The Weather Channel Professional Division released their temperature forecast for the next three months from September through November. Overall, the East can expect temperatures to be warmer than average, while much of the Plains and parts of the Southwest will see a greater chance of cooler than average temperatures.
I think it’s interesting to see how much other nations are spending on food. If you look at the graphics I’ve included below from the USDA, you can see the United States spends a smaller percentage than any other nation. To clarify, these are percentages. In an absolute sense, the United States spends more per household on food consumed at home ($2,390 per year) than, say, Nigeria ($1,343) or Russia ($1,935). But because Americans are richer, food still makes up a much smaller portion of their budgets. So as countries get richer, we find that they start spending more of their money on other things — like health care, or entertainment, or alcohol. South Koreans spent one-third of their budget on food in 1975; today that’s down to just 13 percent.
Could water be the Midwest’s ticket to economic rebirth?
CYCLING to and from work along the shores of Lake Michigan in the summer months, marvelling at the brilliant turquoise water in the morning and shades of pink, purple and deep blue in the evening, ever-varying with wind and weather, is a treat for Chicagoans. The lake makes a majestic backdrop for the city’s splendid architecture, and its beaches are a meeting place for people of all classes and colors in this still segregated place.
Lake Michigan and the four other lakes in the region are also the most important asset for Chicago’s home state, Illinois, and the seven other American states that border the Great Lakes, according to a vocal school of thought in the Midwest. “We wrecked our water by leading the industrial revolution,” says John Austin, director of the Michigan Economic Centre. “Now we have to reclaim it to secure our future.”
The Midwest’s industrial boom was carried along by water. It was an important input for the car industry in Detroit, for breweries in Milwaukee, steelmakers in Gary, paper manufacturers in Muskegon and makers of furniture in Grand Rapids. Industries and communities flocked to river- and lakefronts (Chicago had both). Water lubricated the new activity—and helped transport raw materials and finished wares. The new industrialists could use water at scale—and they abused it, pouring toxic waste into the sea-like lakes.
For a long time Midwesterners ignored the damage done. It took fires on the Buffalo, Rouge, Detroit and Chicago rivers, fuelled by thick, oily sludge in the lakes and their arteries, for that to change. In 2010 the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was born to improve water quality, clean up shorelines and restore habitats and species. Five years later, on July 28th, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted a progress report on the initiative to Congress. It says that five areas of concern have been cleaned up, 148,000 acres of wetlands, islands and coastal habitat restored, phosphorus run-off from farms reduced and invasive species rebuffed.
More needs to be done to clean up the lakes and rivers, but attention is now shifting from conservation to the economic uses of abundant water. The Midwest has more than 20% of the world’s (and 80% of America’s) freshwater supply. It is trying to position itself as a centre for research and development for water-related technologies. Milwaukee’s Water Council, which promotes investment, research and jobs in water technology, wants the region to be a wetter version of Silicon Valley. Its Global Water Centre is an incubator for water-based companies. The School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin’s Milwaukee branch is one of only three such freshwater schools in the world (the other two are in the Netherlands and in Singapore). Milwaukee calls itself the “World Water Hub”. Delegations of visitors from around the world seem to believe it.
Curiously, given the abundance of the stuff, several corporate pioneers in water conservation and technology have their […]
With crude oil at or near its lowest level in the past six-years, the folks over at CNBC felt it was time to examine the wholesale price of water compared to that of U.S. crude oil. What they found out might not be a surprise to those who have been predicting for several years that water would one day be more expensive than crude oil… Wake up the time is here, the average price for one gallon of crude oil is now about $1.03 per gallon vs. the average wholesale price for a gallon of water being about $1.21 per gallon. Many technical traders are keeping a close eye on the $42.00 level vs. the WTI crude contract. Thoughts are if this level doesn’t hold crude oil prices could quickly tumble into the $30’s. There are still no real major positives showing up on the demand side of the equation, while we continue to be force fed a glut of bearish headlines on the supply side. Remember, production here in the U.S. has increased by about 600,000 barrels a day this year and seems to be holding steady at about 9.4 million barrels for several months. At the same time, OPEC said its production rose to a three-year high this summer. OPEC said it pumped 31.5 million barrels a day in July, up 100,000 barrels on higher output from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Angola. OPEC also reported a 2.87 million barrel a day oversupply in the 2nd quarter. (Source: CNBC)
According to research led by Purdue University and China Agricultural University, an important agricultural region in China is drying out and increased farming may be to blame. The study — spanning 30 years of data — found that soil moisture has decreased by 6% since 1983 in Northern China. The soil in the region is now at less than 40% of its water holding capacity, while the optimal moisture levels are typically 40% to 85%. Researchers believe if this trend continues, the soil may not be able to support crops by as early as 2090. Understand, 40% of the nation’s population resides in Northern China and the region accounts for 65% of the nation’s cropland. What’s most interesting about this study is that usually when you see soil moisture losses, its due in a large part from changing climate — rising temperatures and less rain. However, this study suggests water depletion appears to be largely driven by human agricultural activities. The study lasted from 1983 to 2009 at two sites, one agricultural and another at an unspoiled grassland. A significant drying trend was discovered in the soil moisture of the agricultural site while a slight increase in moisture was recorded in the grassland. A consistent trend in decreasing of soil moisture correlated with increased usage of fertilizers. The researchers explain that fertilizer has long been overused in China, which accounts for 31.4% of global consumption. In addition to increased fertilizer usage, increasing soil irrigation, caused by the heightened demand for water of newly developed crop species, also leads to increased draw upon the surface and groundwater resources. Drying soil in Northern China has been well studied, but the impacts of agricultural intensification in general on this region have been little understood. The researcher believe their study shows a clear correlation with increased fertilizer usage and proliferation of crops with high water demands though, and say it underscores the importance of developing sustainable agricultural practices. It’s clear the Chinese government recognizes the problem,as they actually sanctioned the study. The question is whether the government is ready to do something? Food security remains one of the state’s paramount concerns, so promoting agricultural approaches that might decrease production may have a tough time gaining any traction. Overall, the problem really is an enormous one, and it needs to be addressed sooner rather than later as the depleted soil and water resources will take years, even decades to recover.