Related topics: climate change · drought

Research connects soil moisture to next-day rainfall

In 1881, a land speculator named Charles Dana Wilber wrote a book called The Great Valleys and Prairies of Nebraska and the Northwest, in which he, stumping for western settlement, coined a phrase: "rain follows the plow."

Climate forecasts shown to warn of crop failures

Climate data can help predict some crop failures several months before harvest, according to a new study from an international team, including a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Improving wildfire predictions with soil science

Severe wildfires have become annual events in the United States. The years 2020 and 2021 were the worst in wildfire history in California. Other states—and countries—are at risk as well. Climate change is making wildfires ...

Satellites reveal a new view of Earth's water from space

In 1889, near the remote border town of Embudo, New Mexico, John Wesley Powell, the famous explorer of the Grand Canyon and second head of the U.S. Geological Survey, started a quiet scientific revolution.

Does rain follow the plow?

What makes it rain? Many people joke it only takes washing the car or forgetting an umbrella to make rain fall, though in reality, those things are two of many rain-making myths that have been perpetuated throughout the years.

Warming pushes Western US toward driest period in 1,000 years

During the second half of the 21st century, the U.S. Southwest and Great Plains will face persistent drought worse than anything seen in times ancient or modern, with the drying conditions "driven primarily" by human-induced ...

For advance drought warning, look to the plants

Among the extreme weather impacts resulting from climate change, drought is a growing problem around the globe, leading to frequent wildfires, threats to water resources, and greater food insecurity.

During drought, dry air can stress plants more than dry soil

Newly published research by Indiana University scientists finds that low relative humidity in the atmosphere is a significant, growing and often under-appreciated cause of plant stress in hot, dry weather conditions.

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