drought

Posted by Jeremy Weiss Jonathan Overpeck Julia Cole | on March 22, 2012
When prolonged high temperatures combine with scant precipitation, droughts intensify. This potent combination struck the southern U.S. in spring and summer of 2011-and may again in coming months-causing crops to wither and turning trees and shrubs into tinder. Record-setting wildland fires raced across parts of the Southwest and southern Plains. By the end of September, exceptional drought covered about half of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma combined. When all was said and done, damages exceeded $1 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The timing of extreme precipitation events and heat waves makes a big difference on how they affect ecosystems, according to a new study in PNAS.

An estimated 5.6 million urban shade trees died in Texas as a result of last year’s extreme drought, according to a study by the Texas Forest Service. The study focuses on the mortality of trees in the urban forest—in parks, streets, and yards.

High pressure has dominated the Southwest over the last 30 days, leading to above-average temperatures, below-average precipitation, and persistent drought throughout the region, especially in West Texas and southwest New Mexico.

January was the fourth warmest on record, according to the January State of the Climate from NOAA. Arizona had temperatures ranking in the 10^th warmest for the month and the Rocky Mountains had the highest above-average temperatures in the region.

The recent widespread aspen forest mortality in western North America was due to dehydration of the trees caused by drought, a new study finds. The four-year drought, from 2000 to 2004, caused the vascular systems that carry water through aspen stands to break down.

Temperatures throughout the West and Southwest were cooler than average during December, with some areas reporting temperatures 6-10 degrees F below normal, according to the December State of the Climate from NOAA. Most of Texas was wetter than average, improving drought conditions in the northern part of the state.

According to The Guardian, 2011 “rewrote the record books” with the highest ever recorded global greenhouse gas levels (394 parts per million at Mauna Loa in May), world population reaching 7 billion, and record investments in renewable energy ($211 billion since 2004), to name a few of the

Over the last month, drought conditions persisted throughout Arizona and New Mexico. However, several early winter storms improved conditions slightly throughout most of the region.

The past year’s drought in Texas resulted in the deaths of an estimated 100 to 500 million trees, according to an ongoing study by the Texas Forest Service.