Washington State Hit With Brutal Drought
Authorities in the state that produces nearly 70 percent of U.S. apples for fresh consumption and loads of other foodstuffs have declared “drought emergencies” in 24 of its 62 watersheds—or 44 percent of the state’s area.
Shipping boxes for Washington apples. (TinyTall / CC BY-ND 2.0)
Authorities in the state that produces nearly 70 percent of U.S. apples for fresh consumption and loads of other foodstuffs have declared “drought emergencies” in 24 of its 62 watersheds—or 44 percent of the state’s area.
The Washington state Department of Ecology reports:
Snowpack statewide has declined to 24 percent of normal, worse than when the last statewide drought was declared in 2005. Snowpack is like a frozen reservoir for river basins, in a typical year accumulating over the winter and slowly melting through the spring and summer providing a water supply for rivers and streams. This year run-off from snowmelt for the period April through September is projected to be the lowest on record in the past 64 years.
Read more here.
h/t Tom Philpott at Mother Jones
— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
Your support matters…Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Health & Wellness
Meat and dairy groups have paid for advertisements that cast meat-based alternatives as unhealthy, unnatural and ultra processed.
Health & Wellness
Government-backed factory farming has become a dominant force in the last five decades.
Environment
In addition to being the main cause of animal cruelty in the world, factory farming is a primary source of environmental degradation.
Business & Economy
There is a massive movement, backed by billions of dollars, to keep animal meat on our tables and plant-based meat back in the fads of the pandemic.
World
Small-scale farmers and Indigenous groups say they have again been shut out of the UN Food Systems Summit.
Environment
A major piece of agricultural legislation will shape the future of the American food system.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.