- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With
nearly half the country reeling from a blistering drought, this summer
is the hottest since the depression-stricken "Dust Bowl" era
of the 1930s, U.S. government weather experts said on Friday.
-
- The summer's scorching temperatures have sparked raging
forest fires in the West, wilted crops in the Midwest and parched pastures
in the Plains.
-
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said
the average temperature for the contiguous United States from June through
August was 73.9 degrees, the third hottest summer since records began in
1895. Summer officially ends on Sept. 22.
-
- The only summers warmer were 1936 and 1934, when vast
numbers of farmers were driven from their land by drought.
-
- "It's very extraordinary to have the warmest summer
since the 1930s Dust Bowl days," said Douglas LeComte, drought specialist
for NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.
-
- Although the U.S. economy is no longer as dependent on
agriculture as it was in the 1930s, a major drought two years ago caused
damage worth $4 billion and claimed 140 lives nationwide. That summer in
2000 was only the 12th warmest on record.
-
- "Although the total costs of this year's drought
are not presently known, the drought-diminished water supplies ... and
contributed to an active wildfire season and extremely difficult farming
conditions," NOAA said.
-
- Moderate to extreme drought covers more than 45 percent
of the United States.
-
- UNPRECEDENTED DROUGHT IN 6 STATES
-
- Six states -- North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Utah,
Arizona and Nevada -- are suffering their worst drought on record, NOAA
said. South Carolina, Maryland, Georgia, Delaware and Wyoming are also
near unprecedented dry levels.
-
- The prolonged drought has scorched U.S. wheat, corn and
soybean crops, which will be the smallest in years. More than 50 percent
of pastures were classified as poor to very poor in 24 states, leaving
ranchers with little to feed their livestock.
-
- So far this year, South Dakota officials have reported
over $1.8 billion in agricultural losses, while Texas claims $316 million
in damages. Costs to fight forest blazes this year are expected to amount
to more than $1.25 billion, government officials said.
-
- NOAA officials predicted the direct loss of this year's
drought would certainly be in the billions of dollars.
-
- "It will be a significant dollar impact, but nothing
similar to 1988 where the Corn Belt was devastated by drought -- well over
$10 billion of direct damage," LeComte said.
-
- NOAA on Thursday said this year's drought would continue
to linger for another six months due to the arrival of a weak El Nino weather
anomaly.
-
- The Democratic-led U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly
to provide drought relief of $6 billion to farmers and ranchers despite
objections from the Bush administration.
-
- The most extensive national drought in the past 100 years
was in 1934 when it hit 80 percent of the country. Studying tree ring records,
NOAA researchers said the severity of the 1930s drought was likely surpassed
only in the 1570s and 1580s.
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