The "Buresh Blog" is going on vacation! Regular updates will resume Mon., June 25th BUT "Talking the Tropics With Mike" will continue to be updated each & every day -- click here.
Earth Gauge: Lock Your Lawn
The stuff in our lawns can have a big impact on nutrient pollution, a leading cause of poor water quality and those smelly, blue-green algae blooms that overtake ponds, lakes, streams, rivers and even oceans in the summertime. Nutrient-rich fertilizers and pet waste are good for the lawn, but these shouldn’t be allowed to escape when it rains. The EPA estimates that half of your expensive fertilizers could be swept away if your lawn isn’t “locked down,” but you can do this by altering the landscape so that water – and your fertilizer – doesn’t wash away so easily.
Tip: You can “lock your lawn” by re-landscaping it in ways that trap rainwater and filter sediment, nutrients, pesticides and other pollutants before they reach creeks and streets.
· Dig a grassed swale along the edge of your property. A grassed swale is basically a shallow ditch that catches rainwater.
· Grow filter strips of dense grasses along the edge of your property, especially if you live next to a stream, to filter the water before it runs off.
· Plant buffer strips of shrubs and trees along the edge of a stream. This practice works well in rural areas where there’s enough land to grow them effectively.
(Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System: Vegetated Filter Strip.” Accessed Online May 22, 2012; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System: Riparian/Forested Buffer.” Accessed Online May 22, 2012; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System: Grassed Swales.” Accessed Online May 22, 2012)
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State of the Climate Report - Highlights from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. Visit ** here ** for more information.
National Climate Summary
The last year (June 2011 to May 2012) has been the warmest of any 12-month period on record for the contiguous United States. May 2012 was the second warmest May on record, following the third warmest April and warmest March, leading to the warmest spring on record for the United States. It was also the warmest January through May period on record. The Eastern Seaboard and upper Midwest were wet during the month of May, while the middle Southern Region and southern High Plains were dry. For the spring, the contiguous United States was dry overall with the average total precipitation coming in at 0.24 inches below normal. Exceptions were the upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest, where Oregon had its wettest spring on record and Washington State its third wettest.
Other items of note include:
· In total, 31 states were record warm for the spring season.
· During the last week of May, Tropical Storm Beryl followed on the heels of Tropical Storm Alberto, marking only the third time on record that two North Atlantic tropical storms have developed during May.
· The United States Climate Extremes Index reached a record 44 percent during the spring, over twice the average value.
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Climate in the News: “Ocean Circulation: Heat Loss Strengthens the Gyre Circulation.” – Science Daily, June 8, 2012.
Scientists are discovering more about the decadal variability of the Arctic's subpolar gyre.
See ya' soon.............
