The USMB Hot and drought thread

[ScienceRocks]

PERTH faces a week of blistering heat with four consecutive days of searing 40C maximum temperatures as 2010 is declared the hottest year on record.

Maximum temperatures in Perth averaged at 25.3C, making 2010 the hottest year since records began in 1897.

Meanwhile, Perth recorded just 503mm of rain this year, well below the average 868.3mm, making it the second driest year on record.

Next week’s heatwave follows baking temperatures across Southern Australia with blistering New Year’s Eve temperatures forecast for Melbourne and Adelaide as Queensland battles record floods.

Perth Now | Breaking News from Perth and Western Australia | PerthNow news/ western-australia/ perth-to-sizzle-in-new-year-heatwave/ story-e6frg13u-1225978806936

 

[ScienceRocks]

Meanwhile, Argentina’s agriculture industry faces a grim season.

The heat wave is likely to break the country’s all-time records in soy and wheat exports. Argentina is one of the world’s top grain producers – and that explains why officials and experts very worried.

Five provinces are on code orange alert for severe drought – not good news for a nation that depends so heavily on agriculture.

And it’s not just Argentina that will be affected by this extreme weather. A loss of Argentina’s important crops is likely to affect international commodity prices.

PressTV - Heat wave sweeping across Argentina

 

[Old Rocks]

Need we repeat again for the less than swift, this at the time of the strongest La Nina in several decades?

 

[waltky]

Lake Michigan dryin' up...

Lake Michigan water level hits record low
February 5, 2013 - The water levels of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are lower than they have ever been, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday.

Though water levels have been below average for the past 14 years, last winter’s lack of snow and the hot and dry summer are to blame for this year’s record low. “We’ve had a prolonged period here of dry conditions and conditions that led to high evaporation over the winter,” said John Allis, chief of the Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office at the Corps, the office that monitors Great Lakes water levels. He said snow last year would have helped. “We didn’t have that good spring runoff and refill of the lake,” Allis said.

There was only a 4-inch seasonal rise last year, compared with an average rise of 12 inches, according to the Corps of Engineers. Water levels, which have been recorded since 1918, are not projected to be back to normal for some time, Allis said. “It’s going to be a long time before water levels get close to average again. . . It took a while to get here and it will take a while to get out of these low level conditions,” he said. It means people will have to adapt, Allis said. For example, harbors might need to be dredged more often.

It also means the water level in the Chicago River could be higher than the lake level — causing a big problem, said Henry Henderson, Midwest director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. When the Chicago River was reversed to move the city’s contaminated water away from the lake, it was engineered with the assumption that water levels in the lake would be higher than the river, Henderson said. “If the lake is lower than the river, that drainage system ceases to function,” Henderson said. And that becomes an environmental, economic and public health issue, he said.

But the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which manages the river, said in a press release that the river can be managed with locks, gates and pumps that prevent the river from flowing into Lake Michigan. The agency said there was no immediate crisis.

Lake Michigan water level hits record low - Chicago Sun-Times

 

[westwall]

Lake Michigan dryin' up...

Lake Michigan water level hits record low
February 5, 2013 - The water levels of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are lower than they have ever been, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday.

Though water levels have been below average for the past 14 years, last winter’s lack of snow and the hot and dry summer are to blame for this year’s record low. “We’ve had a prolonged period here of dry conditions and conditions that led to high evaporation over the winter,” said John Allis, chief of the Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office at the Corps, the office that monitors Great Lakes water levels. He said snow last year would have helped. “We didn’t have that good spring runoff and refill of the lake,” Allis said.

There was only a 4-inch seasonal rise last year, compared with an average rise of 12 inches, according to the Corps of Engineers. Water levels, which have been recorded since 1918, are not projected to be back to normal for some time, Allis said. “It’s going to be a long time before water levels get close to average again. . . It took a while to get here and it will take a while to get out of these low level conditions,” he said. It means people will have to adapt, Allis said. For example, harbors might need to be dredged more often.

It also means the water level in the Chicago River could be higher than the lake level — causing a big problem, said Henry Henderson, Midwest director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. When the Chicago River was reversed to move the city’s contaminated water away from the lake, it was engineered with the assumption that water levels in the lake would be higher than the river, Henderson said. “If the lake is lower than the river, that drainage system ceases to function,” Henderson said. And that becomes an environmental, economic and public health issue, he said.

But the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which manages the river, said in a press release that the river can be managed with locks, gates and pumps that prevent the river from flowing into Lake Michigan. The agency said there was no immediate crisis.

Lake Michigan water level hits record low - Chicago Sun-Times

Whaaaa????? If the oceans are rising at an ever increasing rate how is it possible that Lake Michigan is shrinking? Something does not compute.

 

[SSDD]

Whaaaa????? If the oceans are rising at an ever increasing rate how is it possible that Lake Michigan is shrinking? Something does not compute.

None of their claims compute.....they think the magic that happens in poorly written computer models = reality. Not to mention the ever growing body of peer reviewed published research that says that the rate of sea level rise is falling, not increasing.

 

[Old Rocks]

I see. So we can expect water to run uphill from the ocean to Lake Michigan? As for your claim that the ocean level is falling, you utterly failed to link to those peer reviewed research articles. Could it be because they don't exist?

Sea Level Rise -- National Geographic

Core samples, tide gauge readings, and, most recently, satellite measurements tell us that over the past century, the Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL) has risen by 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters). However, the annual rate of rise over the past 20 years has been 0.13 inches (3.2 millimeters) a year, roughly twice the average speed of the preceding 80 years.

Over the past century, the burning of fossil fuels and other human and natural activities has released enormous amounts of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. These emissions have caused the Earth's surface temperature to rise, and the oceans absorb about 80 percent of this additional heat.

The rise in sea levels is linked to three primary factors, all induced by this ongoing global climate change:

 

[Old Rocks]

Things still looking grim for the midwest;

US Drought Monitor

 

[Saigon]

It's interesting seeing these posts on Australia - January 2013 saw both the hottest day in Sydney ever (46C) and the hottest day in Australian history, with an average temp nationwide of 40.5C

 

[Saigon]

Not to mention the ever growing body of peer reviewed published research that says that the rate of sea level rise is falling, not increasing.

Really? Are you sure?

Core samples, tide gauge readings, and, most recently, satellite measurements tell us that over the past century, the Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL) has risen by 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters). However, the annual rate of rise over the past 20 years has been 0.13 inches (3.2 millimeters) a year, roughly twice the average speed of the preceding 80 years.

Sea Level Rise -- National Geographic


Sea level rise on the U.S. East Coast has accelerated much faster than in other parts of the world—roughly three to four times the global average, a new study says.

Calling the heavily populated region a sea level rise hot spot, researchers warn that cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore could face a more flood-prone future.

Sea levels worldwide are expected to rise as global warming melts ice and causes water to expand. Those levels, though, are expected to vary from place to place, due to factors such as ocean currents, differences in seawater temperature and saltiness, and the Earth's shape.

Sea Levels Rising Fast on U.S. East Coast