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#drought

39 posts27 participants3 posts today

The current drought in (parts of) Europe might continue, say EU scientists:

“With forecasts up to June showing drier-than-average conditions in northern and western Europe, there are growing concerns about the impact on agriculture river transport, and ecosystems”

joint-research-centre.ec.europ

Image of low river flow level seen from bird's eye
The Joint Research Centre: EU Science HubDrought over large parts of Europe raises concernDwindling river flows and worsening drought are triggered by warmer-than-average weather and lower precipitation levels.

U.S. Geological Survey Colorado River Basin Science and Technology Collaboration Meetings on Drought (2021) - Synthesis of Findings
--
pubs.usgs.gov/publication/cir1 <-- shared publication
--
USGS recent publication about the challenges and barriers land managers and scientists are working on to address the wicked problems of drought in the Colorado River Basin.
#water #hydrology #drought #extremeweather #fedscience #Colorado #ColoradoRiver #ColoradoRiverBasin #watershed #waterresources #watersupply #climatechange ##landmanagers #management #planning #overuse #magicwater #humanimpacts #ecosystems #agriculture #farming #USWest #strategy #GIS #spatial #mapping #waterscience #interdisciplinary #research #adapation #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #stakeholder #engagement #cost #economics #coordination #future @USFS @USFS

This week’s CMOR photo is from Chilton County, Alabama.

“Areas that are normally wet in the spring are DRY. The first 4 months of this year we have only had 19.2” vs 27.7” last year… We had to feed hay deeper into spring due to lack of ryegrass growth and have started supplementing our calves a month early to make up for grass that’s not available.”

Submit your photos: go.unl.edu/cmor_drought

Poor runoff could spell drought this summer in the Colorado River Basin, despite near normal winter snowpack

"Snowpack was near normal for much of the upper Colorado River basin this winter. By April 1, which is what hydrologists typically consider to be the end of winter for water measurement, the upper basin had received about 90% of its historical median snowpack.

"There were some outliers among the smaller basins that make up the larger Colorado River Basin...

"Despite the overall positive snowpack report, hydrologists and drought forecasters are not optimistic about runoff. Forecasters predict that through July, runoff will be at 67% of average above Lake Powell."

#drought #ColoradoRiver

aspenpublicradio.org/environme

The Colorado River flows just west of Moab, UT towards its confluence with the Green River in Canyonlands National Park. Snowpack in southern Utah was low this winter, but much of the upper Colorado River Basin had snowpack levels closer to average.
ASPEN · Poor runoff could spell drought this summer in the Colorado River Basin, despite near normal winter snowpackBy Caroline Llanes

The Madeira River, the largest tributary of the Amazon, has been losing water flow over the last 20 years while facing severe droughts.

The water drop is worrying the local population, whose livelihoods depend on balanced water bodies for small-scale agriculture, wild fruit extractives, fishing and transportation.

By Kevin Damasio
news.mongabay.com/2025/05/amaz

Mongabay Environmental News · Amazon people brace for a drier future along the endangered Madeira RiverThe Madeira River, the largest tributary of the Amazon, has been losing water flow over the last 20 years while facing severe droughts.

The Trump administration has ordered the closure of 25 scientific centers that monitor US waters for flooding and drought, and manage supply levels to ensure communities around the country don’t run out of water.
The United States Geological Service (USGS) water science centers’ employees and equipment track levels and quality in ground and surface water with thousands of gauges. The data it produces plays a critical role across the economy to protect human life, protect property, maintain water supplies and help clean up chemical or oil spills. #Disasters #Water #WaterQuality #USGS #Environment #Flood #Drought #AmericanCoup #Coup #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #Science

uk.news.yahoo.com/trump-offici

Yahoo News · Trump officials gut 25 centers that monitor flooding and drought in the USBy Tom Perkins

The german weather office has published a statement that the period from april to march 2025 has been the driest since 1931
dwd.de/DE/presse/pressemitteil
I can confirm this for eastern France, where the amount of rain was 38% less compared to the reference period, and 63% fewer days with >1mm of rain. And even the very wet January (+25% rain) is not compensating: still 13% less rain.
#drought #climatechange

www.dwd.deWetter und Klima - Deutscher Wetterdienst - Presse - Trockenheit in Deutschland und EuropaDeutschlandweit war es von Anfang Februar bis Mitte April noch nie seit 1931 so trocken

This year's been too dry so far (at least in the top soil layer). Shown here by data from my weather station in Wedemark, north of Hanover. The graphs show the cumulative precipitation until the end of April 2025.

The black graph is for the current year. By the end of April, it is significantly below *all* previous years since 2017.

Ocotillo in bloom on the floor of the Tularosa Basin in southern New Mexico!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouquier

The sky background is dramatic...dark, threatening thunderstorm clouds.

Then I drove up into the mountains...snow!

But south of us, across the border in northern Sonora and Chihuahua under sunny, dry, breezy skies...forest fire smoke. (Weather satellite image.)

This place continues to have dynamic weather.

Continued thread

While I think a lot of observers make too much of the supposed ideological differences between the "populist" white nationalist faction, and the pro-billionaire techno-fascist contingent in the Trump regime, it's hard not to notice that some of the DOGE recommendations and other funding cuts look like class warfare made literal, with expected casualties. In a move that makes precisely zero sense from a perspective of protecting Americans living through the early stages of climate catastrophe, the Trump regime has ordered the closure of twenty-five science centers that monitor water levels to combat flooding and drought.

theguardian.com/us-news/2025/m

Trump officials gut 25 centers that monitor flooding and drought in the US

"The Trump administration has ordered the closure of 25 scientific centers that monitor US waters for flooding and drought, and manage supply levels to ensure communities around the country don’t run out of water.

The United States Geological Service (USGS) water science centers’ employees and equipment track levels and quality in ground and surface water with thousands of gauges. The data it produces plays a critical role across the economy to protect human life, protect property, maintain water supplies and help clean up chemical or oil spills.

The targeted centers are part of a larger network, and the Trump administration based its decision to make cuts on leases near expiration, not scientific reasoning, said Kyla Bennett, director of science policy with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility non-profit that is tracking the issue."

I think I do a pretty good job of distinguishing the things I know, from the things I suspect, here on this blog; so perhaps what I'm about to say here is speculative, but please note that my observations are absolutely informed by people like Elon Musk openly articulating his belief that we're in a racialized war for the future of humanity, which is going to happen on Mars apparently. That noted, it's hard for me not to notice that an absolutely huge portion of the regime's slash and burn agenda is clearly a targeted type of quite literal class warfare; they're actively burning down anything that keeps poor and labor class people alive, while funneling money directly to billionaire tech-fascists, increasing military funding, and rapidly expanding a fascist police state. The result of these policies on a long enough timeline will quite obviously be the deaths of more labor class people, and a further entrenchment of power for the ruling class reactionaries; and suggesting that might be intentional would sound like a conspiracy theory if the billionaire nazis surrounding and populating the Trump regime, guys like Musk, Peter Thiel, JD Vance and so forth, didn't keep saying the quiet part out loud.

Finally, while I'm not sure this is newsworthy, I couldn't willingly write up this story without marveling at what I'm sure one of the wildest things quoted from The Guardian in the paper's long history:

“It’s not being done with any thought about human life, it was just ‘this seems so woke so let’s get rid of it,’” Bennett said. “People think water is free and comes out of your tap whenever you want, but it’s not that simple.”

Yeah, water is "woke" is a thing now apparently; may whatever gods you believe in have mercy on our souls.

The Guardian · Trump officials gut 25 centers that monitor flooding and drought in the USBy Tom Perkins

Dry conditions draw emus to the suburbs

"Wildlife groups say the emus are seeking water due to drought conditions and urge the community to be mindful of the animals' welfare. WIRES had also been saddened to hear reports of children throwing rocks at the wandering emus and urged parents to discourage it." >>
abc.net.au/news/2025-05-02/dro
#birds #emus #BrokenHill #children #cruelty #parenting #FossilFuels #drought

ABC News · Wildlife groups urge caution as dry conditions draw emus to Broken HillBy Oliver Brown

Much of Colorado is feeling the effects of low snowpack this spring. Basins in southern Colorado are reporting very low snow water equivalent levels, with the San Miguel-Dolores-Animas-San Juan River Basins at 26% and Upper Rio Grande Basin at 21% on May 1. These lagging numbers, along with a dry week for Colorado, drove dryness and drought expansion in the state.