Source: Press TV (US Desk)
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/252884.html
Most of the U.S. Midwest remains in the grips of the worst
drought in half a century as the outlook for world food supplies and prices
worsened.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Agriculture Department added another
76 counties to its list of areas designated for disaster aid, bringing the
total to 1,369 counties in 31 states across the country. Two-thirds of the
United States is now in mild or extreme drought, the agency said.
Forecasters said that after weeks of hot, dry weather the
northern Corn Belt from eastern Nebraska through northern Illinois was likely
to see a second day of scattered rain. But in the southern Midwest, including
Missouri and most of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, more hot, dry weather was
likely.
"Most of these areas need an excess of 10 inches of
rain to break the drought," said Jim Keeney, a National Weather Service
meteorologist, referring to Kansas through Ohio. "This front is not
expected to bring much more than a 1/2 to 1 inch in any particular area. It's
not a drought buster by any means."
The central and southern Midwest saw more temperatures above
100 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday, with St Louis at 101 F.
"There's no change in the drought pattern, just
thunderstorms shifting around," said Andy Karst, a meteorologist for World
Weather Inc. "There are no soaking rains seen through August 8."
IBNLive.com
HIGHLIGHTS
The U.S. Agriculture Department forecast that food prices
would now out-pace other consumer costs through 2013 as drought destroys crops
and erodes supplies. Reuters
On Wednesday, the government said it expected the
record-breaking weather to drive up the price for groceries next year,
including milk, beef and chicken. The drought is now affecting 88 percent of
the corn crop, a staple of processed foods and animal feed as well as the
nation’s leading farm export. NY Times
The drought now covers around 60 percent of the continental
United States, the largest area since the epic droughts of the 1930s and 1950s.
Huffington Post
The drought also threatens a recurrence of the 2008 global
food crisis, when soaring prices set off riots and unrest to parts of Africa,
the Middle East, and Latin America, food experts warn. CattleNetwork
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