Forecast: Texas on edge of drought

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Forecast: Texas on edge of drought COLLEGE STATION, Texas (UPI) -- Texas, facing a warm, dry winter and with drought conditions already beginning, may be about to enter its next serious drought, a climatologist warns. Texas A&M University Professor John Nielsen-Gammon, who also serves as the state climatologist, says drought conditions are developing in the Texas Panhandle and the Big Bend region and that in East Texas along the Louisiana border drought conditions have already been present for some time, a university release reported Thursday. "Texas as a whole has been unusually dry since late September, causing drought conditions to expand," Nielsen-Gammon says. "With the prospects of a warm and dry winter on the horizon, it is possible that this month marks the beginning of Texas's next serious drought. "The winter forecast is based primarily upon current and expected conditions in the tropical Pacific," he says. "A La Nina event has been developing since the spring, and it seems that a moderate to strong La Nina is shaping up for this winter." A La Nina occurs when sea surface temperatures in the Eastern and Central Tropical Pacific Ocean are cooler than normal for several months. Along with drought, warm and dry conditions increase the danger of wildfires, Nielsen-Gammon says. "Much of northern Texas, between the Panhandle and the Metroplex, had a wet summer, allowing plenty of fuel growth," he says. "Now, as the grasses dry out, the fire danger grows." Copyright 2010 by United Press International
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'Silvery' moon really does contain silver PROVIDENCE, R.I. (UPI) -- The phrase "by the light of the silvery moon" is more than just poetic, scientists say -- the moon really does contain deposits of the precious metal. The surprise discovery was made when NASA crashed a rocket into a lunar crater and analyzed the material thrown up by the impact to see if it contained water, The Daily Telegraph reported. Water was found, scientists say, by they also discovered a treasure trove of elements including traces of silver. In addition to the silver, the analysis found mercury, calcium, magnesium, carbon monoxide and dioxide, ammonia and sodium in the target crater of Cabeus in a permanently shaded area of the moon with temperatures as low as minus 396 degrees F. "This place looks like it's a treasure chest of elements, of compounds that have been released all over the moon, and they've been put in this bucket in the permanent shadows," Peter Schultz from Brown University says. The discovery of minute traces of silver "doesn't mean we can go mining for it" since levels are far too low to make it worth opening a lunar silver mine, Schultz says. Copyright 2010 by United Press International
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Indonesia monitoring volcano's activity JAKARTA (UPI) -- Indonesian volcano experts have installed digital cameras to monitor a volcano they say has been showing an increase in activity recently. Authorities have imposed an alert status for Mount Merapi since Sept. 23, and the cameras are intended to gather more visual data on its activity, The Jakarta Post reported. Visual observation from the cameras would be carried out via the Internet, Agung Nandaka, an official of the Yogyakarta Volcanic Technology Development and Research Center, said. "The data can be accessed in real time because our visual observation results are developed based on the Internet," he said. Other observation methods, such as seismic and volcanic observations, peak deformation and temperature observations would still be carried out, he said. Mount Merapi's activities have continued to increase, marked by tremors and lava discharge, he said. Copyright 2010 by United Press International
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EPA urges oversight of drinking water CHICAGO (UPI) -- An Illinois community is at the center of a controversy over contaminated drinking water supplies, federal officials say. For years, the south Chicago suburb of Crestwood was pumping contaminated water to its residents from an emergency well, allegedly in an effort to save money, even after Illinois regulators told town officials that cancer-causing chemicals had been detected in the well, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday. Crestwood officials allegedly lied in official documents and said the village used only treated Lake Michigan water, the newspaper said. Three city officials are facing a federal criminal investigation. Federal law doesn't require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or states to monitor emergency wells like the one in Crestwood. That lack of oversight is a problem throughout the nation as more than 6,700 water systems maintain emergency supplies, a report from the EPA's inspector general said. The report recommends that federal and state officials conduct more rigorous inspections and adopt tighter reporting guidelines. "There is no common understanding of when and how emergency facilities may be used, especially with regard to drinking water," the EPA report concluded. "States rely on water systems to self-report when they use these emergency facilities." Copyright 2010 by United Press International
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