What's Behind Rising Food Prices, Beyond the U.S. Drought

Although many U.S. consumers were alarmed to see news reports this summer of droughts leaving shriveled crops dying in the fields, John Stanton, Ph.D., professor of food marketing at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, warns other factors will have a greater effect on Americans’ wallets. “Price increases from the droughts are likely to have short-term effects, but global issues can have a longer and greater impact,” Stanton explains, citing increasing demand from the rest of the world for crops like corn.

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Test of Tolerance: Diversity Keeps Grasslands Resilient to Drought, Climate Change

Study finds grasslands should come out as the winner with increased periods and intensity of drought predicted in the future.

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Forged for Infamy: 2012 the Hottest Year on Record for Northeast

New data released by the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University shows the Northeast’s seven-month average (January through July) of 49.9 degrees was the warmest such period since 1895, the year such record keeping began.

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Climate Warming Refuted as Reason for Plant Shifts in High-Profile 2008 Study

The simple model of how plants handle climate change doesn't always explain what's going on.

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Rural Mainstreet Index Nosedives: Drought Impacting Ethanol/Biodiesel Production

Latest results from the monthly Rural Mainstreet Index indicate the drought is taking its toll on famers and ethanol/biodiesel plants.

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Chronic 2000-04 Drought, Worst in 800 Years, May Be the “New Normal”

The chronic drought that hit western North America from 2000 to 2004 left dying forests and depleted river basins in its wake and was the strongest in 800 years, but those conditions will become the “new normal” for most of the coming century. Such climatic extremes have increased as a result of global warming.

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Creighton University Economist Available to Discuss Economic Impact of Drought

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First Half of 2012 Dry and Drought Conditions to Persist in Parts of the Northeast

Jessica Rennells, a climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University, comments on data released today confirming that the first six months of 2012 are drier than normal – and that those conditions are expected to persist in a band stretching from Lake Erie to Albany as well as western Pennsylvania. NOTE: An online drought monitor and seasonal drought outlooks are available at: www.droughtmonitor.unl.edu/forecast.html

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Farmers Face the Downsides – and Upsides – of the Drought of 2012

Data released this week paints a grim picture for farmers throughout the United States. Almost everywhere, fruit, crop, livestock and dairy farmers are being choked by the driest growing season since 1956. Researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University are available to talk with the media about the impacts of the Drought of 2012.

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Professors Chart Tropical Cyclones’ Role in Ending Drought in the Southeast

Professors from Appalachian State University, UNC Greensboro, University of West Florida and Indiana University have studied a 58-year history of tropical cyclones and their role in ending drought in the Southeast.

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