AbbyLane2001
Membership Revoked
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RMNEWS_DAILY_EMAILS/message/16009
[CHEMTRAILS = DROUGHT
Disruptions of a new American Dust Bowl
(May 31, 2001 10:48 p.m. EDT ) - The shorelines of Lake Okeechobee, Florida's
"liquid heart," have receded as much as 150 feet, leaving alligators dead in the
bulrushes and marooning docks.
In Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, much of Jackson Lake, one of the most
photographed bodies of water in the world, may have to be drained to provide
relief for drought-stricken potato farmers in Idaho.
In Washington, dry conditions are causing early glacial melting on Mount
Rainier, spawning rock slides.
One of the worst droughts since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s is gripping much of
the US - hurting farmers, scaring firefighters and forcing water restrictions
from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to Midland, Texas. In parts of the Southwest, it's so
dry the cactuses need watering.
The flint-dry conditions now encompass a full one-third of the United States.
While that is still far less than during the Dust Bowl - which, at its peak,
affected two-thirds of the country - the depth and breadth of the current dry
spell is causing widespread social and economic disruption.
"We are always going to have droughts," says Michael Hayes, a climatologist at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "But the fact that so much of the country is
involved does make this one significant."
Currently, the two most affected areas in the United States are the Northwest
and the Southeast - each with their own set of problems. Parts of northern New
England and south and west Texas are also suffering.
Aggravating the situation is the length of the drought. Florida, for instance,
is entering its fourth year of what is being called one of the worst dry spells
on record.
Growth is surely a contributing factor to the state's dwindling water supplies,
but nature takes most of the blame. Dry conditions over the past three years
have caused a 51-inch rainfall deficit.
The dearth is impacting everything from tourism at Disney World (where smoke has
obscured the theme park) to sugar cane growers to the hue of peoples' backyards.
Perhaps worst is the fire danger. Already, some 2,900 blazes have charred more
than 260,000 acres since January. In the past three years, more than 1.1 million
acres have been burned.
"This drought is as bad as it's ever been in history, especially when you relate
it to how many people live here now as opposed to 50 years ago," says Jim Loftus
with Florida's Division of Emergency Management.
Some of the effects are more subtle. Around Lake Okeechobee, the largest body of
fresh water in the United States outside the Great Lakes, sale of fishing tackle
is down.
Elsewhere, tiny bark beetles are chewing through thousands of acres of pine
forests, targeting trees weakened by lack of ground water. Black bears,
scavenging for food, are dying along the state's roadways in record numbers.
Local officials are doing what they can to husband water supplies. Millions of
homeowners in south and central Florida are under orders not to water their
lawns more than twice a week. In Tampa, the fine for a first violation is $100.
Local officials are also trying to educate residents about ways to conserve.
Consider just one factoid: Covering an average swimming pool can save 1,000
gallons a month from evaporation. Florida's only relief may now lie in another
peculiarity of the calendar - hurricane season.
The Pacific Northwest doesn't have that kind of precipitation to look forward
to. The area's main source of water comes during the winter, meaning the parched
landscape must wait for months.
"There's not much opportunity for relief in that area," says Brad Rippey, a
meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "They're going to have to
rely on what little snow they had and wait until the next rainy season."
That's already proving problematic. At Crater Lake in Oregon, the snowpack that
usually measures 80 inches this time of year is already completely melted.
Indeed, climatologists say the Northwest, suffering its second worst drought
since 1895, is their biggest concern at the moment. Water is in short supply and
high demand, especially with the current electricity crisis.
Hydroelectric plants are competing against farmers and conservationists for
water in the rivers - many of which are now mere rivulets. The Yellowstone
River, for instance, is running at a 40-year low. It's so depleted that the
paddlefish have been unable to swim upstream to spawn.
In nearby Montana, a dozen large rivers are in differing stages of trouble,
including several that are premier fly-fishing destinations - something that
brings millions of dollars into local economies. Farmers and ranchers, who need
the water for irrigation, are fighting with tourism promoters and biologists
trying to leave enough water for the fish.
Talk these days - echoed at meetings of the governor's Drought Task Force - is
that unless rains come, fishing could either be restricted or shut down on
certain rivers by midsummer. Last summer, forest fires in Montana forced the
closure of all public lands to recreation.
"We're far drier than we were last year at this time," says Jess Aber, a water
expert with the Montana Department of Natural Resource and Conservation.
Forecasts for stream flows, soil-moisture readings and reservoir-storage
projections are all worse than last year. Already, every county in Montana has
been classified as being severely drought-affected. "People are getting
anxious," says Mr. Aber.
While farmers, ranchers and golf courses are struggling to cope, scientists are
looking at their computer printouts for reasons for the drought - and its
duration. El Nino and La Nina climate patterns are often cited.
But researchers are also looking at history. Some experts believe the Dust Bowl
fell under a stronger yet less well-known weather pattern known as the Pacific
Decadal Oscillation, an El Nino-like occurrence that hit North America
particularly hard. Some experts believe the United States is now experiencing
the effects of a similar phenomenon.
If there's anything good in the current drought, it that it's spurring a greater
sense of readiness. States have begun drafting drought mitigation plans,
increased monitoring and improved coordination among agencies. "Before the
drought of 1998, officials had no capability to capture lessons learned," says
Dr. Hayes. "We had many, many years of states running around trying to reinvent
the wheel."
Sam Simmons is relying on his own wits to get through the dry spell. The south
Texas farmer has replaced his water-intensive crops, such as sugar cane and
vegetables, with cotton and grain sorghum. Even so, he's struggling.
"I hope I'm not losing a whole lot," he says. "I don't like to think about it."
Todd Wilkinson, in Bozeman, Mont., Jennifer LeClaire, in Winter Haven, Fla.,
also contributed to this report.
----------------------------------------
[CHEMTRAILS = DROUGHT
Disruptions of a new American Dust Bowl
(May 31, 2001 10:48 p.m. EDT ) - The shorelines of Lake Okeechobee, Florida's
"liquid heart," have receded as much as 150 feet, leaving alligators dead in the
bulrushes and marooning docks.
In Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, much of Jackson Lake, one of the most
photographed bodies of water in the world, may have to be drained to provide
relief for drought-stricken potato farmers in Idaho.
In Washington, dry conditions are causing early glacial melting on Mount
Rainier, spawning rock slides.
One of the worst droughts since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s is gripping much of
the US - hurting farmers, scaring firefighters and forcing water restrictions
from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to Midland, Texas. In parts of the Southwest, it's so
dry the cactuses need watering.
The flint-dry conditions now encompass a full one-third of the United States.
While that is still far less than during the Dust Bowl - which, at its peak,
affected two-thirds of the country - the depth and breadth of the current dry
spell is causing widespread social and economic disruption.
"We are always going to have droughts," says Michael Hayes, a climatologist at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "But the fact that so much of the country is
involved does make this one significant."
Currently, the two most affected areas in the United States are the Northwest
and the Southeast - each with their own set of problems. Parts of northern New
England and south and west Texas are also suffering.
Aggravating the situation is the length of the drought. Florida, for instance,
is entering its fourth year of what is being called one of the worst dry spells
on record.
Growth is surely a contributing factor to the state's dwindling water supplies,
but nature takes most of the blame. Dry conditions over the past three years
have caused a 51-inch rainfall deficit.
The dearth is impacting everything from tourism at Disney World (where smoke has
obscured the theme park) to sugar cane growers to the hue of peoples' backyards.
Perhaps worst is the fire danger. Already, some 2,900 blazes have charred more
than 260,000 acres since January. In the past three years, more than 1.1 million
acres have been burned.
"This drought is as bad as it's ever been in history, especially when you relate
it to how many people live here now as opposed to 50 years ago," says Jim Loftus
with Florida's Division of Emergency Management.
Some of the effects are more subtle. Around Lake Okeechobee, the largest body of
fresh water in the United States outside the Great Lakes, sale of fishing tackle
is down.
Elsewhere, tiny bark beetles are chewing through thousands of acres of pine
forests, targeting trees weakened by lack of ground water. Black bears,
scavenging for food, are dying along the state's roadways in record numbers.
Local officials are doing what they can to husband water supplies. Millions of
homeowners in south and central Florida are under orders not to water their
lawns more than twice a week. In Tampa, the fine for a first violation is $100.
Local officials are also trying to educate residents about ways to conserve.
Consider just one factoid: Covering an average swimming pool can save 1,000
gallons a month from evaporation. Florida's only relief may now lie in another
peculiarity of the calendar - hurricane season.
The Pacific Northwest doesn't have that kind of precipitation to look forward
to. The area's main source of water comes during the winter, meaning the parched
landscape must wait for months.
"There's not much opportunity for relief in that area," says Brad Rippey, a
meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "They're going to have to
rely on what little snow they had and wait until the next rainy season."
That's already proving problematic. At Crater Lake in Oregon, the snowpack that
usually measures 80 inches this time of year is already completely melted.
Indeed, climatologists say the Northwest, suffering its second worst drought
since 1895, is their biggest concern at the moment. Water is in short supply and
high demand, especially with the current electricity crisis.
Hydroelectric plants are competing against farmers and conservationists for
water in the rivers - many of which are now mere rivulets. The Yellowstone
River, for instance, is running at a 40-year low. It's so depleted that the
paddlefish have been unable to swim upstream to spawn.
In nearby Montana, a dozen large rivers are in differing stages of trouble,
including several that are premier fly-fishing destinations - something that
brings millions of dollars into local economies. Farmers and ranchers, who need
the water for irrigation, are fighting with tourism promoters and biologists
trying to leave enough water for the fish.
Talk these days - echoed at meetings of the governor's Drought Task Force - is
that unless rains come, fishing could either be restricted or shut down on
certain rivers by midsummer. Last summer, forest fires in Montana forced the
closure of all public lands to recreation.
"We're far drier than we were last year at this time," says Jess Aber, a water
expert with the Montana Department of Natural Resource and Conservation.
Forecasts for stream flows, soil-moisture readings and reservoir-storage
projections are all worse than last year. Already, every county in Montana has
been classified as being severely drought-affected. "People are getting
anxious," says Mr. Aber.
While farmers, ranchers and golf courses are struggling to cope, scientists are
looking at their computer printouts for reasons for the drought - and its
duration. El Nino and La Nina climate patterns are often cited.
But researchers are also looking at history. Some experts believe the Dust Bowl
fell under a stronger yet less well-known weather pattern known as the Pacific
Decadal Oscillation, an El Nino-like occurrence that hit North America
particularly hard. Some experts believe the United States is now experiencing
the effects of a similar phenomenon.
If there's anything good in the current drought, it that it's spurring a greater
sense of readiness. States have begun drafting drought mitigation plans,
increased monitoring and improved coordination among agencies. "Before the
drought of 1998, officials had no capability to capture lessons learned," says
Dr. Hayes. "We had many, many years of states running around trying to reinvent
the wheel."
Sam Simmons is relying on his own wits to get through the dry spell. The south
Texas farmer has replaced his water-intensive crops, such as sugar cane and
vegetables, with cotton and grain sorghum. Even so, he's struggling.
"I hope I'm not losing a whole lot," he says. "I don't like to think about it."
Todd Wilkinson, in Bozeman, Mont., Jennifer LeClaire, in Winter Haven, Fla.,
also contributed to this report.
----------------------------------------
