A.M. ATL: Drought-bound

Morning, y’all. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. My favorite part was the 1.5 seconds when it rained. More on that in a minute.

Let’s get to it.

IS IT DRY IN HERE?

When flash droughts hit, peanuts and other crops pay the price.

Remember how rainy it was earlier this summer? As AJC climate and environmental reporter Drew Kann writes, it seems “the spigot in the sky” suddenly went dry about a month ago.

Now Georgia’s in the beginning of a “flash drought,” which could cause serious headaches for farmers heading into harvest season.

What is a flash drought?

• These sudden and rapidly expanding bouts of dryness happen when low precipitation and warm temperatures combine.
• More than 77% of Georgia is now considered “abnormally dry.”

Word of the day: evapotranspiration

• Warmer temps and drier days are obviously bad news for plants. As the heat increases, so does evapotranspiration — a process where moisture evaporates from the plant into the atmosphere, and the plant draws new moisture from the soil. Can’t do that when the ground is dry.
• Cotton and peanut crops, ready for harvest, could feel the effects. Some peanut farmers say it’s been tough even getting the plants out of the dry soil.

ANXIETY SIGNS IN GA FACULTY POLLS

Two recent surveys show growing pockets of fear among Georgia’s university professors. However, two Georgia voices say it’s not enough to show real patterns of concern.

• The 2025 Faculty in the South Survey of 12 Southern states showed some teachers fear political interference, grant cancellations and attempts to silence classroom discourse.
• A Georgia survey from the American Association of University Professors revealed more than half the 800 professors surveyed would not recommend working in Georgia to a colleague. Nearly a quarter intend to apply to jobs in other states.
• In an AJC Opinion piece, two Georgia professors say the surveys aren’t representative of the entire full-time faculty of Georgia’s public universities; about 11,500 educators in all.

A RARE DISEASE, A RARE VICTORY

Walker Burger helped lead an effort to get FDA approval for a life-changing drug.

That might not mean much to most, but to the roughly 150 people living with Barth’s Syndrome in the U.S., it could be the difference between life and death.

• A Georgia man has been at the center of the approval push for years, advocating for others with the condition and sharing his story with regulators and medical experts.
• Walker Burger says the drug changed his life. Barth’s Syndrome causes severe muscle weakness that can lead to early death and a life overshadowed by debilitating fatigue.
• His story also offers a peek into the nuances of the FDA’s drug approval process. With rare diseases, it can be difficult to get enough data to determine if a drug is safe, and millions are on the line for pharmaceutical researchers who develop them.

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR ...

Helping people feels so good. A scene from last year's Million Meal Pack at State Farm Arena.

The Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena are tackling hunger (or maybe dunking on hunger?) with two philanthropic events at the Hawks’ home base.

NEWS BITES

It’s hard to put a silver lining on that Falcons loss, woof.

Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Stephanie Mills and Patti LaBelle blessed Atlanta on their joint tour stop

An Ig Nobel Prize for comedic scientific achievement awarded to researchers who painted stripes on cows to see if fewer flies would bite them

But, wait, important: They did! It actually worked.

A robot programmed to act like a 7-year-old girl works to combat fear and loneliness in children’s hospitals

Yes. If we have to be overtaken by robots, at least make it robots that do good things for people.

ON THIS DATE

Sept. 22, 1961

Not sure teens and their partially formed brains are able to heed such lovely advice, but my goodness, we adults can certainly use it. “Think something of yourself.”