drought

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Drought Brings 'Earthy' Taste to California Water

Sacramento suggests adding lemon

(Newser) - Some people like their wines to have earthy notes. Their drinking water, not so much. With much of California in extreme drought, Sacramento residents have been complaining that their water smells strange and tastes like dirt, CBS Sacramento reports. Authorities say it is the result of harmless organic compounds found...

17M Salmon Are Being Trucked to San Francisco Bay

With rivers dried up, this is their only chance of survival

(Newser) - With California facing one of the worst drought years in its history, many more salmon will be traveling to the Pacific Ocean by truck this year. Waterways that young Chinook salmon would normally use to migrate have dried up and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is trying to...

Parts of Nevada Banning 'Non-Functional' Grass

Nevada is first state to permanently ban lawns in certain areas

(Newser) - Grass that's just sitting around, serving no purpose, will soon be prohibited in the Las Vegas Valley. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on Friday signed legislation banning "non-functional turf" starting in 2027, the AP reports. Backyards and front lawns aren't going anywhere—single-family homes are exempt from the...

Utah Governor Says It's Time to Pray for Rain

Some Utahns would prefer policy changes

(Newser) - With more than 90% of Utah classed as in "extreme drought," Gov. Spencer Cox is asking for divine intervention. In a video posted on Twitter Thursday, the Republican asked all Utahns, regardless of faith, to join together in a "weekend of humble prayer for rain," CNN...

2020 Also Was Too Hot, Scientists Say

A virtual tie with 2016 made the decade the warmest on record

(Newser) - A sizzling 2020 cemented the last decade as the world's hottest since at least 1880. Last year came in 0.04 degrees Fahrenheit under 2016, one US agency reported, while another found the two years too close to call, the Wall Street Journal reports. "This is another piece...

Drought in Western US May Be One for the Ages
Worst 'Megadrought' in 1K
Years May Be Upon Us
in case you missed it
Apr 19, 2020 6:53 AM CDT

Worst 'Megadrought' in 1K Years May Be Upon Us

Scientists say dry spell in Western US is worst in modern history

(Newser) - Scientists say a 20-year drought across the western US is in fact an emerging "megadrought" as bad as any in the region over the last 1,200 years. Megadroughts, intense droughts that last decades, have a long history in the Desert Southwest. Indeed, the study area—including nine states...

'Spanish Stonehenge' Reappears in 50-Year First

Dolmen of Guadalperal was last seen in full in 1963

(Newser) - For a limited time, you can feast your eyes on "Spanish Stonehenge"—which has been unseen in full in more than 50 years. The ancient monument officially known as the Dolmen of Guadalperal—a circle of 150 stones up to 6 feet tall on Spain's Peraleda de...

In Drought-Plagued Parts of Alaska, 'Extreme Measures'

And if climate change continues, these types of scenarios could happen more often

(Newser) - In one Alaska village, officials are barging in jugs of water and shutting off the public water supply 12 hours each day. In another, automatic flush toilets have been switched to manual flushing, and restaurants are serving meals on paper plates. Alaska's hot, dry summer has led to extreme...

After 7 Years, California Has Some Good News

Drought is gone from all parts of the state

(Newser) - Thanks to a very wet winter, California is finally drought-free. A map released Thursday by the US Drought Monitor shows "almost entirely normal conditions" across the state for the first time since December 2011, reports the Los Angeles Times . "It's been so wet … that we've...

Centuries-Old 'Hunger Stones' Reappear in European River

'When you see me, cry,' reads one

(Newser) - Due to this summer's drought in Central Europe, boulders known as "hunger stones" are reappearing in the Elbe River. The low water levels in the river that begins in the Czech Republic then crosses Germany into the North Sea has exposed stones on the river bed whose appearances...

An Aussie State Is 100% in Drought. Kangaroos Are in Trouble

Country lifts restrictions on shooting kangaroos, who are fighting livestock for pasture

(Newser) - Australia's most populous state was declared entirely in drought on Wednesday, and struggling farmers were given new authority to shoot kangaroos that compete with livestock for sparse pasture during the most intense dry spell in more than 50 years. Much of Australia's southeast is struggling with drought. But...

Water Shut-Off Looms as Major City Approaches 'Day Zero'

Cape Town could be world's 1st major city to go dry

(Newser) - Long lines of South Africans collect water daily from a natural spring pipeline in a suburb of Cape Town, illustrating the harsh impact of a drought that authorities say could force the closure of most taps in the city in just over two months, an occasion known as "Day...

Cave Clues Point to Parched Mideast for 10K Years

Iranian stalagmites indicate rain isn't coming anytime soon

(Newser) - For anyone holding hope that the dry conditions in the Middle East are but a temporary drought, two cave stalagmites taken from Iran tell a long history of the region's precipitation and give a grim prognosis: not much rain for the next 10,000 years. Thanks to their chemical...

Simple Trick May Help Plants Survive Drought
Simple Trick May Help
Plants Survive Drought
NEW STUDY
Jul 10, 2017 9:37 AM CDT

Simple Trick May Help Plants Survive Drought

The effect was seen in rice, wheat, corn, and more

(Newser) - As the climate warms, scientists are conducting experiments around the world to try to boost drought resistance in a wide range of crops. But a study out of the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan is especially promising because the key ingredient helping a wide range of crops...

'Uninvited Guest' Is Killing a Southwest Reservoir

Climate change is decreasing water levels in Lake Powell: Rebecca Solnit

(Newser) - More than 50 years ago, Glen Canyon, straddling Arizona and Utah, became flooded with water after the creation of the Glen Canyon Dam led to the formation of the Lake Powell reservoir. But even though the Sierra Club wrote the canyon's obituary in 1963, Rebecca Solnit reveals in the...

California Governor Declares End to Drought Emergency

But some conservation rules will remain in place

(Newser) - Gov. Jerry Brown declared an end to California's historic drought Friday, lifting emergency orders that had forced residents to stop running sprinklers as often and encouraged them to rip out thirsty lawns during the state's driest four-year period on record. The AP reports the governor's order that...

California's Biggest Reservoir Just Hit a Happy Milestone

Gates of Shasta Dam opened for first time in nearly 20 years

(Newser) - For the first in almost two decades, water spilled from the top of Shasta Dam in California this week—another sign that the state's long drought is all but over. With Lake Shasta, California's largest reservoir, at 93% capacity, officials opened Shasta Dam's topmost gates one at...

An End to California's 5-Year Drought? It's on Mother Nature

If storms keep raining precipitation down, Cali could be sitting pretty

(Newser) - Sorry, Lena Horne, but stormy weather may be just what California's been looking for. The Golden State has been getting bombarded with precipitation—rain, snow, hail, sleet—making even Los Angeles feel "more like London than Southern California," the Los Angeles Times notes. But for a parched...

This State's 102M Dead Trees 'Should Be Concerning for Everyone'

California's wildfires are getting more common and more dangerous

(Newser) - In drought-stricken California, 36 million trees have died since May, the Los Angeles Times reports. They're part of 62 million trees that have died in the state since 2016 and 102 million trees that have died over the past six years. "It's not beyond the pale to...

South African Park Kills 350 Hippos, Buffalos Amid Drought

Meat from the killed animals will go to poor communities

(Newser) - Rangers in South Africa's biggest wildlife park are killing about 350 hippos and buffalos in an attempt to relieve the impact of a severe drought, the AP reports. The national parks service says the numbers of hippos and buffalos in Kruger National Park, about 7,500 and 47,000...

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