Dateline: Drought, USA

Although this USA today article is from September I didn't get a chance to post it.  However I want to keep this drought story in front of readers because it is simply not going away just because the weather has turned cold.  (See additional posts on this topic here, here, and here)

On the contrary, many parts of the US count on heavy snowfalls in order to replace the water supply that lies far beneath the ground.  Thus far this year, the snow has largely stayed away and we are on track for another lite year.

The impact of this USA drought goes well beyond the headlines.  It will have an impact upon almost every American.  The farmer with less income that can't buy new equipment, the small business entrepreneur that own a lawn and garden business in the summer and plows snow in the winter is having to tighten his belt once again which means less demand for certain products.  This then causes a chain reaction that affects other people and consumers.  I hope that you see where I am going with this.

That is the focus of this USA Today peiece, the impact it has had on the individuals.

• Homeowners far from farmland are paying for expensive repairs to basements and foundations separated from the shrinking soil around them. Businesses that depend on water -- a canoe rental company, a campground that counts on its well-stocked fishing pond to attract visitors -- feel the economic pain, too.
• Americans in the stricken states and well beyond them are feeling the pain, as the prices of food, gas, retail goods and utilities have all ticked up.
• The extreme drought has been exacerbated by near-record heat: The summer of 2012 was the third-hottest in U.S. weather history, and July was the hottest month the nation has ever recorded.