Much of California Plunges Into Drought After Dry January and February
California slipped into drought once again as dry skies prevailed throughout the back half of January and the first half of February.
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Drought
Deluge in Australia Drenches Wildfires
Drought, wildfires and now flooding have given Australia’s weather an almost Biblical feel this year. The good news is that a recent deluge in eastern parts of the country has drenched deadly fires and helped ease a crippling drought.
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Rain and Floods in Australia Offer Help With Fires
Heavy rains lashed parts of the wildfire and drought-stricken Australian east coast on Friday, bringing flooding in Sydney and relief to firefighters still dealing with dozens of blazes in New South Wales.
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Rain Brings Joy to Suffering Australia
Drought-breaking storms dumped desperately needed rain on some bushfire-ravaged parts of eastern Australia on Friday, giving joy to many farmers who faced losing precious livestock and crops.
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Storms Bring Relief and More Danger to Australia
Thunderstorms and showers brought some relief for firefighters battling deadly wildfires across Australia’s drought-parched east coast on Wednesday, but also raised concerns that lightning will spark more fires before dangerous hot and windy conditions return.
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After Drought, Floods Compound Somalia’s Year of Climate Misery
The arid Horn of Africa country has always been hostage to climate extremes. Rain is erratic, and drought a feature of life. But catastrophic weather events are occurring in Somalia with ever-greater fury and frequency, trapping millions in a near-constant cycle of crisis.
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California Urged to Rethink 40 Years of ‘Piecemeal’ Freshwater Protections
With an ever-increasing demand for water and the threat of larger droughts looming, a report released Thursday by the Public Policy Institute of California recommends the state stop prioritizing individual species recovery plans and adopt holistic management methods that improve entire freshwater ecosystems.
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Climate Change Spurred the Rise and Fall of Neo-Assyrian Empire
Roughly 2,600 years ago, the largest Mesopotamian empire fell due to political unrest, civil war, overpopulation and – according to a new study – climate change.
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Study: Switching to Solar and Wind Power Will Reduce Groundwater Use
Increasing energy output from solar and wind power could result in less groundwater usage and more drought-resistant environments, according to a study published Wednesday in Nature Communications.
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California Pushed to Revamp Water Plans for Increasingly Wild Weather
Yo-yoing between heat waves, torrential rainfall and raging wildfires that burn through Thanksgiving, the explosive nature of California’s weather has been on full display over the last several years. The state’s worst drought, one of its wettest winters and both the largest and most destructive wildfires all occurred this decade.
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Fire-Ravaged Forests Get Help From Pine Cone Collectors
With snow ready to fall, the scramble was on to collect as many ponderosa pine cones as possible.
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Dozens of Elephants Die in Zimbabwe Drought
At least 55 elephants have died in a month in Zimbabwe due to a lack of food and water, its wildlife agency said Monday, as the country faces one of the worst droughts in its history.
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Flash Drought Brings Dust and Dread to US Southeast
In a vast expanse of the South stretching from Texas to Maryland, there are growing concerns for the cattle, cotton and corn amid a worsening drought fueled by record high temperatures this summer.
Read moreSouthern Drought Deepens; 11 Million Affected
Weeks of dry, hot weather have plunged the Deep South further into a drought that’s affecting more than 11 million people and threatening crops across the region, a new assessment showed Thursday.
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EU States Approve Drought Package to Help Struggling Farmers
In the wake of the most brutal heatwaves Europe has ever seen and drought conditions that stretch from the Mediterranean Sea deep into the Arctic Circle, EU member states have signed off on support measures for farmers who have lost crops and can’t feed their animals.
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California King Salmon Rebound After Long Drought
California fishermen are reporting one of the best salmon fishing seasons in years, thanks to heavy rain and snow that ended the state’s historic drought.
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Feds Seek Ways to Combat Overpopulation of Wild Horses
The National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board and the Bureau of Land Management met Wednesday to discuss some of the challenges currently facing public land management, most notably the issue of horse and burro overpopulation.
Read moreCalifornia Forest Die-Off Linked to Historic Drought
The recent and historic California drought had a direct connection to a higher rate of forest die-off, according to a study released Monday.
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Irrigation – and Dwindling Water Supplies – on the Horizon for Midwest Corn Farmers
A warming climate and bigger corn yields mean Midwestern corn growers who today rely on rainfall to water their crops will need to switch to irrigation by midcentury if current trends continue, possibly setting off a battle royale for dwindling water supplies, new research released Monday suggests.
Read moreClimate Change Driving Koalas to Dehydration
Koalas are at risk of a serious dehydration crisis as a result of climate change, scientists have found.
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