Whats happening?see amzing pictures of Drought in USA, Lake Mead Drops To Lowest Levels Ever As 14-Y

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Last week, Lake Mead dropped to the lowest levels since the reservoir was filled upon the completion of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s. The Southwest has remained in the grips of an everlasting drought for the past 14 years, forcing waters down more than 130 feet since a high-water mark was last reached in 2000.
As entire marinas run dry, the Bureau of Reclamation fears that an ongoing drought could force the agency to declare a shortage by 2017, which could ultimately affect the more than 40 million people that rely on Lake Mead for water. Take a look at some startling photos of the nation's largest reservoir, now just 39 percent full, below.

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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  Empty boat slips protrude from the dock at the abandoned Echo Bay Marina on July 13, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada. The marina closed last year after no businesses wanted to operate it, in part due to falling water levels according to the National Park Service. Last week, North America's largest man-made reservoir dropped below 1,082 feet above sea level, the lowest it's been since the Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s. A 14-year drought in the Southwestern
• United States and a dwindling supply of water from the Colorado River, in part due to cuts in the reservoir's annual allocation of water from Lake Powell, has left a white "bathtub ring" of mineral deposits left by higher water levels on the rocks around the lake as high as 130 feet. The National Park Service has been forced to close or extend boat launch ramps, and move entire marinas to try to keep up with the receding water levels.
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  A buoy warning "no boats" stands on dirt at the abandoned Echo Bay Marina on July 13, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  Shrubs grow around a boat sitting in mud in an area that used to be underwater near Boulder Beach on July 13, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada.
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  Boaters near Horsepower Cove pass in front of a white "bathtub ring" on the rocks on July 13, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada.
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  A bridge at the Callville Bay Marina is no longer open to lead visitors over the water on July 13, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada.
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  A sign at the Echo Bay launch ramp warns boaters about low water levels on July 13, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada.
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  A boat paddle lies in cracked mud at the abandoned Echo Bay Marina on July 13, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada.
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  Dry cracked earth is shown in an area that used to be underwater near where the Lake Mead Marina was once located on July 17, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada.
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  The Arizona Spillway at the Hoover Dam is shown on July 17, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Arizona.
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  Passengers taking a boat tour pass in front of a mineral-stained rock wall on July 14, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada.
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  Tires once used as a breakwater sit in low water at the abandoned Echo Bay Marina on July 13, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada.
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  Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  No water is visible near a fish cleaning station at Las Vegas Bay on July 13, 2014 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada.

 

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Aerials of Greensburg Tornado Damage,
This aerial photograph and the ones that follow show the devastation that occurred when a large tornado struck Greensburg Friday night.
Jaime Oppenheimer/The Wichita Eagle

 

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[h=1]California Drought brings greatest agriculture water loss[/h] Doyle Rice, USA TODAY 8:59 a.m. EDT July 16, 2014

(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP)


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The drought in California – the third most severe on record – is responsible for the greatest water loss ever seen for the state's agriculture, and river water for Central Valley farms has been reduced by roughly one-third, according to a study out Tuesday from the University of California-Davis.
However, "California's agricultural economy overall is doing remarkably well, thanks mostly to groundwater reserves," said Jay Lund, a co-author of the study and director of the university's Center for Watershed Sciences, which released the study.
The entire state is in a drought. More than 36% is in "exceptional" drought, the worst level, according to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal website that's updated weekly.
The UC-Davis report found that direct costs to agriculture total about $1.5 billion (which include revenue losses of $1 billion and $0.5 billion in additional pumping costs). This net revenue loss is about 3% of the state's total agricultural value.
Farmers in pockets of California hardest hit by the drought could begin to see wells run dry next year.
"We expect substantial local and regional economic and employment impacts," Lund added. "We need to treat that groundwater well so it will be there for future droughts."
Other findings from the report:
• The loss of 17,100 seasonal and part-time jobs related to agriculture due to the drought represents 3.8% of farm unemployment.
• The drought is likely to continue through 2015, regardless of whether the climate pattern El Nio develops, which could provide needed rain and snow next winter.
• Consumer food prices will be largely unaffected. Higher prices at the grocery store of high-value California crops such as nuts, wine, grapes and dairy foods are driven more by market demand than by the drought.

 

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[h=1]USA drought 'fanning the flames' of volatile market[/h] By Olivia Midgley


FARMERS in America are abandoning their crops following the worst US drought in decades.

Maize and soybeans have taken a beating in the extreme conditions and, although some rain fell this week, experts said it was too little too late.
Market analyst at HGCA Jack Watts said the situation, coupled with other international events, including the ongoing eurozone crisis and the unusual weather patterns in Europe, were taking their toll on the grain markets.
He said: “The US drought is fanning the flames of a tight global feed grain market so this is having a huge impact.
“The soyabean is getting to a very sensitive stage but the real concerns are around maize.
“One is yield and if there is going to be enough. But also, it’s a case of how much of the planted area will actually make it through to harvest, as some US farmers are abandoning the crop and claiming insurance. Some will take it as a forage crop, meaning it will never reach the market as grain.
“The concern is as much over abandonment as it is over yields.”
He said US farmers were optimistic at the start of planting season, but the mood soon changed when temperatures soared and drought took hold of 80 per cent of the country.
“It was the highest planted area since the 1930s,” he said.
“All this comes against a backdrop of tight stocks which makes for a very volatile market. It has also impacted on wheat prices because maize can be used as an alternative feed grain.
“In 2011 we had poor growing conditions for the US maize crop but poor maize was compensated with an abundant wheat supply, but there is less this year. There is far less from Russia and Europe which again is largely weather-related.”
Analysts said global stocks had been tight for the last four years as demand outstripped supply.
“Stocks have been thin which has left the market exposed in the event of an extreme weather like we have seen this year,” said Mr Watts. “We are very much in unchartered water at the moment.”

 

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US hit by worst drought in 25 years, food prices rise

Corn plants struggle to survive in a drought-stricken farm field near Vincennes, Indiana, USA.




Worsening drought in the United States has pushed grain prices to new highs as crops are withering and the temperatures are rising.


The drought in the US Midwest, which is the country’s worst in 25 years, hit maize crop particularly hard, US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Wednesday, AFP reported.

The US is the world's biggest producer of corn and soybeans as well as a top food exporter.

Soybean prices at the Chicago Board of Trade established a new record and corn ended the day near a record as millions of acres of crops wilted under a scorching sun in the US Corn Belt.

Corn prices have risen over 50 percent in the past month as the crop seared in many locations during its most important growth stage of pollination.​

"I get on my knees every day and I'm saying an extra prayer now. If I had a rain prayer or a rain dance I could do, I would do it," Vilsack said after he delivered a briefing about the drought to President Barack Obama.

Vilsack said that 78 percent of US corn and 11 percent of soybean crops had been damaged.​

"This will result in significant increases in prices for corn. We've seen a 38 percent increase since June 1 in the price of a bushel of corn -- it's now $7.88. A bushel of beans has risen 24 percent," he said.

"Part of the problem we're facing is that weather conditions were so good at the beginning of the season that farmers got in the field early, and as a result this drought comes at a very difficult and painful time in their ability to have their crops have good yield," Vilsack said.

 

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[ahaseeb]

Its very bad situation in California. I travelled to Los Angeles two weeks ago and its drought land all way.

 

[abdlsy]

People of USA are not bad, humans but sometimes their government policies messes up with higher being and then it makes u think really of why all these calamities hitting the most powerful nation today.