By SETH BORENSTEIN
FILE – In this Aug. 16, 2012 file photo, drought-damaged corn is seen in a field near Nickerson, Neb. A new federal science report looking at last year’s Midwestern drought says it was a freak of nature that wasn’t caused by man-made global warming. The 50-page drought task force report written by dozens of scientists from five different federal agencies looked into why forecasters didn’t see the more than $12 billion drought coming. The researchers concluded that it was so unusual and unpredictable that it couldn’t have been forecast. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new federal report says last year’s drought was a freak of nature and can’t be blamed on man-made global warming.
Scientists say the main cause of the drought in the nation’s midsection was the lack of moisture that usually pushes up from the Gulf of Mexico.
The report by dozens of scientists from five different federal agencies looked into why forecasters didn’t see the drought coming. The researchers concluded that it was so unusual and unpredictable that it couldn’t have been forecast.
They focused on six states but the drought spread much farther.
Study lead author Martin Hoerling (HUR’ ling) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the jet stream that brings moisture north was stuck unusually north in Canada.
