The current drought in (parts of) Europe might continue, say EU scientists:
“With forecasts up to June showing drier-than-average conditions in northern and western Europe, there are growing concerns about the impact on agriculture river transport, and ecosystems”
The Madeira River, the largest Amazon tributary, has been losing water flow (10% / decade) over the last 20 years while facing severe droughts.
The first victim is the local population. But for the world as a whole, messing with the Amazon is not a good idea either.
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/amazon-people-brace-for-a-drier-future-along-the-endangered-madeira-river/
#ClimateChange #drought #climatechangeisWaterchange
via @mongabay
The Madeira River, the largest tributary of the Amazon, has been losing water flow over the last 20 years while facing severe droughts.
The water drop is worrying the local population, whose livelihoods depend on balanced water bodies for small-scale agriculture, wild fruit extractives, fishing and transportation.
By Kevin Damasio
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/amazon-people-brace-for-a-drier-future-along-the-endangered-madeira-river/
#Drought in Belgium is intensifying further. The current situation is already extreme in the western half of Belgium, but the coming 10 days the extreme drought will expand further to the rest of Belgium.
Best news in a while: finally some rain, over an inch and a half going by the rain gauge! #drought #pennsylvania #rain
This year's been too dry so far (at least in the top soil layer). Shown here by data from my weather station in Wedemark, north of Hanover. The graphs show the cumulative precipitation until the end of April 2025.
The black graph is for the current year. By the end of April, it is significantly below *all* previous years since 2017.
Ocotillo in bloom on the floor of the Tularosa Basin in southern New Mexico!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouquieria_splendens
The sky background is dramatic...dark, threatening thunderstorm clouds.
Then I drove up into the mountains...snow!
But south of us, across the border in northern Sonora and Chihuahua under sunny, dry, breezy skies...forest fire smoke. (Weather satellite image.)
This place continues to have dynamic weather.
While I think a lot of observers make too much of the supposed ideological differences between the "populist" white nationalist faction, and the pro-billionaire techno-fascist contingent in the Trump regime, it's hard not to notice that some of the DOGE recommendations and other funding cuts look like class warfare made literal, with expected casualties. In a move that makes precisely zero sense from a perspective of protecting Americans living through the early stages of climate catastrophe, the Trump regime has ordered the closure of twenty-five science centers that monitor water levels to combat flooding and drought.
Trump officials gut 25 centers that monitor flooding and drought in the US
"The Trump administration has ordered the closure of 25 scientific centers that monitor US waters for flooding and drought, and manage supply levels to ensure communities around the country don’t run out of water.
The United States Geological Service (USGS) water science centers’ employees and equipment track levels and quality in ground and surface water with thousands of gauges. The data it produces plays a critical role across the economy to protect human life, protect property, maintain water supplies and help clean up chemical or oil spills.
The targeted centers are part of a larger network, and the Trump administration based its decision to make cuts on leases near expiration, not scientific reasoning, said Kyla Bennett, director of science policy with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility non-profit that is tracking the issue."
I think I do a pretty good job of distinguishing the things I know, from the things I suspect, here on this blog; so perhaps what I'm about to say here is speculative, but please note that my observations are absolutely informed by people like Elon Musk openly articulating his belief that we're in a racialized war for the future of humanity, which is going to happen on Mars apparently. That noted, it's hard for me not to notice that an absolutely huge portion of the regime's slash and burn agenda is clearly a targeted type of quite literal class warfare; they're actively burning down anything that keeps poor and labor class people alive, while funneling money directly to billionaire tech-fascists, increasing military funding, and rapidly expanding a fascist police state. The result of these policies on a long enough timeline will quite obviously be the deaths of more labor class people, and a further entrenchment of power for the ruling class reactionaries; and suggesting that might be intentional would sound like a conspiracy theory if the billionaire nazis surrounding and populating the Trump regime, guys like Musk, Peter Thiel, JD Vance and so forth, didn't keep saying the quiet part out loud.
Finally, while I'm not sure this is newsworthy, I couldn't willingly write up this story without marveling at what I'm sure one of the wildest things quoted from The Guardian in the paper's long history:
“It’s not being done with any thought about human life, it was just ‘this seems so woke so let’s get rid of it,’” Bennett said. “People think water is free and comes out of your tap whenever you want, but it’s not that simple.”
Yeah, water is "woke" is a thing now apparently; may whatever gods you believe in have mercy on our souls.
Dry conditions draw emus to the suburbs
"Wildlife groups say the emus are seeking water due to drought conditions and urge the community to be mindful of the animals' welfare. WIRES had also been saddened to hear reports of children throwing rocks at the wandering emus and urged parents to discourage it." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-02/drought-draws-emus-to-broken-hill-wildlife-groups-urge-caution/105237790
#birds #emus #BrokenHill #children #cruelty #parenting #FossilFuels #drought
NASA Images Reveal Texan Conditions Not Seen Since 1936
Amid exceptional drought, the city of El Paso, Texas, is facing dusty conditions not seen in nearly 90 years.
NASA has released an image of the latest dust storm captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the space agency's Aqua satellite, on April 27.
#dust #Texas #drought #DustStorm
https://www.newsweek.com/nasa-images-reveal-texan-conditions-not-seen-since-1936-2066648
#Drought fears for grains growing season mount in Central Europe: Concerns stretch across Eastern France, #Germany, Czechia and #Poland. https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/drought-fears-for-grains-growing-season-mount-in-central-europe/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=dlvr.it
Yet another dust storm over the southeast half of New Mexico, far west Texas, the Texas panhandle, Oklahoma panhandle, extending into Colorado and Kansas.
The dust is coming from prehistoric lake beds in northern Chihuahua, Mexico:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Palomas
"Presently its basin is a major source of airborne dust in the region."
With the severe drought conditions in this region, it takes far weaker winds to create these dust storms compared to previous decades. Visibility at my house is less than 1/2 mile.
Note that the dust is tan, but that the gypsum dust from White Sands is paler. A fire is burning in northeast Sonora, Mexico...the smoke plume is bluish. A fire develops in central New Mexico (Rio Grande valley, town of Socorro) at the end of the animation loop. https://app.watchduty.org/i/47153
This region nearly ran out of water. Locals and experts say other Canadian towns should pay attention
In 2022, B.C.’s Sunshine Coast declared a state of emergency because of drought, the first of its kind in the country. Experts warn it’s a situation that other regions will face in the coming years, particularly as the climate continues to change.
#water #drought #climate #emergency #SunshineCoast #Canada
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whatonearth/drought-planning-1.7518702?cmp=rss
#Wildfires: UK burnt area for 2025 already beats annual record
What! The weatherman specifically said light drizzle in the morning only!. It poured! Yay! We need the rain! 
️ #lakelife #drought #rainyday #darkclouds #clouds
a fresh summer breeze
searching for a moist cool zone
where rain kisses sky
#dailyhaikuprompt fresh breeze
#MastoPrompt zone
"Several U.S. regional climate centers shut down Thursday — including those in the Midwest, Great Plains and South.
Those three centers are responsible for collecting weather data across 21 states, as well as sharing drought conditions and other online tools. But their operations ceased at midnight on Thursday due to a lapse in federal funding..."
https://www.stlpr.org/2025-04-18/regional-climate-centers-shut-down-abruptly
Oklahoma | U.S. Drought Monitor | April 24, 2025
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?OK
A severe & prolonged #drought persists in #Africa, affecting the #environment, economies & societies across the continent. Various regions experience lower #agriculture production, crop #yields & food security: joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and... #foodsecurity
Severe drought in Africa persi...
