Cloud Watcher Weather Watch: Reflection 1: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Grand Island is a mid-sized city in the central area of Nebraska. Originally named La Grande Island by French fur traders, Grand Island is in an area that resembled an island where the Wood River joins the Platte River. The first settlement was in 1857 by German immigrants from Davenport Iowa who believed that Grand Island was the actual “center” of the United States, and they hoped that Grand Island would become the nation’s capital for that reason. Of course, this never happened, but they were close; the actual center of the United States is Lebanon, Kansas which is only 85 miles away.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Reflection 1: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, Florida is the blog subject of a fellow classmate/blogger that I wish to contrast with mine of Grand Island, Nebraska. The climate for these two cities is very different. For instance, Christmas in Grand Island, Nebraska is usually cold with temperatures in the mid-30’s with an average snowfall of 4 to 8 inches by Christmas Eve. In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Christmas is very different with warm temperatures averaging in the mid-70s with very little precipitation.

Winter in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
(http://cheap-lastminute-holidays.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/fort-lauderdale.jpg)

Winter in Central Nebraska
(http://www.nctc.net/hazard/photo/snow/nebraska_winter.jpg)

Why such a difference? Basically there are two primary factors at work. First is the latitude. Fort Lauderdale’s latitude is 26º N which places it just north of the Tropic of Cancer in a zone called the subtropics. Subtropical climates are characterized by warm mild winters with even warmer summers. Precipitation is dependent on the second factor which is whether the location is continental or maritime. Fort Lauderdale is near the ocean which means that it has a maritime climate. This means its weather is modified by the influence of the sea, giving mild winters and warm summers, but with high humidity, and an average yearly precipitation of 62 inches. (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KFLL/).

In comparison, Grand Island is located further north at 40º N latitude. This places it in the area known as the North Temperate Zone. This zone is normally characterized by moderate temperature changes in the seasons. However, Grand Island is not a maritime climate; instead it is continental. Continental climates are caused by a location being located far away from oceans thus lacking the modifying influence of ocean waters. In the North Temperate Zone, the temperatures range is intensified if the location is very continental. Grand Island is very continental as it is located in the middle of the continental United States, very far from any ocean. Grand Island experiences cold winters and warm summers, with humidity ranging from 50 to 75%, and an average yearly precipitation of 27 inches. (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KGRI/).

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Drought resistance is the goal, but methods differ

By Andrew Pollack

Published: Thursday, October 23, 2008

GRAND ISLAND, Nebraska — To satisfy the world's growing demand for food, scientists are trying to pull off a genetic trick that nature itself has had trouble accomplishing in millions of years of evolution. They want to create varieties of corn, wheat and other crops that can thrive with little water.

As the world's population expands and global warming alters weather patterns, water shortages are expected to hold back efforts to grow more food. People drink only a quart or two of water every day, but the food they eat in a typical day, including plants and meat, requires 2,000 to 3,000 quarts to produce.

Monsanto, the biggest crop biotechnology company, says its first drought-tolerant corn will reach farmers in only four years and will provide a 10 percent increase in yields in states like Nebraska and Kansas that tend to get less rainfall than eastern parts of the Corn Belt.

At a recent farm show here called Husker Harvest Days, a few thousand farmers were guided past a small plot on which Monsanto had grown its drought-tolerant corn next to a similar variety without the "drought gene." A transparent tent had shielded the plants from any rain through the hot Nebraska summer.

The results were, to be sure, less than miraculous. Both the drought-tolerant and the comparison plants were turning brown and shriveling, and they were about three feet shorter than the lush green irrigated corn growing nearby. But the drought-tolerant plants, which also contained a second gene to protect their roots from a pest, were a little greener and a few inches taller than the comparison plants, and their cobs were missing fewer kernels.

Monsanto said the improvement was significant. And the Nebraska and Kansas farmers who toured Monsanto's plot, many of them facing water-use restrictions and soaring pumping costs for irrigation, said any improvement would be welcome.

"Drought tolerance to me is the most critical entry point," said Calestous Juma, a professor of international development at Harvard who has advised African governments on biotechnology. "This is kind of reopening the window for genetic modification."

In many areas, lack of water is the biggest limiting factor, and supplies of water for irrigation could be reduced further in coming years in order to supply more water to growing cities and proliferating factories.

Global warming is also expected to lead to drier conditions and more frequent droughts in some parts of the world. Scientists at Stanford, for instance, have projected that corn yields in southern Africa could drop 25 percent by 2030 because of warmer, drier weather.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/business/worldbusiness/23iht-23drought.17184603.html?pagewanted=all

Cloud Watcher Weather Watch

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Reflection 1: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

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National Weather Service Forecast

Consequences of Drought

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