By Renee Schoof, McClatchy Newspapers
Posted Aug. 15, 2012, at 8:43 p.m.WASHINGTON — What can make a bad drought even worse? A sizzling summer, the likes of which the Lower 48 states haven’t seen since record-keeping started in 1895.
This summer won’t be anywhere close to the hottest, even after NOAA tampers with the data..
Fields of crops that are shriveled or still green with unproductive plants are clear signs of how damaging the summer has been, particularly in the Midwest.
But in a warming world, climate scientists say, more hot days and heat waves are a virtual certainty. Humans have altered the background conditions of the atmosphere and increased the risks of extreme weather.
“There have been many severe droughts here before,” said Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist at Texas Tech University. “What’s really unusual, though, is the heat.
Sizzling summer has worsened drought conditions — Nation — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine
Almost half of the US states set their all time record high temperature during the1930s
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