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posted by martyb on Thursday August 10 2017, @04:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the higher-food-prices-coming dept.

CleanTechnica reports

The "flash drought" that came out of nowhere this summer in the US High Plains, afflicting Montana and the Dakotas the worst, has already destroyed more than half of this year's wheat crop, going by some recent field surveys. Considering that the region is now one of the top wheat-growing regions in the world, the damage is very notable.

These so-called flash droughts are expected to become considerably more common over the coming decades as the climate continues warming and weather patterns continue changing.

[...] Something that's interesting to note here is that 2011, only 6 years back, was actually one of the wettest years on record in eastern Montana. Those sorts of rapid swings between extreme precipitation and flooding on the one hand, and extreme flash droughts on the other, are only going to become more common from here on out. Eventually, most of the agriculture in the region will have to cease.

Grist calls this a Cereal Killer.


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @05:56PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @05:56PM (#551770)

    you still "touch" carbs indirectly, as your non-carb products are probably fed a rather high carb diet, which is based off if cereal grains or byproducts.

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  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday August 10 2017, @06:23PM (2 children)

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 10 2017, @06:23PM (#551789)

    Nothing fattens up mammals quite like corn products, see both livestock farmers AND the fatties on peopleofwalmart.com

    Its all one big icky interconnected marketplace. Less wheat means more corn demand means more demand for grass fed beef means my local farmer who sells me 1/2 cows is gonna end up charging us more because they'll be more people bidding for his cows.

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday August 10 2017, @11:28PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday August 10 2017, @11:28PM (#551937) Journal

      Good point. Luckily, I know how to fish.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday August 11 2017, @03:13PM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Friday August 11 2017, @03:13PM (#552337) Homepage Journal

      It isn't corn making Americans fat, or they would have been fat two centuries ago. Americans have always eaten lots of corn. The obesity epidemic is caused mostly by high fructose corn syrup they started substituting for sugar in everything. Some canners are adding HFCS to vegetables. Vegetables aren't supposed to be sweet, damn it!

      Of course, the huge portions served these days is another reason. When I was a kid there was no such thing as a quarter pound hamburger, now half pounders are common. Soda at McDonald's was an eight ounce small, twelve ounce medium and sixteen ounce large. Yesterday's large drink is today's small drink (loaded with HFCS, of course).

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