We all know that a drought can have a drastic impact on the price of food. In the United States, we have been relatively lucky when it comes to the effects of drought. Today, the North American Drought Monitor is available to assist Americans with assessing the current state of drought in United States as well as its anticipated affects.
The group, which meets on a weekly basis, is designed to assess the impact of drought in United States. It carefully considers impacts such as financial concerns and makes the information available to the public. It is their hope that this information can be used to create a more sustainable future for our country.
There is one problem with this system, the impacts of drought are more far reaching than our country. In fact, droughts in countries such as Canada and Mexico can have an immediate affect on food crop costs in the United States. An unintended consequence of this group has been an increased interest in the debate over water rights shared between Mexico and America.
The group relies on information gleaned from several important sources. These include the United States Department of Agriculture, the Canadian Department of Agriculture, the National Drought Service and the Mexican Department of Agriculture. Weather and meteorological information is also considered by the group.
The truth is it is difficult to determine the exact impact a drought would have on the price of food in the United States. While groups such as this follow weather patterns and measure rain, they have little control over how such measurements affects food production and prices. Still, the information may be useful for the purposes of planning.
We can only hope the United States does not suffer from a severe drought near future.