Geology News
Drought Current Events

“As a result of last year’s drought, stretches of the Upper Mississippi River have approached record lows. These low water levels have jeopardized commercial barge traffic shipping agricultural and energy commodities on the river.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration website.

“Climate change is already affecting the American people. Certain types of weather events have become more frequent and/or intense, including heat waves, heavy downpours, and, in some regions, floods and droughts. Sea level is rising, oceans are becoming more acidic, and glaciers and arctic sea ice are melting. These changes are part of the pattern of global climate change, which is primarily driven by human activity.” Quoted from the Executive Summary of the Federal Advisory Committee Draft Climate Assessment Report

NASA’s Earth Observatory has an interesting satellite image of a cold front pushing a dust storm across the border between Colorado and Kansas in early January 2013. Drought in these areas is contributing to recurrent dust storms.

“2012 was a historic year for extreme weather that included drought, wildfires, hurricanes and storms; however, tornado activity was below average. 2012 marked the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States with the year consisting of a record warm spring, second warmest summer, fourth warmest winter and a warmer-than-average autumn.” Quoted from the NOAA press release.

Did you know that the NOAA website has a tabulation of “Watches, Warnings and Advisories” for each of the 50 states? These include blizzard warnings, avalanche warnings, fire weather watches, wind advisories and much more.

“Use ‘ProjectAlert’ to keep up with USGS scientists as they respond to floods, droughts, and chemical spills. These alerts are official, yet informal notices that describe flood, drought, or water quality conditions across the country, as well as how USGS field crews are responding to the event.” Quoted from the USGS website.

“Prolonged drought can affect power plants that rely on large volumes of fresh water for a variety of reasons. Though there have been few reported problems this year, lower water levels are a potential concern for grid operators and system planners during periods of extended drought.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration.

Salton Sea Earthquake Swarm

Isaac Causes the Mississippi River to Flow Backwards

Water Wells Going Dry in the Central United States

Hurricanes Since 1851

Aerial Views of New Orleans Flood Protection

Image by Drought.gov

An Associated Press article explains how soil changes induced by severe drought conditions in the central United States are causing damage to homes. This damage is rarely covered by homeowner’s insurance.

Large Triceratops Discovered in Alberta

Mississippi River in Drought

Floating Pumice Trail in the Pacific

Lost Army of Cambyses II Discovered?

Tallest Sand Dunes in North America

One of the Best Teaching Tools on This Planet

Hundreds of people in the central United States are seeing their personal water supply wells going dry or falling to very low levels.

Water levels on the Mississippi River are at very low levels. This satellite image shows an area near Memphis, Tennessee on August 17, 2012 when water levels were from 2.4 to 8.3 feet below normal stage. Low water levels have narrowed the channel, made turns tighter and exposed numerous sand bars.

Ancient pollen and charcoal preserved in deeply buried sediments in Egypt’s Nile Delta document the region’s ancient droughts and fires, including a huge drought 4,200 years ago associated with the demise of Egypt’s Old Kingdom, the era known as the pyramid-building time.

Image by Drought.gov

“The chronic drought that hit western North America from 2000 to 2004 left dying forests and depleted river basins in its wake and was the strongest in 800 years, scientists have concluded, but they say those conditions will become the “new normal” for most of the coming century.” Quoted from the Oregon State University press release.

The United States Department of Agriculture expects this year’s corn crop to be the smallest since 1995 due to the drought.

Drought has severely damaged the United States corn crop. Should that corn go to government ethanol quotas, feed for livestock or food for people?

NOAA has announced that July 2012 was the hottest July since record-keeping began and it was also drier than average.

Prolonged drought and evaporating water has reduced the size of Laguna Mar Chiquita, a shallow lake in Argentina. The size has been reduced from about 2,230 square miles down to about 760 square miles, exposing nearly 1500 square miles of lake sediment to ablation.

Estimated crop insurance losses from the current drought covering much of the United States are at $20 billion.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, moderate to exceptional drought covers 63.9% of the contiguous U.S. [...] For the history of the U.S Drought Monitor, which began in 1999, this is largest spatial extent of drought.

Slate has a photo gallery of how the drought has damaged a farm near Ashley, Illinois.

“Farmers across the United States hoped for rain in July 2012 as a drought of historic proportions parched key commodity crops, including corn, soybeans, and wheat. On July 11, the United States Department of Agriculture announced that more than 1,000 counties in 26 states qualified as natural disaster areas—the largest total area ever declared a disaster zone by the agency.” Quoted from the NASA image release.

Severe drought covers nearly 1/2 of the United States with extreme levels in the west, Mississippi Valley and southeast.

Droughts and Volcanic eruptions are both reflected in the tree rings of Guatemala. Read a series of blog posts by Kevin Anchukaitis, an assistant research professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.