Drought Season's Early Start Presages Another Bleak Year

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-28/drought-season-s-early-start-presages-another-bleak-year.html


A dry marina at Benbrook Lake in Texas. Photographer: LM Otero/AP Photo

InsideClimateNews.org -- conditions in more than half of the United States have slipped into a pattern that climatologists say is uncomfortably similar to the most severe droughts in recent U.S. history, including the 1930s Dust Bowl and the widespread 1950s drought.

The 2013 drought season is already off to a worse start than in 2012 or 2011—a trend that scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say is a good indicator, based on historical records, that the entire year will be drier than last year, even if spring and summer rainfall and temperatures remain the same. If rainfall decreases and temperatures rise, as climatologists are predicting will happen this year, the drought could be even more severe.

The federal researchers also say there is less than a 20 percent chance the drought will end in the next six months.

"There were certainly pockets of drought as we went into spring last year, but overall, the situation was much better than it is now," said Tom Karl, a climatologist and director of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. "We are going to have to watch really closely ... Last year was bad enough."

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1. Nothing to see here, move along......

[Newest Reality]

2. If one can afford to,

stocking up on food now is a way to hedge your bets for future price increases.

Well, it is always a good idea to have a supply of food stored for emergencies and you don't have to go hog-wild survivalist with it.