Latest Droughts News

New Jersey will issue a drought warning after driest October ever and as wildfires rage

Nov. 12, 2024 14:02 PM EST

BRICK, N.J. (AP) — With wildfires burning after its driest September and October ever, New Jersey will issue a drought warning, a step that could eventually lead to mandatory water restrictions if significant rain doesn't fall soon. The state Department of Environmental Protection...

California farmers enjoy pistachio boom, with much of it headed to China

Nov. 10, 2024 03:05 AM EST

LOST HILLS, Calif. (AP) — In a sprawling plant in the heart of California's farmland, millions of shells rush down a metallic chute and onto a conveyor belt where they are inspected, roasted, packaged and shipped off to groceries around the world. Pistachios are growing fast in...

Severe droughts threaten the sustainable catch of the Amazon's giant fish

Nov. 09, 2024 06:32 AM EST

AGUA CLARA, Brazil (AP) — Two years of record-breaking drought have dealt a heavy blow to what is arguably the Amazon’s most successful sustainable economy: the managed fishery for the giant pirarucu. In Brazil´s Amazonas state, almost 6,000 riverine dwellers authorized to fish...

Weather extremes influence illegal migration and return between the U.S. and Mexico, study finds

Nov. 08, 2024 12:22 PM EST

Extreme weather is contributing to undocumented migration and return between Mexico and the United States, suggesting that more migrants could risk their lives crossing the border as climate change fuels droughts, storms and other hardships, according to a new study. People from...

NYC declares a drought watch and asks residents to conserve water

Nov. 02, 2024 16:37 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York's mayor urged residents to take shorter showers, fix dripping faucets and otherwise conserve water, issuing a drought watch Saturday after a parched October here and in much of the United States. A drought watch is the first of three potential levels of...

Spain's horrific flooding another nasty hit in a fall where climate extremes just keep coming

Oct. 30, 2024 17:26 PM EDT

Even for an era of more extreme weather, this autumn has seemingly shifted into yet another gear, especially in a rain-weary Europe where massive and deadly flooding in Spain's Valencia region is the latest incarnation. At least 95 people have been killed in flooding that sent cars...

Where has all the rain gone? Bone-dry October strikes much of US

Oct. 29, 2024 14:08 PM EDT

A bone-dry October is pushing nearly half of the United States into a flash drought, leading to fires in the Midwest and hindering shipping on the Mississippi River. More than 100 different long-term weather stations in 26 states, including Alaska, are having their driest October on...

In Ecuador, power-dependent patients wait in anguish as the government imposes hours-long blackouts

Oct. 26, 2024 00:08 AM EDT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The first time the electricity went off at night, Linda Vidal went into panic mode. For more than a year, the 52-year-old Ecuadorian woman suffering from Hodgkin lymphoma and a chronic respiratory disease has relied on an electricity-powered oxygen concentrator to breathe...

Ecuador expands power cuts to 14 hours a day due to drought

Oct. 25, 2024 12:28 PM EDT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador has announced an increase in daily power cuts as the severe drought impacting the nation keeps lowering water levels for the key hydroelectric plants, the source of more than 70% of the country's electricity. Acting Energy minister Inés Manzano said...

In Colombia, Amazon River's extreme drought falls hard on Indigenous communities

Oct. 24, 2024 09:39 AM EDT

LETICIA, Colombia (AP) — Marciano Flores stood knee-deep in the Amazon River with the rest of his crew, ready to haul in a giant net as a man in a canoe circled in an attempt to drive fish their way. At 69, after a life of working the river, Flores can tell at a glance just the right spots to...