New York | Reuters — A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday raised the likelihood that El Nino conditions would last into the Northern Hemisphere’s early spring to 85 per cent, boosting the probability that drought-stricken California could see increased rains. The Climate Prediction Center, a U.S. National Weather Service agency, last month forecast an […] Read more
El Nino now seen more likely to last into spring
Flood simulation model promises a big payback
Insurers won’t issue flood insurance until they have a better way to calculate risks — and the flood simulation model does that
Reading Time: 3 minutes Agriculture is leading the charge into research which could ultimately mean flood insurance being available for all Albertans. As the massive flooding of 2013 highlighted, there is no insurance for such disasters. In fact, Canada is the only one of the G-8 nations without such coverage. ‘Why not?’ is the question that always arises when […] Read more
Floods in Argentina expected to cause soy crop losses
Buenos Aires | Reuters –– Some of Argentina’s northern soy-growing areas were flooded by heavy rains in the past week, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said Thursday, warning that it may lower its 57 million-tonne 2014-15 harvest forecast in the coming weeks. The country is the world’s No. 3 soybean exporter and top supplier of […] Read more
Manitoba seeks more climate-responsive risk management
A Manitoba provincial task force has been set up to seek ways in which farm risk management programs could be “more comprehensive and sustainable” in handling “climate-related challenges” such as floods. “Manitoba’s farmers have told us existing agricultural programs can’t adequately address these climate-related challenges, especially as they become more common,” Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn […] Read more
Get ready for a lot more major floods, says Alberta meteorologist
U of A professor says the weather event that caused last year’s devastating floods will occur every five years in future
Reading Time: 2 minutes Albertans can expect major floods as often as every five years thanks to climate change, according to Gerhard Reuter, a meteorologist and professor at the University of Alberta. The last three big Alberta floods were in 2013, 2005, and 1996, and followed in the wake of “giant rainstorms,” which Reuter classifies as rain events of […] Read more
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