Drought

Think of this year’s drought as a sort of dress rehearsal to consider the drier, hotter future that scientists predict climate change has in store. Long-lasting droughts could alter the way we live.

From deadly wildfires to choking dust storms to decimated crop harvests, this year’s drought has left its mark across the country. For the hardest hit areas, such as the Great Plains, recovering from the far-reaching impacts of this historically dry year won’t be easy.

The drought affecting the Midwest has revealed an extra 1,100 feet to a cave in the Missouri Ozarks at Smallin Cave, a registered National Historic Place.

Barges are moving along the Mississippi River much more slowly and with lighter loads as they try to get corn and soybean harvest to ports.

Gov. Mike Parson issues a drought alert for 53 Missouri counties that are experiencing extreme heat. His administration is supplying water to farms and ranches through state parks and conservation areas.

Preserving mental health through farming challenges is a real concern; one study shows farmers die by suicide at a higher rate than other professions.

Some farmers and environmentalists say the federal program, which is heavily subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, discourages growers from adapting to climate change and should be redesigned.

Missouri has experienced some of the warmest and wettest years on record in recent decades, said Pat Guinan, state climatologist and associate professor of climatology at the University of Missouri Extension.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 19, 2012 - The words that started this story when it first ran last week hold completely true…

Despite recent rainfall, more than half of Missouri is still in a drought, hitting hard at one of the state’s key economic engines: agriculture.Missouri…