago. So I don't know wtf you are talking about or where you get your disinformation.
LynyrdSky: Are you a scientist? Love to hear your views.
The natural balance of nature ........is now ....gone, in America.
Because of people playing god with our weather. H.A.A.R.P.
I think eventually, people will get it. I don't think it will be in my lifetime, but when it gets over 125° and places go with no rain for a year or more, that should do it.
When the fat people can no longer afford air conditioning ..... and, their confortable 68 degrees in side.....and it is 110 degrees outside.....something might happen then.
Get ready all you poor and middle class people, with the new Obamacare taxes and the increase in products you buy related to agriculture, you people will be going bankrupt, and if you voted for Obama and plan on voting for him again, don't count on getting any help!!!
I have insurance. There are no new taxes on me as a result of the ACA. The only ones facing new taxes are those that can afford insurance but choose not to buy it.
So, "ITSNOTATAX".. did you get that through your thick neo-con skull??!? People go BANKRUPT when they get sick and have no insurance. People DO NOT go bankrupt because THEY HAVE INSURANCE. If you keep being told what to think by Fox News & hate radio, then you're pathetic lack of thinking skills will never get any better..
So voting for Romney will fix global climate change?
Nothing will fix global climate change, at least not now.
It takes 30 to 50 years for the current emissions to filter out of the climate system and for captured heat to dissipate, so our emissions will increase heat even if we shutdown all factories and lived ala "Little House on the Prarie" right now.
We can only work to help our grandchildren at this point.
so why can't carbon emmissions be contained and used for fracking or air fracking instead of clean fresh water , radioactive junk and other crap has to contaminate the soil? I am against fracking, since I live in Colorado and have "suncor" down the road from me with benzene leaks in the water, Erie FRACKING, fire in the water in Fredericksburg north of me. Rocky Flats PLUTONIUM WEAPONS plant west and east Rocky Mtn Arsenal. Closed as they should be, but not sacrficed land. EPA HUD wants houses built on every tenth acre with no disclosure. Arvada water supply gets water from a contaminated creek. Little by little you are drinking it over time. Chronic low dose exposure is just as bad as acute exposure. Shame on this country.
Even if we "shut down all factories"???? WTF do you know what that would do to society? Maybe you would like riots and anarchy because it would reduce population but not me.
Human caused Global climate change my a$$
For certain ,if you live in a red voting state. And this racist is going to foist his socialist views on all the nation. Down with this regime.
LynyrdSky: Don't you worry yourself.
Nothing is going to change.
Enjoy your TV and your 9 to 5 job and Walmart and an occasional sporting event on the weekend. Kick back. It's America. Everything is OK. Repeat again: Everything is OK.
I am very confident. No one is going to do anything to change.
commonsense,
We as a country and world release millions of tons of CO and hydrocarbons into the air that isn't supposed to be there. It's supposed to be locked up underground.
Do you know how oil was created? You should watch the special the History Channel did called "Crude". Oil was created at a time when the earth was in a super-greenhouse effect. We don't want to go back there.
Please tell me you don't think that by releasing these it doesn't hurt anything?
Hay, "Lyn" above. Riots and anarchy does reduce the population and the consumption of natural resources on earth. Soon or later.....we will all be rioting over this. Might as well start now.
Mother Nature Always Balances things out. We will probably have a snowier winter this year and next year we will be back to Normal. Been around a long time seen this before. But the real Stupid thing about this is that we are growing Corn for Fuel when we should be growing it for FOOD. The oil companies are shipping our gas out of the country and leaving us to grow Corn for Fuel. Smart move BIG OIL.
Tarzan7,
The corn is used to make the ethanol additive as a replacement for the lead that was used as an anti-knock agent years ago. Actually ethanol replace the chemical MTBE which the EPA incorrectly ruled was poluting the water supply. (By the way MTBE is made from natural gas which we have a glut of now and are now planning to ship overseas as well.) Ethanol was not originally intended to be used as a fuel replacement (although some in the government believe it is). Also, ethanol isn't usually added at the refinery. It is added regionally closer to the gas stations served by the distribution terminal. This is because ethanol does not have a long shelf life. The gasoline being shipped overseas does not have ethanol in it. But I do agree with you 100% that using ethanol for what ever purpose as a gasoline additive is one of the most stupid regulations every forced upon us by the federal government. That is a perfect example of people not knowing or having a true understanding of an issue writing regulations. I'm still shaking my head over that one.
You mean: smart move AMERICA!
You mean: smart move AMERICA!
No, I mean dumb move congress!
Tarzan, one other thing. About 5 years ago, there was a shortage of gasoline in the U.S. The refiners spent billions of dollars adding capacity to their refineries. Then, the Obama administration came in to power and since then the price of gasoline has risen from less than $2.00/gallon to more than $3.00 ($4.00 in some places). Because of the high cost of gasoline, Americans cut back on their driving and began buying high milage automobiles. The demand for gasoline fell like a lead balloon, leaving the refiners with considerable excess capacity. The gasoline being sent overseas is beening produced by what would have been the excess refining capacity if not for the exports. The price of gasoline is being driven by the price of oil. Refining margins are not nearly as big as most people believe they are. In fact the profit margins of refiners are quite small as compared to most other businesses. If the refiners kept the excess gasoline in the U.S. instead of exporting it, the margins would become even smaller, and probably become losses. Oil companies are not making their large profits from the refining business. The profits are being made from the production/sale of crude oil. There is a reason that ConocoPhillips is spinning off their refining business. It's because it is a drain on the overall performance of the company. I only wish more people would understand this.
Drill, baby, drill. Drive, baby, drive. Burn, baby, burn.
Yum....Yumn.......eat-mu up. Oh, their is nothing to eat.
stop feeding the world, sell only surplus after we feed ourself.
Corn selling at an all time high. So many foods depend on corn, yet we continue to burn it "corn" in our automobiles in the form of ethanol! That is an example of the EPA gone wild. For the sake of going "Green", let the people go hungry. Corn ethanol from the start was a bad idea, it dosen't make a bit sense to burn food.
I don't even like corn.
I eat at Subway and they don't even sell corn.
I like fish! And when the water dries up it makes the fish easier to catch!
I win!!!
But the animals that became the meat in your subs did like corn.........
If you are eating farm raised fish, corn went into much of their feed........
Think about it!
you know that wheat is a GMO crop and Colorado's surplus was sent to Europe per article in Denver Post last week? better watch your food sources. I called Barilla pasta today, they said they make pasta "according to European ways", so, we ship wheat to Europe, but it's made in the USA,though it has 2 Grams of sugar in it.
I asked them to label it as NO GMO wheat used since the GMO makers are fighting labeling GMO products WHICH WE WON'T BUY!!! SCREW the GMO companies!!! SCREW ALL OF YOU for making people sick with engineered foods Fk YOU!
PHATBOY
"I don't even like corn.
I eat at Subway and they don't even sell corn."
Even though Subway does not sell corn-you are still consuming corn products by eating there-corn products/by-products are in the bread,in the cheeses,in the meats,fed to the animals the meats come from, and in the mayo,and other condiments.
There is a natural 60 year warming/cooling cycle. Let's see, the 1950s (60 years ago) there was a severe drought.
Looks like a cycle to me.
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/joe-bastardi-show-parallels-to-the-1950s-and-tells-us-what-to-expect-looking-forward/
Meanwhile England has had a summer that is cooler and wetter than usual. And many other countries have been experiencing cooler than normal temperature too.
There is also the Arctic winds that have shifted from Zonal to Meridional flow which makes some parts of the Earth hotter while other parts get colder.
http://drtimball.com/2012/current-global-weather-patterns-normal-despite-government-and-media-distortions/
Wow, I love it how you knuckle-dragging neo-con thugs can read a few conspiracy theory websites and the VOILA!! 99.998% of all scientists on Earth are WRONG!! All the international climate science research facilities are WRONG!! All the Universities are WRONG!! Climate Change isn't real.. because YOU - uneducated, anti-science, anti-reality DENIERS say so?!? Oh, wow.. in that case.. where do I sign??
Everything looks like a cycle if you wait long enough.
The problem is not that we haven't seen these extremes before. There have been times when the earth was considerably warmer than today. There were palm trees on the poles.
The problem is that it's happening too fast for life to adjust. That is why it's a problem. Species are just going extinct and it is moving so fast that alternate species are not evolving to fit vacated niches.
Give us 10,000 years and we could evolve a wheat and other crops that could deal with these extremes. Over 100 years, it kills most of your plants.
Have not had these extremes before????? Really Mr Wizard? How do YOU know it is too fast? Just you home brew science experts.
Byron,
You hit the nail on the head. This time it's different--climate change that is--because it's largely caused by humans and it's changing really, really fast geologically. Life needs time to adapt. Having 100 years to adapt is not what a lot of life can readily handle. There will be fewer winners than losers in this anthropogenic climate change---which will humans be?
A few years ago scientists said our grandchidren would see the effects of global warming. Then it was our children would see it. Then it became " we will see it in our lifetime " and we are. It isn't just the people in the hard to pronounce places that will have to move do to sea level rise but places like Samoa.
Isn't the drought map above the same as the Republican voting district map?????? Maybe that Christian God they speak of ...... is now punishing these people for the corruption of these area?????
I grow my own garden for fun and relaxation (not even big on veggies and usually end up giving any yeild away to someone in need)...... but I'll tell you what, this years drought has definitely not been fun or relaxing.
But, to get on with my point here: I have 5 water barrels............I took my old garbage cans (which are now obsolete in my city) and turned them into rainwater barrels. It's quite easy to do. Any time it rains (which isn't often this year, my main barrel which is hooked up to a gutter, fills up. at the bottom of the barrel I have drilled a hole, hooked up some hardware with a shut off valve and a hose with a spray attachment at the end. When it rains, I place the hose into the other barrels and fill each one of them up one at a time.
When we have periods of drought, like this year (last year I couldn't empty them fast enough with all the rain even using buckets of it to flush my toilet) I use them to water all of my plants (indoor and outdoor).
Yes, I could use tap water, but tap water is NOT good for your plants, so I prefer doing the little bit of extra work to insure my plants are healthy.
This is IMPORTANT for anyone thinking of doing a system like this: You must use clean garbage cans and they MUST HAVE LIDS ON THEM.........the last thing you want to do is create a mosquito breeding ground and start spreading West nile virus around.
I honestly don't understand why farmers don't set up a simple and very inexpensive system like this to help them through these drought periods. Yes, yes, I know that Farms are extremely large, but I can think of a hundred different ways of watering, and saving, those crops. Or, at the very least........some of those crops.
In some places it actually illegal to catch rain water.
In Colorado, if you store water even from rainfall, you can be fined.
My family in west Texas has to bucket out the bath water to save the last remaining tree in their very brown backyard. Otherwise, they'll be fined.
Sounds like a Colorado lawmaker with stock in the water company created that law! If I were a resident, I'd be filing a huge lawsuit against that state and the lawmaker!
Monkey,
I do that too, also save the rinse water from doing dishes. I dump it all in my rainbarrel along with the rainwater.
If you throw one bucket of tap water in a 3/4 full rain barrel, you are no longer "saving rainwater"!
I love it! That is crafty!!!
And I'm long term unemployed...........go figure!
Actually, my cousin is doing this with his farm, or should I say our family's farm.
It's illegal in Weld County, CO to catch rain in barrels. They'd rather have it run down the gutters and this year Weld is selling water for fracking which leaves less for the people. Farmer's basements are flooding in CO and they have to pump water out because Govna and AG won't let them turn on wells. Craziest b.s. you can witness.
You can visit the CO Water Board and get a grant to make it rain by calling Joe Busto. His main concern is after 50 yrs of using silver oxide there hasn't been an impact study done. Say it's not true Joe! It seems when the planes start laying down their chemicals for rain, we end up in a drought. If they can make it rain, or snow, control the weather (rule the world) why do they keep making droughts? They produced rain AFTER the fires were put out. Even local weather guy made a mention of it. I can only imagine the cost of this program. Start watching the sky and always remember, what goes up must come down.
Russia has some crop/grain failure a few years ago and stopped grain exports. Does anyone think this U.S. government will stop grain exports to relieve prices at the super market? The most stupid thing I have ever witnessed is making fuel out of a food stock. Do you think the U.S. government will suspend tax breaks for ethanol from corn or halt ethanol production until the next good crop? Brazil uses sugar beets and sugar cane, it is a sin and stupid to use corn for fuel when so much of our food supply depends on it.
I stand corrected and admit I was wrong - we are in a drought.
Now leave me be as I am led off the the quiet room to eat a big serving of crow.
hwga
If we didn`t use corn (ethonol) for fuel, we would have enough in reserve. Now I`m not to sure.
The farmers have had record crops for the past 15 years and now we will send them more wellfare money and we have a 16 trillion dollar debt. What a country!!!! Barrow barrow thanks tax payers!!!
It's some politicians fault, pick your answer:
It's Bush's fault.
It's Obama's fault.
Obama inherited it from Bush.
Obama created it with Ethanol policy.
You are all sheep - I am the cause of the drought and heat with too many trips to Taco Bell. Volcano burritos and fire sauce are the real reason.
Pull my finger stooges.