ITHACA, NY - Drought con ditions that are draining municipal reservoirs and parching the agricultural land in the Northeast may persist into 1986, and possibly into 1987, a Cornell University meteorologist predicts. “We could very well have another full year or two before we get normal precipitation in the Northeast,’’ says Douglas A. Paine, an associate professor of agronomy in the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell. Paine bases that prediction on his “sunspot theory,” which links weather patterns on Earth to sunspot activity. Based on that theory, Paine predicted as early as 1981 that the Northeast would experience periods of severe drought through 1985. Since that original prediction, sections of the Northeast have gone through three drought periods; a dry spell from June 1980 through early 1981, followed by another one from the spring of 1983 through the fall of that year, and, most recently, from August of 1984 through the present. 20” deep SSS curtain back cage layer system Get The Only New Technology Available For Cage Systems Chore-Time’s new 20” deep SSS 4-high system puts 33% more birds into the same row lengths as old style 3-high systems - without dropping boards and without a need for greater building width. That means at 6 birds per 16"x20” cage (53.3 square inches) a 52’x536’ building can house over 108,000 birds. But, just as important, with this Chore-Time system you also don’t have to sacrifice the features and benefits you’ve come to expect from Chore-Time: single file egg belt, our all galvanized, SOFT TOUCH”" II egg collection, a gentle cage floor slope to prevent checks and cracks...rugged A-frame cage support and legs every 4 feet to protect against cage sag and trough Drought conditions may extend to 1987 During the current drought period, rainfall in sections of New York State and New England has ranged from 20 to 40 percent below normal, leaving some reservoirs at dangerously low levels. The accumulated water deficit resulting from the drought is ex tensive enough that it would take several large storm systems to bring rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater back to normal levels, Paine says. Overall precipitation this year for many areas of the Northeast has been at one of the lowest levels on record, Paine notes. Sections of Maine, for example, have received about half the average rainfall this year, according to records com piled at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell. Other parts of the Northeast also are running into water shortages. In June, New York City, for example, declared a drought emergency. Right now, that city’s reservoirs in the Catskill Moun tains are at 45 percent of their capacity when they should be 77 percent full, Paine says. Governors of eight states in the NEW from CHORE-TIME NORTHEAST AGRI SYSTEMS, INC. P.O. Box 187 Fitchville, CT 06334 Phone: (203)642-7529 Northeast, including New York, recently met at a New Hampshire camp to discuss mutual problems. Much of that meeting was dominated by talk of the regional drought. “Unfortunately, there is a good chance that the drought will continue through the upcoming winter of 1985-1986 and possibly The Cornell meteorologist suspects that the drought is likely- to continue because he sees little change in the conditions that caused it. According to Paine’s theory, the current drought coincides with a high level of sunspot activity that began in the late 19705. That sunspot activity level is similar to the one that occurred before the severe drought from 1962 to 1966 in the Northeast. In 1958, scientists recorded sunspot activity that was 100 percent above normal. Four years later, the drought of 1962-66 oc curred. A correspondingly high level of sunspot activity in the late 1970 s led Paine to believe that the period covering the early to mid- wear and Galv-A-Weld (welded black then galvanized) cage construction for long, trouble-free life... a choice of feeding systems to help you take control of feed costs; Meal Master Feedkar (traveling feed hopper), M.T. (rotating Flex Auger), and NEW Ultraflex (80 ft. per minute circulating Flex Auger). And, with Chore-Time feeding systems you can take full advantage of the new production-boosting, feed saving MEAL-TIME® feeding method developed by ' Chore-Time. Our feeding systems are designed to minimize waste and provide each bird with fresh, Un- Picked-Over feed. Local Representative DAVID NEWMAN (717) 299-9905 Supplement to Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 19,199 - 1980 s also would be prone to drought conditions. How do sunspots affect Earth’s weather? According to Paine’s theory, increased levels of ultraviolet radiation emissions from the sun accompany increased sunspot activity. That additional ultraviolet radiation tends to warm the Earth’s middle atmosphere. Paine is convinced that the at mospheric warming effect puts a “lid” on the lower atmosphere, suppressing the amount and in tensity of storm systems that much of the Northeast region depends on for its precipitation. Sunspot activity levels have already started to drop, but the drought will not end until after sunspot activity hits its minimum point. “Once we get a year or two beyond the minimum of sunspot activity, normal precipitation will return to the Northeast,” Paine predicts. A similar sequence of events occurred during the drought of the 1960’5, which ended in the fall of 1966, two years after a sunspot minimum. Paine notes that the middle atmosphere has already begun to cool. However, he suggests that it might take until 1986 or 1967 to fully dissipate the excess warmth in the atmosphere that was caused by the sunspot activity. A leading proponent of the sunspot theory, which is con sidered controversial in the field of meteorology, Paine says he hopes to develop his sunspot theory into a reliable meteorological tool that can be used to predict long-range weather trends. “Worldwide, we are reaching a point where we are treading a finer line on food dependency,” he points out. “We need to come up with reliable tools to predict when we will have drought episodes. I think my hypothesis can give advance warning of a period of years where we will be more prone to drought.” fra SANDBLASTING AND SPRAY PAINTING Commercial- Industrial j|| Repainting Interior/Exterior HENRY K. FISHER INC. 667 Hartman Station Rd. Lancaster, PA 393-6530 I 2 & 3 Cylinder In Stock For Immediate Delivery • Hand Crank Available • II^To4OH.P. 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