Yards are dry across much of Middle Tennessee. And if history is any indicator, October won't do much to help them.
The drought remains severe as Tennessee enters its driest month.
It hasn't led to water shortages in the Nashville area, but that could change soon if dry weather continues, said Robert Foster, director of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's water supply division.
"We're on the verge of (water use restrictions) on systems along the Duck River" south of Nashville, Foster said. Low water levels in the Harpeth River coupled with infrastructure problems are causing low water pressure in some parts of Franklin, he said.
Agricultural losses and fires triggered by tinderbox landscapes are becoming more of a concern.
It's time to realize water's true value
Proactive planning will ensure wise management in the future
Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. That old saying hasn't come true in the Ozarks yet, but in some areas we are using our water supplies faster than nature can replenish them. Consequently, the time has come for us to carefully consider the importance of water availability for our future.
There are many things that humans can do without, but water is not one of them. Water is essential to life. Living as we do in a region with an abundance of lakes, rivers and streams, we tend to take water for granted here in the Ozarks. Most of the communities that supply water to their residents tap underground resources through deep wells. Customers of City Utilities use water from lakes. Whether from deep wells or from lakes, residents have enjoyed reliable and inexpensive water supplies for decades. Despite that convenience and low expense, we must not become complacent about the true value of water.
We live in a growing region, and our water resources are finite. Proactive and wise management of this essential resource is key to quality of life in our communities.
Lingering drought makes for tough year for Seneca-area farmers
SENECA — Four years of continued drought has taken its toll on farmers in the Seneca area and elsewhere in the Upstate.
Crops were sparse this year at the Seneca Farmers Market, with many local growers unable to produce enough crops to sell at market this year.
...
“People that are irrigating with city water, the cost is so astronomical that they can’t afford to irrigate with it,” Outz said. “If they do irrigate with city water, they’re certainly not making enough money back when they bring their crops to market.”
Of the crops that Outz raises, sweet potatoes netted half a crop; corn, green beans, butter beans and lima beans were a total loss; cabbage production was way down, and he was lucky to get any cabbage off the fields, he said. Okra was the only late-season crop that did OK for him, and that was in part because of irrigation and some much-needed rain that fell late in the growing season, he said.
UN urges assistance for drought-ravaged Syria
The United Nations has appealed for help for Syria, which it says is experiencing its worst drought for 40 years.
The Syrian Government estimates that one million people are being affected.
The drought is ravaging not only farm land, but also the wider economy, raising imports and undermining key export industries.
Dramatic drought on Cyprus
Wine producers on Cyprus are complaining of high temperatures, a lack of rain and very small grape berries. Some say the end of grape farming on the island has come.
Following on an already small harvest in 2007, it appears the harvest volume for 2008 will see another decrease of the order of 15 to 25 per cent. The main reason lies in the very low rainfall, which amounted to only 50% of the long-term average. ...
When Will Los Angeles Run Out of Water? Sooner Than You Think
Los Angeles has been sleeping far too long. But the question is not when will it wake, but rather what it will do once it does wake and realize the water is gone.
"We are way better than Third-World countries with no water supply," explains California Department of Water Resources drought coordinator Wendy Martin, "but it will take a significant change to keep ours."
Martin is speaking of California at large, but the science is in and the climate crisis isn't hard to figure out. Water isn't a renewable resource, so that makes Los Angeles the state's parched yet still bloated problem.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the state's water reserves are nearly finished, which leaves California with two options: Pray for rain, or suck off Northern California's supply. Guess which one it's going to try first?
Drought spreads in Alabama
Farmers are hurting as weather on Sand Mountain stays mired in a two-year trend of dryness.
Some relief may come Wednesday as the forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms in the Albertville-Boaz area.
The Sand Mountain Research Extension Center, of Crossville, conducts agricultural research for crops on its 500-acre facility. Director Tony Dawkins said the center observed 1.36 inches in September, well below the nearly 5-inch average.
Flood warning for west of Britain
Households hit by torrential downpours over the weekend have been warned to prepare for more flooding on Tuesday
Heavy rain is expected to sweep across the west of Britain, much of which is already saturated.
Nine flood warnings are still in place but the Environment Agency said the total could rise over the next 24 hours.
A spokesman said: "The risk of widespread flooding is low but rivers remain high as a result of the weekend's rainfall.
"Further flood warnings and flood watches are likely to be issued for already swollen rivers."
Uganda faces Polio attack
Uganda's Health Ministry has warned the country is under threat of importing the Wild Polio Virus (WPV) from Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. WHO confirmed to the case of the virus in Miti-Murhesa District, South Kivu Province, DRC and subsequently of another case in Juba town, South Sudan.
The Director General of Health, Dr Zaramba, warns that the locations of these 2 cases are close to the Uganda border and have direct links to Uganda therefore posing a threat to importation.
32 salmonella illnesses reported in 12 states
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government is urging consumers to thoroughly cook frozen chicken dinners after 32 people in 12 states were sickened with salmonella poisoning.
The health warning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited frozen dishes in which the chicken is raw, but breaded or pre-browned, giving the appearance of being cooked. They include "chicken cordon bleu," "chicken Kiev," or chicken breasts stuffed with cheese, vegetables or other items.
'Thirty children' die in hospital
At least 30 children have died of "infections" in a hospital in the town of Behrampore in India's eastern state of West Bengal, doctors say.
The children died over the past week in a government-run general hospital in the state's Murshidabad district.
Ten of these children died in the past two days, according to Barun Santra, superintendent of the hospital.
"We have been trying to shift them to newly constructed blocks to avoid further infection," Mr Santra said.
But he did not specify what had caused the infections.
Locusts threaten China’s harvest
SHANGHAI — China’s agriculture ministry warned dense swarms of locusts and moths threatened to devastate the nation’s grain harvest this year.
Adverse weather led earlier this year to swarms with more than 10,000 locusts per square meter (11 square feet) — six times more than usual — in Tianjin, south of Beijing, the ministry of agriculture said.
The ministry warned unless the insect plagues were controlled, they could strip farmers’ fields during the autumn harvest, leading to massive losses.
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Kyrgyzstan evacuates wounded after earthquake leaves 75 dead
Kyrgyzstan yesterday dispatched helicopters to evacuate victims of a devastating earthquake that killed 75 people, including 41 children, in a remote mountain village near the Chinese border.
Military helicopters flew the injured from the flattened village of Nura, about 10 kilometers from China in the Tian Shan mountains, the emergency ministry said in a statement yesterday, a national day of mourning.
Magnitude 5.4 - SAMAR, PHILIPPINES
2008 October 07 03:34:35 UTC
2008 October 07 03:34:35 UTC
2008 October 07 06:58:48 UTC
Magnitude 1.5 - ONTARIO-QUEBEC BORDER REGION, CANADA
2008 October 07 07:37:07 UTC
Magnitude 5.7 - ARCTIC OCEAN
2008 October 07 10:00:48 UTC
Arctic quake sends waves through Nevada
Magnitude 5.2 - ALAMAGAN REG., NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
2008 October 08 00:48:52 UTC
Magnitude 5.0 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
2008 October 08 06:07:48 UTC
2008 October 08 06:07:48 UTC
Magnitude 5.3 - ARCTIC OCEAN
2008 October 08 07:57:34 UTC
2008 October 08 07:57:34 UTC
Magnitude 5.1 - SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
2008 October 08 09:15:29 UTC
Magnitude 5.2 - SOUTHERN ALASKA
2008 October 08 09:53:01 UTC
Magnitude 5.5 - EASTERN XIZANG
2008 October 08 14:07:16 UTC
M5.4 aftershock jolts county near Lhasa
Magnitude 5.2 - SAMAR, PHILIPPINES
2008 October 08 19:09:28 UTC
Two early morning quakes hit Bicol region
Magnitude 5.0 - PACIFIC-ANTARCTIC RIDGE
2008 October 09 01:23:20 UTC
How Many Earthquakes Are There?
ScienceDaily (Oct. 8, 2008) — A new method for estimating the capability of a network to detect earthquakes suggests that the seismic monitoring network for Southern California, as an example, does not accurately reflect all earthquakes that register a magnitude of 3.3 or smaller within southern California, thereby giving seismologists an incomplete picture of recent and current seismicity.
Fate of asteroid discovered by UA researchers remains unknown
The asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere about 7:45 p.m. MondayTucson time, as predicted, but scientists are as yet uncertain if it impacted the ground, said Ed Beshore, senior staff scientist with Catalina Sky Survey.
"We have to wait to see if any images come out," he said. "The next best thing would be eyewitness accounts."
An acoustic monitoring device in Kenya reported a 1- to 2-kiloton explosion over Sudan at the predicted time, Beshore said.
The blast, likely a shock wave from an aerial blast, was of the same strength and at the same location researchers predicted for atmospheric entry, he said.
Indonesians put on high alert as Mount Soputan volcano erupts in spectacular style
[Awesome pics!--Amanda]
Villagers in Indonesia have been put on high alert after a one of the country's most active volcanoes began spewing out lava in spectacular style.
Lava from the Mount Soputan volcano on Sulawesi island, 1,350 miles from the capital Jakarta, flowed over half a mile from its crater while hot white clouds and fiery sparks shot up about 150m from the peak.
The 3,280ft volcano began to erupt yesterday, forcing local officials to raise the eruption warning level to the third highest on their four-level system.
Volcano activity and fears of eruption rise
Volcano Nevado del Huila in southeast Colombia displayed prolonged "seismicity" last weekend, causing alarm to the inhabitants of the surrounded urban and rural zones.
Small eruptive chains that normally produce 400 movements were even more active this weekend, said Jair Cardoso, member of the local Attention, Prevention and Disasters Committee, according to El País. He did not say how many were registered.
The volcano has ejected only mud and ashes so far, but a large eruption at any moment, or at least more solid materials, that would leave disastrous results.
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