The driest season: Global drought causes major worries
updated 8:20 AM EDT, Sat September 8, 2012
Rain clouds move over the remnants of parched corn stalks near Wiley, on the plains of eastern Colorado, on August 22, 2012. A summer storm came too late to help farmers whose crops were decimated in the exceptional drought in Colorado's eastern plains.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ukraine to Yellowstone, in Pakistan and Kazakhstan, the earth is parched
- Drought in the Black Sea region has led to decrease in wheat, raised export prices
- Late monsoon season in India and Pakistan has put plants at risk
(CNN) -- Hurricane Isaac may have inundated the parishes of Louisiana, but for thousands of American farmers, it was a blessing, a reprieve from the most torrid summer on record.
In much of North America, July was the hottest month since such a record was first taken. Crop yields have fallen sharply; thousands of livestock have been lost.
The Midwest has suffered its worst drought in 56 years, and theInternational Grains Council has cut its forecast for the U.S. maize harvest by 25 million tons.
The relief from last week's rain may help planting conditions for winter wheat, but it's come too late to make much difference to summer crops. And it didn't even reach Iowa and Nebraska; 71% of Nebraska is now in "exceptional drought," the highest level on the scale.
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