Texas suffered through its worst one-year drought, as losses reached $10 billion in crops, livestock and timber.
The tinder-dry conditions in Texas also fueled wildfires that burned a million acres. The Bastrop fire over Labor Day weekend was the state's most destructive on record. Overall, it was the hottest summer Texas has ever seen. Wichita Falls had more than 100 consecutive days of 100-degree readings.
Nationwide, more than 6,000 heat records have been broken this year. On average, the U.S. has three or four events every year that are considered major natural disasters. But, this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration counted at least a dozen such events. Based on reports to date, damages are expected to exceed $52 billion.
Weather around the world showed equal extremes. Australia was hit with record flooding, followed by one of its worst tropical cyclones ever. Floodwaters also ravaged parts of Thailand and China, while the Horn of Africa suffered its worst drought in decades.
We have more on this with two experts who watch the impact of weather closely.
Kathryn Sullivan is the deputy director of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an oceanographer and former astronaut. She helps oversee NOAA's work on weather observation and climate sciences. And Jeff Masters, who's a meteorologist with the Weather Underground website, he joins us from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec11/weather_12-28.html
