SaskatchewanScreamer wrote:sequoyah101 wrote:Very hard to see how the 51-57 could be worse than this since back then there were some periodic rains weren't there? Now, we get almost no rain at all.
Not to be alarmist, but when does desertificaiton begin? If the root structures die where does replenishment come from?
Nothing can be done I know but this is frightening to watch huge oaks die, no moisture in the ground at all. When do wells begin to go dry. I have been watching water levels in monitor wells in SE Texas and they continue a multi year drop. Sure, levels go up and down with the seasons but the trend is down.
The really sickening part is that just three hours away there is plenty of moisture.
If you are referring to grasses (seeds are still lying on the soil)
http://www.agriculture.com/news/livestock/texas-pastures-may-take-two-years-to_3-ar19171
Native trees will be the same re from seeds (but it sure will take them a lot longer).
The plant life came back surprisingly fast after Mount St. Helen's eruption.
"Everything about this is historic and comparable to the Dust Bowl years," says Robert Dull, an assistant professor of geography and the environment at the University of Texas-Austin, referring to the severe drought and dust storms of the 1930s that forced mass migrations from Oklahoma and other states. "People made major life-changing decisions based on that event, just as they will with this."
Droughts and wildfires usually are phenomena that occur in faraway, rural corners of West Texas, Dull says. But last week, some of his students said their families had lost homes to the wildfires in nearby Bastrop, marking a disaster felt as much in urban centers as in rural areas.
"There's a psychological effect that will linger for years," he says.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/drought/story/2011-09-12/texas-drought-Dust-Bowl-ranchers/50373618/1
In 2002 we went through a similar drought (but not hitting the temps you folks are)...I remember driving out to the farm and looking at its stunted *weed* crop and thinking we'd never recover (many dust devil dry years led up to it). Cattle and wildlife were starving here too (Eastern Canada's farmers sent donated hay out west to 600 lucky families who won the hay lottery). Most went to auction however (recovering from that will be the toughest for Tx ranchers). El Nino isn't good to us so I can't share your wishes for that (it brought us more or less 30 years of various degrees of drought (except for a couple of years where La Nina popped up) ending with our worst drought in well over a 100 years)...BUT I sure hope you get lots of rain some how.
If the drought lasted 30 years it will have a deep impact on Texas and on the economy, which is already in a sorry state. Droughts have been linked to epidemics and pandemics, like the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918.
Megadrought and Megadeath in 16th Century Mexico
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/8/4/01 ... rticle.htm
The Indians in Mexico were decimated in the 16th century when Spain arrived. Most died from diseases from smallpox and a hemorrhagic fever known as cocoliztli. This great plague occurred during a massive drought in the 16th century. Some people think drought contributed to the Black Death pandemic.
http://books.google.com/books?id=NgF42W ... th&f=false
wxman57 wrote:And don't forget that many of the utility companies are having issues with their generation plants due to low water. Water is needed for cooling. Without water (soon), a number of generation units will need to be shut down. This isn't such a big issue if we have a mild winter, but it could mean many rolling blackouts across Texas next summer. That doesn't even consider the many units that will need to be shut down due to more strict EPA rules in 2012. ERCOT is going to be really pushed beyond its max next year if we don't get widespread heavy rain before then.
Glad I had that generator transfer switch installed next to my electric panel.
Oh, and as I type this, I see on TWC that it's flooding in the desert (Las Vegas).
That is not good. That could be a problem for the economy as well.
is guaranteed here).
(in drought years 
). 
low supply of water. I really can't fathom what your government is thinking re allowing farmers to grow high water usage crops like rice, in extreme drought, when people could/are running out of drinking water (don't get political here).
my Cowboys 
