How dry I am
A little look at climate change in Cleveland in 2016. This shows precipitation over 2016 and the first two months of 2017. Right away, you see that our spring was VERY dry: Almost two inches drier than usual. We then had an overly wet summer. Crops which were stunted during the early growing season got drowned later. Not good.
Fall was even drier than spring. Fall is a critical time for winter wheat, leaf decomposition, and plant hibernation -- all of which need moisture. By not getting any, our area got hit hard.
January more than made up the deficit in 2016. But so what? It may have left the reservoirs and snowpack full, but the damage to plants and the ecosystem by this desert-then-drown rollercoaster of climate change is already done.
Fall was even drier than spring. Fall is a critical time for winter wheat, leaf decomposition, and plant hibernation -- all of which need moisture. By not getting any, our area got hit hard.
January more than made up the deficit in 2016. But so what? It may have left the reservoirs and snowpack full, but the damage to plants and the ecosystem by this desert-then-drown rollercoaster of climate change is already done.
