Drought

The above map, from the website of CNN, shows the areas in the United States that are currently experiencing a drought -- at least 1,000 counties. If it weren't for assurances from the Republicans, a person might start to think that global warming was real. Here's how CNN puts it:

Authorities have declared more than 1,000 counties in 26 states as natural disaster areas.


A county is generally qualified as a natural disaster area if it has suffered severe drought for eight consecutive weeks. Farmers are then eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency.


As of Tuesday, 61% of land in the lower 48 states was experiencing drought conditions -- stretching from Nevada to South Carolina -- the highest percentage in the 12-year record of the U.S. Drought Monitor.


The parched conditions come after some areas of the United States suffered record-setting heat waves, killer storms and blazing wildfires. . .


30% of the corn crop in the 18 primary corn-growing states is now in poor or very poor condition, up from 22% the previous week.


Half of America's pastures and ranges are in poor or very poor condition, up from 28% in mid-June.


The sizzling conditions have also led to a dramatic increase in wildfire activity since mid-June, shortly after the High Park Fire ignited near Fort Collins, Colorado. During the past three weeks, acres scorched by wildfires went up from 1.1 million to 3.1 million.


The past 12 months have been the warmest the United States has experienced since the dawn of record-keeping in 1895, the National Climatic Data Center said earlier this week.

But all of this must be in our imagination, because the Republicans wouldn't lie about global warming -- would they?