GreenWatch

September 3/17 These have stayed dry since June The Province of British Columbia, Canada, continues to swelter under unseasonably hot, dry conditions. This forest fire season in the province has been the worst on record with numerous mass evacuations needed. It has also been the most costly. Eastern Vancouver Island is usually drier than the west coast and much of the mainland coast, but this year it is parched. A combination of higher than usual temperatures and lack of rain has dried out the land. There has been no useful rainfall since June and none is in the forecast. The water hauling trucks are being kept busy in the rural areas. Saturday, we saw another upswing in temperatures with temperatures once again peaking in the 30s Celsius. In my area today’s temperature is expected to reach 32 degrees C. (90 F). The government web site warns that this weather system seems to be stalled over the province. We may look on the bright side, I suppose. The stagna...

B. McPherson Drought and disease have conspired to throw farmers in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras into poverty. The coffee bean rust has ruined coffee trees and continuing drought has meant lost crops for about 40 000 families in Guatemala. Fishing has also been poor, blamed on El Nino. The government of Guatemala has declared the situation an emergency. The UN World Food Programme is assisting the Central American countries. 170 000 households in Guatemala are receiving food aid. Honduras is receiving aid for 76 000 families. Due to the dire conditions red beans have soared in price since January. Guatemala faced a severe drought only five years ago. It was another El Nino year and at that time an estimated 2.5 million people were severely malnourished. Guatemala was one of those “Banana Republics”. Their democratic government was overthrown in the ‘50s when it is alleged that the CIA worked to protect the properties of the United Fruit Growers(Chiquita Brands) ...

B. McPherson The Golden State is facing its worst drought ever. California is suffering from its worst drought in a century. Governor Jerry Brown has declared a drought emergency. Over 80% of the Golden State is suffering from severe to exceptional drought. Even in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, lack of snow cover has ski resorts closed. Wildfires in the state are expected to get worse as the vegetation becomes tinder. California is the leading agricultural producer in the US. Farming is being squeezed due to lack of water. Beef cattle, normally out grazing have to be fed hay instead, at a much higher cost to the farmer. That is, when the farmer can afford to bring in hay from out of state. Lack of water in the irrigation ponds means little water for the animals to drink. Many ranchers are sending their stock to slaughter early and at a loss. Dairy farmers are faced with low milk prices and higher forage prices. Much of the fresh vegetables that we enjoy in the Canad...

No water no life B. McPherson Growing cities, agriculture, industry are all taking their toll on limited resources. Florida, Georgia and Alabama are locked in a decades long fight over water. Florida has now filed court action with the US Supreme Court over water use in Lake Sidney Lanier. Florida is claiming a foul in Atlanta’s continuing use of the lake water for the growing metropolis. Lake Lanier was created in the ‘40s by damming the Chattahoochie River. It has become the largest lake in Georgia. The lake started filling in 1956. Since 1990 the three states have been squabble over water usage. In 2007 water usage by the Atlanta region had drawn the lake level down to record levels. It was not until 2008 that Georgia settled on their first water use plan. At stake is the health of the oyster industry in Florida’s Apalachicola Bay which supplies the US with 10% of its fresh oysters. At least it did until recently. Starting in 2007 a steep decline led to a drastically...

B. McPherson     Many parts of the globe are facing another season of exceptional drought. Crops have failed in Argentina, parts of the Ukraine and north and central China. Farmers in the Great Plains are facing yet another growing season with severe water shortages. NOAA is predicting another year of above normal temperatures and lower rainfall again this year. Some of the drought may be relieved in the east, but is expected to continue in the mid-west and spread to California and southern Oregon. The Hawaiian Islands are also experiencing a continuation of drought conditions. No area of the world seems to be immune from changing precipitation – from Greenland to South Africa. At the same time the world’s reserves of ground water, some laid down thousands of years ago are being depleted faster than they can be recharged. Global climate is changing and along with warming is a change in precipitation patterns. Argentina is currently coping with torre...