U.S Drought Expands
VANCOUVER - Jul 20/12 - SNS -- For the third week in a row, the United States set a record for the amount of land experiencing a drought in the 12-year history of the USDA's Drought Monitor project.
As of July 17, 53.17% of the country was in moderate drought or worse, up from 50.92% a week earlier. The percentage of land facing a severe or worse drought was pegged at 35.32%, compared with 31.11% a week ago; compared to 11.32% extreme or worse, compared with 9.71% a week ago; and 0.83% exceptional or worse, compared with 0.62% a week ago.
"We continue to see drought spreading and intensifying," said Brian Fuchs, climatologist and U.S. Drought Monitor author at the National Drought Mitigation Center, based at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "Even though we've made improvements in places like Texas where they've had rain, drought has expanded in other areas, like eastern Iowa.
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