News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertification is a growing threat. Parent comment

Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by pfdietz on Sunday August 30, 2026 @02:25PM (#49501366)
El Nino involves moving moisture around, not just reducing precipitation all over. So the opposite can also be seen in some places. The eastern US and parts of the midwest have had a very good year, an the US harvest of maize is projected to be the 2nd highest ever, slightly above 16 billion bushels.

Locally (New York state), things have been so wet we're seeing premature leaf drops from maple trees due to leaf fungus (tar spot disease).

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by irishcoffee on Sunday August 30, 2026 @02:59PM (#49501707)
Nah, the water cycle is a myth. Don’t you see all these other replies? Clearly science is only supposed to be cherry-picked to fit a narrative.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by johnofthesea on Sunday August 30, 2026 @03:30PM (#49501966)
Can you be more specific?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by irishcoffee on Sunday August 30, 2026 @11:40PM (#49505322)
Water is lost in drops a year to the universe. It’s raining somewhere. The EU having a poor memory of historical weather patterns.

Yes, I think climate change is real and we need to fix it. Droughts have been recorded in history for centuries, long before climate change would have ever existed.

Let’s fix the climate, let’s also try and be rational about historical regional weather patterns.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by jaskerr on Sunday August 30, 2026 @06:25PM (#49503449)
What part of NY are you in? Here in northern Central NY we’ve been ‘abnormally dry’ all summer long. The forecasters keep promising rain, but it’s little more than a sprinkle when it arrives. Lawns are brown. Trees are dropping leaves, but that’s to slow evaporation.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by pfdietz on Sunday August 30, 2026 @06:44PM (#49503573)
Around Ithaca. If I go to https://www.drought.gov/ and look at New York state, there's only two fairly small patches of D0 (the lowest drought category) in the state; the rest is not under drought.

https://www.drought.gov/states/new-york

Overall the state is 2.56" above normal for precipitation in 2026. Tompkins County is 4.3" above normal.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Europe's summer drought is so extreme that desertificatio... by nozzlegear on Sunday August 30, 2026 @10:51PM (#49505073)
This whole summer I've felt that things have been remarkably green and verdant where I live in the Midwest. It reminds me of my childhood, everything is just so much more green and lush this go around.
[ Parent | on HN ]