Drought worsens in Midwest; parched Plains in bad shape (SciAm)

[pokerfan]

Not good...

Drought worsened in the Midwest during the last week as record-high temperatures stressed the developing corn and soybean crops, while cotton and pastures eroded amid a historic drought in the southern Plains.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=drought-worsens-in-midwest-parched

[applegrove]

1. And we have high water in Ontario/Quebec where there is already so many lakes and so much water.

What have we done to our planet?

[MNBrewer]

2. MN seems to have a lot of water, too

I've never seen the Mississippi so high in August.

[madrchsod]

5. 15 inches of rain over two days in dubuque iowa and galena ,illinois

the Mississippi rose 4 ft that area...

[Odin2005]

7. The Red River here in Fargo is way past flood stage. IN AUGUST.

[NickB79]

9. Groundwater levels are so high from the snow and rain, my sump pump is STILL running

I have cattails growing in my front yard where I now have a permanent pond created from the sump pump discharge line emptying my sump pump pit every minute or so. Not good at all.

[pokerfan]

3. In other climate news

The Arctic ice melt has opened new trade routes...

After the third hottest year on record since 1936 in the Arctic last year, ice cover has melted as much as 56 percent more than average across northern shipping routes, making navigation in the perilous waters "very easy," it said.

"Since the beginning of August icebreaker-free sailing is open on almost all the routes," the climate monitoring agency said on its website www.meteoinfo.ru.

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE77218820110803

[Ptah]

4. This map helps me understand the wide impact: Frightening

[MNBrewer]

8. Either Rick Perry isn't praying hard enough,

or needs to pick a new set of deities to placate.

[Odin2005]

6. We have far too much water here in Fargo.