More than 90 percent of the state of Texas is under either "extreme" or "exceptional" drought conditions. A wildfire currently burning west of Dallas has destroyed twenty homes and forced evacuation of over a hundred others.
I thought that prayer rally in Houston earlier this month was supposed to take care of all this.
Seriously, I'm starting to wonder if the Texas drought is God's punishment on the state for inflicting Rick Perry on the world.
Showing posts with label drought. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drought. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Dust Bowl II?
I grew up in Lubbock, a city of about 200,000 in the southern part of the panhandle in west Texas. Like most of Texas, the area around Lubbock is experiencing the worst drought in decades. So far this year, Lubbock has received 1.10 inches of rain (as of July 4), compared with over eight inches in the first half of a normal year.
This recent picture shows a lake that is in a park about five blocks from the house where I grew up.
As a child I used to play and hang out in Clapp Park, and am very familiar with this lake. Although it is not unusual for water levels to rise and fall periodically in the small lakes that dot the landscape around Lubbock (the regional term is "playa lakes"), depending on rainfall patters, the water would typically extend close to the line of trees in the background of this picture, covering most of the area that is now covered with grass.
The area around Lubbock is one of the largest and most intensive cotton producing regions in the world. The ongoing drought will no doubt have severe and lasting impact on the local economy as the cotton crops are devastated. It is also causing severe stress with the local wildlife.
I understand that no single weather event, or even a series of events, can be taken as evidence for (or against) the reality of climate change. But when you look at the pattern of extreme weather that is occurring, fitting the models that scientists have been laying out for years, I don't see how anyone can question that major changes are taking place.
--Dan
This recent picture shows a lake that is in a park about five blocks from the house where I grew up.
The area around Lubbock is one of the largest and most intensive cotton producing regions in the world. The ongoing drought will no doubt have severe and lasting impact on the local economy as the cotton crops are devastated. It is also causing severe stress with the local wildlife.
I understand that no single weather event, or even a series of events, can be taken as evidence for (or against) the reality of climate change. But when you look at the pattern of extreme weather that is occurring, fitting the models that scientists have been laying out for years, I don't see how anyone can question that major changes are taking place.
--Dan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)