Photos: Drought Disaster 2012
Farmers Bear the Brunt
Crops wither. Topsoil lies cracked and parched. Reservoirs shrink, leaving dry beds exposed to the sun. More than half of the continental United States is in some stage of drought, while most of the rest of the nation endures abnormally dry conditions.
The percentage of affected land rivals even some years of the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, though experts point out that this year's weather has been milder than that period, and farming practices have vastly improved. Corn and soybean crops have been devastated in places, and livestock farms are suffering, too. It's a huge disappointment for farmers who only a few months ago had expected record harvests. Above, Marion Kujawa looks over a pond he uses to water the cattle on his farm in Ashley, Ill. Kujawa has been digging the pond deeper after it began to dry up during the current drought.
Here are other photos from around the nation of the drought's impact.
more....http://www.weather.com/news/drought-disaster-photos-20120713?pageno=1
Also adding my own to the mix, from California:
= new reply since forum marked as read
for this last photo you included.
Winter Wine Country
HEALDSBURG, CA: Gnarled old zinfandel grapevines stand against a backdrop of snow in the mountains surrounding Sonoma County's Alexander Valley on March 1, 2011. Northern California's heavy winter rains and snowpacks in 2011 eased drought concerns, raising the spirits of grape growers and farmers throughout the state.
http://www.vinography.com/archives/2011/12/vinography_images_winter_wine.html
There is little question that we are experiencing a major drought in much of the country. Maybe the worst in 25 or 50 years or even back to the '30's, depending on who you listen to. V.P. Al Gore on his blog has called it the worst in recorded history.
But an embellishment goes to credibility.
images of California Drought. I know there has been drought in Northern California for some time, being a resident here. I didn't see many images from Northern California, other than perhaps this photo, I used before.
The article posted focuses on many places that certainly have it worse than California, but California has been having drought for years. Hence, all the major grass fires, for example in Southern California. I know not many people care about what happens out west, but as someone who lives in Northern California, I wanted to show we do have our problems here also. As, I said in another post, I can not remember the last time it rained in the SF Bay Area. I would imagine its affecting our farmers markets, and has a major affect on prices of veggies and fruits sold around the state, along with the Vineyards like the one above. Those Vineyards don't exactly look healthy to me.
