I had to go as the phone rang and I did not want to lose my post above...
I keep looking back to the historic times of 1816 and the 1930's agriculturally in the US. We all know that weather/crops cycle.. The 1930's interest me as we are in the same sort of situation now with the weather, economics worldwide and more..
"The decade started with dry years in 1930 and 1931 especially in the East. Then, 1934 recorded extremely dry conditions over almost 80 percent of the United States. Extreme drought conditions returned in 1936, 1939 and 1940." That is 10 years of drought. We only had 60-70% of a drought in the US this year, and although the 1930's was the worst in recorded history, but in prehistoric times, the data suggests that droughts may have lasted decades or even longer. It worries me that farmers in the mid-West are plowing their corn under. I wouldn't have as it is holding the soil in place. The huge dust storms that took acres and acres and acres of topsoil away in the 1930's ... those lessons apparently were not heeded as the agricorps are doing it now. Monocropping to the extremes that farmers in the 1930's would never imagined.
This is the Canadian version of the Great Depression/1930's drought
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/agriculture/drought1930s.htmlThe current 2010-2012 drought (yes.. it was not just THIS year)
has covered 80% of the contiguous United States with at least abnormally dry (D0) conditions. Out of that 80%, 62% is designated as at least moderate drought (D1) conditions.
It is affecting a similarly large area as droughts in the 1930s and 1950s but it has not yet been in place as long.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_North_American_droughtSomewhere up there ^^^ I wrote about the "Year without a Summer". We are also at a classic setup for another one of those too. We have volcanoes and earthquakes happening all over the place with another historic low in solar activity as was then. This resulted in major food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere in 1816. On 6 June 1816, snow fell in Albany, New York, and Dennysville, Maine. Nearly 12 inches (30 cm) of snow was observed in Quebec City in early June. Cool temperatures and heavy rains resulted in failed harvests in Britain and Ireland as well. Families in Wales traveled long distances as refugees, begging for food. Famine was prevalent in north and southwest Ireland, following the failure of wheat, oats, and potato harvests. The crisis was severe in Germany, where food prices rose sharply. Due to the unknown cause of the problems, demonstrations in front of grain markets and bakeries, followed by riots, arson, and looting, took place in many European cities. Also in China and other countries it effected foods. It was the worst famine of the 19th century.
Think that was a long time ago? The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 led to odd weather patterns and temporary cooling in the United States, particularly in the Midwest and parts of the Northeast. I remember that Mount Saint Helens did in 1980.
Cedar
