Forests around the world are at risk of death due to widespread drought, University of Stirling researchers have found. An analysis, published in the journal Ecology Letters, suggests that forests are at risk globally from the increased frequency and severity of droughts. The study found a similar response in trees across the world, where death increases consistently with increases in drought severity. Dr Sarah Greenwood, Postdoctoral Researcher in Stirling’s Faculty of Natural Sciences, said: “We can see that the death of trees caused by drought is consistent across different environments around…

Much of the flood-inducing rainfall that has pummeled California over the last month flowed into the region via a river in the sky. But these so-called atmospheric rivers, which transport large quantities of water vapor poleward from the tropics, can wreak havoc in the Southeast as well. University of Georgia geography and atmospheric sciences researchers provide the first detailed climatological analysis of Southeastern atmospheric rivers in a new study published in the International Journal of Climatology. “Drought-busting rainfall this month, which also compromised the U.S.’s tallest dam, has been associated with these atmospheric rivers or what some call the Pineapple Express,” said J. Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor and director of the atmospheric sciences program at UGA. “Our study shows that they are more common than we thought in the Southeast, and it is important to properly…

The Bureau of Reclamation is scheduled to incrementally increase releases below Nimbus Dam starting Monday at 8 a.m., from 5,000 cubic feet per second to 15,000 cfs by Tuesday at 10 a.m., to manage Folsom Reservoir inflow. Please be aware, operational adjustments will be made as necessary and may occur on…

With much of Central Florida under a drought as it ushers in another dry spring, it’s not just farmers who are praying for rain — so are firefighters. Dry conditions, steady winds and lower humidity have created prime conditions for wildfires, said Forest Ranger Mike Facente of the Florida Forest Service. Since the start of the year, 51 wildfires have burned nearly 16,000 acres in the Orlando area. The trend holds statewide, with Florida seeing about 30 percent more fires in the first three months of 2017 than the year before, Facente said. From January to March last year, 700 fires burned 12,900 acres, Facente said. With another week or so left in March, there have been 1,000 wildfires in Florida, and 46,000 acres have burned in 2017. “With the conditions right now with these winds, [fire] hits the ground and it’s gone,” Facente said. The U.S. Drought Monitor listed Osceola, east Orange and most of Seminole County under a “moderate drought” in its weekly report on Thursday. The rest of Central Florida was categorized as “abnormally dry,” a trend meteorologists expect to continue. As of Saturday, the Orlando area had had about 3 inches of rain since the…

ENID, Okla. — A meteorologist with National Weather Service in Norman said some relief could be in sight for the current drought in Garfield County, as well as other parts of the state. Bruce Thoren said the drought map shows the top one-third of the state is currently experiencing moderate to severe drought, and Garfield County is in the moderate area. “The drought really took hold last year,” Thoren said. “That’s when the rainfall deficits started making a difference.” Still, the state is not as dry as it has been in past years, and timely rainfall has helped keep the damage lower. Thoren said relief could come quick if precipitation comes in at or above average this year. “Since the beginning of the year, many areas in the state have had close to normal precipitation,”…

ENID, Okla. — The easing of drought conditions across northwest and central Oklahoma is allowing cattle ranchers to begin rebuilding their herds. The cattle market is seeing a slow and slight increase over years past, where producers faced high grain prices and extreme drought conditions. According to a Cattle on Feed report by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, during January both cattle head marketed and placed into feedlots were well above a year ago. For the month of January, the surveyed feedlots, with 1,000 head or larger capacity, marketed 10.2 percent more animals than a year ago and on a daily average basis the increase was 4.9 percent. Cattle placed into feedlots during January were up 11.4 percent year-over-year. Profit for fed steers and heifers sold during January was an economic driver for the numbers. Total capacity of U.S. feedlots with over 1,000 head capacity was 17.3 million head as of Jan. 1, 2017, an increase of 200,000 animals compared to a year earlier. Northwest Stockyard Feed Yard Manager Jeff Crawford said the cattle market this year…

Matt Cashore / Irishillustrated.om It’s been six years since Notre Dame hockey last won a game in the NCAA tournament. But the Irish are headed back to the scene of that success and hope to duplicate it, starting with a matchup against No. 1 seed Minnesota. Who: No. 4 seed Notre Dame (21-11-5) vs. No. 1 seed Minnesota (23-11-3) When: 3:30 p.m. today Where: SNHU Arena; Manchester, N.H. Radio: 94.3 FM (WZOC) TV: ESPNU Twitter: @ND_hockey Some members of the Notre Dame hockey program landed in Manchester, N.H., this week with fond NCAA tournament memories. It’s been six years since the Irish last started their postseason journey in the Northeast Regional. Things went well back in 2011. Notre Dame beat Merrimack and New Hampshire en route to their second Frozen Four appearance. Anders Lee, now in his fourth full season in professional hockey, was a freshman on that squad. He’s appeared in more than 250 games for the New York Islanders since. “In that specific weekend we got really good goaltending from Mike Johnson and we had two tough opponents,” said head coach Jeff Jackson. “We had two tough opponents. We had the hometown team, New Hampshire. And then Merrimack, who at that time was I think a No. 1 seed. That was the best team they’ve probably had at Merrimack. That was a tough game. We were fortunate to get that game into overtime then the great play by Anders Lee at the end. “But I think a lot of it had to do with the closeness and chemistry of that group that had a big impact. Those freshmen were fearless that year.” Minnesota-Duluth eventually…

Wildfires fueled by gusting winds, hot, dry weather, and desiccated plant life have burned nearly 900,000 acres of Oklahoma so far this year, a record, as well as parts of Kansas and Texas. The blazes have destroyed dozens of buildings and killed seven people as well as hundreds of cattle. A chimney is all that stands in the footprint of a home destroyed by wildfires near Laverne, Okla., on March 12, 2017. Credit: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson Late winter and early spring are typically the peak wildfire season for the region, as dry, windy weather arrives before the spring green-up of crops and other plants. But this season has been particularly active because of drought conditions that have creeped up during the winter, driven by record warm temperatures and a lack of precipitation. Climate change is expected to impact many of the factors, such as precipitation, that can contribute to wildfires. But exactly how it might affect future wildfire risks in the central and southern Plains is an open question, and one that has seen relatively little attention to date. ‘A Lot of Bad Luck’ While this time of year is typically the main wildfire season for Oklahoma and surrounding areas, this season has seen a record-breaking amount of land scorched by 133 large wildfires ignited in the Panhandle and eastern Oklahoma, with conditions exacerbated by a perfect storm of ideal fire weather and a deepening drought. (Large wildfires are those covering 100 acres or more.) That drought has developed due to a combination of exceptionally warm fall and winter temperatures and a lack of precipitation. While total precipitation to date is actually close to average in the Panhandle, with a little more than 5 inches since Sept. 2 in the town of Buffalo, about 3 inches of that precipitation came during a single January ice storm, with almost nothing falling since. Temperatures, meanwhile, have been unusually warm. October through February was the warmest on record for Oklahoma; on Feb. 11, temperatures in Magnum, in the southwest of the state, hit 99°F (37°C), tying the highest winter temperature ever recorded in the state. The burn scar of the Starbuck fire around Ashland, Kan., which spread from Oklahoma to Kansas in early March. Credit: NASA/USGS Those continually warm temperatures increase evaporation during the winter season and exacerbate the drought. “That’s when we saw the large leap in drought conditions, when normally we wouldn’t see that,” state climatologist Gary McManus said. While warmer winter temperatures would normally lead to an early spring green-up, the lack of precipitation has stymied that development, leaving plenty of dead and dormant vegetation to fuel wildfires, McManus said. Winter wheat has also taken a hit…

Now would be as good a time as any for the notoriously relaxed Cape Town to lose its cool, yet for the most part life in the picturesque city loved by international tourists ambles along. Earlier this month, Cape Town was declared a disaster area as the water supply dwindled due to a drought across the Western Cape province. Officials assured reporters that the declaration wasn’t meant to send the city’s four million residents into panic, but rather to get around bureaucratic red tape to free up some money to deal with the crisis. By March 20, water levels at the major dams supplying Cape Town had dropped to 28,6%, which is 1.4% less than the week before, according to statistics from the mayor’s office. What’s worse, the last 10% of dam water isn’t fit for human consumption. At those levels, Cape Town has 103 days of water left. The city has pleaded with people to save water and restrictions have been in place since December. So…

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the Kansas City area is experiencing a moderate drought. This confirms what we already know: We need rain. Water is the basis for life, both ours and the plants and animals around us. Without proper moisture plants suffer. Lack of water places stress on them, which, if prolonged, can lead to death. Luckily for most of us, we can provide the needed water to get them through periods of drought. Not all plants suffer at the same rate. Generally plants with shallow roots and small root mass suffer first. That means plants that are younger and still establishing will suffer first. You should water trees and shrubs planted in the last three to five years. Evergreens, none of which are native to our climate, also are the first to struggle. Spruce, pine and others tend to have less aggressive roots and tolerance for drought. Even mature plants could use a good soaking now. Deciduous trees tend to be…