Percentage of U.S. Land Covered in Drought As Bad As Dust Bowl … But Severe Drought – and Dust Storms – Not As Bad
The progress of the drought has been horrific:
The current drought is covering almost as much of the U.S. as during the 1930s dust bowl:
As the Weather Channel pointed out last month, the area covered by drought rivals some of the dust bowl years:
As of June – the area covered by severe drought was still lower than during the Dust Bowl years, but still made the top 10 list:
But – despite the recent rains in some areas, which reduced by 1% the area covered by drought – the farm states remain parched, and the area covered by severe drought is still growing.
Much of the area hit during the Dust Bowl – and again today – is naturally prone to drought. As the Weather Channel notes:
The area is known as semi-arid and is naturally prone to drought and high winds. In fact, early settlers referred to it as the “Great American Desert.”
Interestingly, HowStuffWorks notes:
About 90 percent of the 450 million hectares of arid land in North America suffers from moderate to severe desertification [source: Center for International Earth Science Information Network]
July was the warmest month recorded in the U.S. since records began in 1895. And AP reports:
The first seven months of 2012 were the warmest on record for the nation. And August 2011 through July this year was the warmest 12-month period on record, just beating out the July 2011-June 2012 time period.
Unfortunately, the one certainty is higher food prices.
Postscript: Predictably, some say this proves global warming is a dire threat, and others say that it is dishonest to claim that short-term weather proves anything.
But we can all agree on the following:
- We should use benign technology – and not cures which are worse than the ailments (like sending nearly microscopic particles of specially made glass into the Earth’s upper atmosphere or cutting down trees and burying them) – to address climate
- Nuclear is not the answer … although the nuclear lobby would like you to think it is
- As Britain’s energy regulator and many others note, microgeneration is key
- Reducing soot is crucial … and economically feasible
- Imposing fascism is never justified
- Downsizing the military is vital
- Cap and trade is not the least bit helpful
