America's Worst Drought Since the Dust Bowl Covers 61 Percent of the Lower 48
The Palmer Index is at its highest reading since 1895. Only July and August 1934 were drier. The American drought is measured in historical months, not modern seasons.
Dara Osei
Bureau: London
A Drought and a War Have Redrawn American Food Prices
Urea is up 48 percent year over year. Seventy-eight percent of Southern farmers say they cannot afford what they need. The Palmer Index reading is the driest since 1895. Two shocks, one aisle.
The IEA Says Gulf Oil and Gas Output Will Take Two Years to Recover
Fatih Birol told Neue Zürcher Zeitung it will take about two years to restore pre-war Middle East energy output — even with the Strait of Hormuz reopened.
Greek and Indian Tankers U-Turn Before Hormuz With 8.3 Million Barrels Aboard
Six tankers reversed course before the strait on Saturday, stranding the biggest single-day flow since the war began.
Three Antarctic Species Now at Risk From Two Different Mechanisms
The April 9 IUCN listing framed one physical driver; the data for southern elephant seal is disease — H5N1 killed 90 percent of pups at some colonies.
The Western Snow Drought Has Already Locked in the Water Crisis Before the First Hot Day
Colorado River Basin snowpack peaked a full month early and at 51 percent of median. By late summer, the reservoirs catch the consequences.
A Saturday-Night Wildfire in Siskiyou County Opens a Fire Season a Month Early
The Scarface Fire was called in at 8:14 p.m. Saturday. California's year-to-date fire count is already forty percent above its five-year average.
The Drought, the War, and the American Farmer's Operating Margin
Nitrogen fertilizer up thirty percent, diesel up, rain absent. Seventy-eight percent of Southern farmers cannot afford full application this spring.
Earth Day Arrives Wednesday Against the Driest March Since 1895
Three warming stories run in the same edition. The runway opens on a physical accounting, not a rhetorical one.