© USDA
The declaration - which covers roughly half of the country - gives farmers and ranchers devastated by drought access to federal aid, including low-interest emergency loans.
Earth Changes
The declaration - which covers roughly half of the country - gives farmers and ranchers devastated by drought access to federal aid, including low-interest emergency loans.
The world is watching and waiting while US farmers struggle with the worst drought in 25 years
What looks to be the worst U.S. drought in a quarter of a century has given rise to an old-fashioned commodity rally on world markets, with key grain prices hitting highs which caused food crises in vulnerable parts of the globe last time around.
Seeking to protect their populations from hunger this time, many countries relying heavily on imports have held off for now, touting healthy stock levels and hoping other sources will come through and bring prices down.
But their hopes may be dashed if they all return to market at once.
With so much of the world putting faith in a record U.S. corn crop, it is little wonder that prices have surged around 40 percent in the past three weeks as relentless dry weather melted yield expectations for cereals. Soybeans are at record highs, while wheat is not far behind.
"Production potential looked great and it kind of lulled these end-users into a false sense of security. At that point we were seriously looking at (corn) prices under $5 if weather conditions remained ideal, but now we've rallied sharply higher and never looked back," Jefferies Bache analyst Shawn McCambridge said.
© Seth Perlman/AP
Steve Niedbalski shows his drought and heat stricken corn while chopping it down for feed Wednesday, July 11, 2012 in Nashville Ill. Farmers in parts of the Midwest are dealing with the worst drought in nearly 25 years.
Steve Niedbalski shows his drought and heat stricken corn while chopping it down for feed Wednesday, July 11, 2012 in Nashville Ill. Farmers in parts of the Midwest are dealing with the worst drought in nearly 25 years.
Seeking to protect their populations from hunger this time, many countries relying heavily on imports have held off for now, touting healthy stock levels and hoping other sources will come through and bring prices down.
But their hopes may be dashed if they all return to market at once.
With so much of the world putting faith in a record U.S. corn crop, it is little wonder that prices have surged around 40 percent in the past three weeks as relentless dry weather melted yield expectations for cereals. Soybeans are at record highs, while wheat is not far behind.
"Production potential looked great and it kind of lulled these end-users into a false sense of security. At that point we were seriously looking at (corn) prices under $5 if weather conditions remained ideal, but now we've rallied sharply higher and never looked back," Jefferies Bache analyst Shawn McCambridge said.
This morning a vast bank of electric-blue noctilucent clouds rippled across northern Europe. "It was like water in the sky," says Barbara Grudzinska, who photographed the display from Warsaw, Poland:
"These are the first noctilucent clouds this year so clearly visible at our latitude in Warsaw (52 N)," says Grudzinska.
When NLCs first appeared in the 19th century, the mysterious clouds were confined to the Arctic, most often seen in the same places as Northern Lights. In recent years, however, their "habitat" has been expanding, rippling as far south as Colorado, Virginia, Kansas, and Utah. (Here are some examples of sightings in the lower United States.) There is growing evidence that the expansion is a sign of climate change, although this remains controversial.
Whatever the reason, noctilucent clouds aren't just at high latitudes anymore, so sky watchers everywhere should be alert for them.
Observing tips:
Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the sun has dipped 6o to 16o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you've probably spotted a noctilucent cloud.
© Barbara Grudzinska
When NLCs first appeared in the 19th century, the mysterious clouds were confined to the Arctic, most often seen in the same places as Northern Lights. In recent years, however, their "habitat" has been expanding, rippling as far south as Colorado, Virginia, Kansas, and Utah. (Here are some examples of sightings in the lower United States.) There is growing evidence that the expansion is a sign of climate change, although this remains controversial.
Whatever the reason, noctilucent clouds aren't just at high latitudes anymore, so sky watchers everywhere should be alert for them.
Observing tips:
Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the sun has dipped 6o to 16o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you've probably spotted a noctilucent cloud.
© Alexander Lees
During the last half century, the seemingly endless Amazon has lost at least 17 percent of its forest cover, according to WWF. Shown here, a burnt Amazon forest.
During the last half century, the seemingly endless Amazon has lost at least 17 percent of its forest cover, according to WWF. Shown here, a burnt Amazon forest.
While the results are alarming, this deathly time lag provides a conservation opportunity to save some of the disappearing species, scientists said, stressing that actions taken in the next few years are critical.
"Now that we know where the extinction debt is likely to be, we can go to the ground to restore habitat and take remedial actions to try to regenerate new habitats," said study lead author Robert Ewers, an ecologist at Imperial College London in the U.K. "We can try to put off ever having to pay that debt."
© Chris Biensch
Hail stones from Thursday's storm are shown next to a ping pong ball.
Hail stones from Thursday's storm are shown next to a ping pong ball.
Dharminder Gill told CBC News he was driving to work at 3 a.m.when his car stalled in the rising water. Within five minutes the water was waist deep, he said, and when he opened his window to escape the water began pouring in.
"I was scared," he said. "I took my bag and ran through the water and moved to a safe place."
The normally busy Mill Woods intersection at 66 Street and 34 Avenue is also flooded.
Firefighters spent much of the morning rescuing people from submerged vehicles, with at least 18 cars becoming trapped due to rainstorm, and responding to alarms set off by the storm.
Additional photos
An unprecedented 20 inches of rain descended on the town of Aso in southwestern Japan, inundating homes and rice paddies and killing at least 6 people. 20 people are still reportedly missing.
Images on local news reports showed cars being dragged into the raging rivers and houses destroyed by landslides. But by around noon time the rain had stopped, allowing for the clean up efforts to kick in.
The local fire department in Aso District said they had managed to rescue 8 people trapped in mudslides.
© Unknown
Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that the powerful earthquake also jolted parts of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan though there were no reports of casualties or damage to property.
The tremor, which lasted about five seconds, occurred at about 7 pm and was followed by powerful aftershocks. It was felt in Islamabad, Lahore and other parts of Punjab, Peshawar and across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Rescue crews fly in a helicopter on July 12, 2012 in Chamonix, in the French Alps, to the Mont Maudit, a mountain in the Mont Blanc Massif where an avalanche killed at least six people and injured eight, during the night.
"There are reportedly people missing," mountain police said on Thursday, adding rescue forces have been sent to find those missing in the incident.
The avalanche, described as the most deadly of recent years, has buried about 28 climbers from several countries, policed added.
The gendarme service was alerted around 5:25 a.m. (0325GMT) Thursday to the avalanche on Mont Maudit Mountain.
The mountain is the third highest peak in the Mont Blanc Massif which is located near French and Italian joint border.
© NASA Earth Observatory
A strange type of lightning called a sprite that occurs above thunderstorms and extends to the edge of space was photographed by an astronaut aboard the space station on April 30th, 2012.
A strange type of lightning called a sprite that occurs above thunderstorms and extends to the edge of space was photographed by an astronaut aboard the space station on April 30th, 2012.
Sprites and elves are reddish, ultrafast bursts of electricity that are born near the edge of space, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) up in the atmosphere. Sprites are jellyfish-shaped, starting as balls of light that stream downward, whereas elves take the shape of ring-like halos.
One sprite was captured with a digital camera by Expedition 31 astronauts aboard the International Space Station as it traveled over Myanmar on April 30.
Scientists first captured images of sprites and elves dancing above thunderstorms in the late '80s and early '90s. Pilots actually saw them decades earlier, but since they flicker in and out of existence so quickly, the sightings couldn't be verified.
© Press Association
Cardiff is home to around 200 swans
Cardiff is home to around 200 swans
Officials say the animals died within a three-week period and the cause is unknown.
The Welsh capital has a population of around 200 of the birds, which are often seen in Roath Park and Cardiff Bay.
Cardiff Council has confirmed these two locations, both popular with families, were predominantly affected.
Although bird flu has not been diagnosed, as a precautionary measure, people finding dead swans are advised not to touch them.
The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) said the Welsh Government was looking into the matter.
A statement by the AHVLA said: "Reports of increased levels of mortality amongst wild swans in the Cardiff area are being investigated.
Comment: Indeed, something is 'up'...
Cosmic Climate Change is Underway