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Since last August I have been writing about the building La Niña weather pattern, combined with more volcanic ash in the atmosphere than anybody can remember, which has caused the Hadley cell winds to expand toward “the poles” (North and South). Recall the Hadley cell winds dominate the tropics, carrying hot equatorial air up into the troposphere where atmospheric circulation carries them north and south. The air eventually sinks back to Earth. Where the air rises, the atmospheric pressure is low, causing heavy rains and storms (tropical). When it sinks, it produces high pressure areas characterized by deserts like the Australian outback. Unsurprisingly, the Hadley cell winds’ outward shift has played havoc with the trade winds producing droughts in otherwise moist parts of the world and monsoons in previously dry locales. Said “shift” has allowed tropical zones, and deserts, to expand dramatically. It has also fostered hurricanes, tornado, floods, etc. This is not an unimportant observation because the changed weather patterns have major implications for agriculture and the world’s soil bank. Such insights sparked this question from one of our more thoughtful financial advisors:
Jeff, from somebody on the ground in Memphis, the word "epic" to describe the current situation seems woefully inadequate. My thinking is that we need to be thinking about the "what if's." What if the entire flow of the Mississippi river migrates west into the Atchafalaya Basin? What would be the impact on all the natural gas storage and infrastructure in the area, not to mention the other implications? It remains a much more likely possibility than people understand.
Floodway into the Atchafalaya Basin saves New Orleans: Oliver Houck
Bonnet Carre Spillway opening serious matter, but residents enjoy the spectacle
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