'The worst drought in five centuries’

As I write these words, the usually sunny state of Georgia has been brought to a standstill thanks to more than six inches of snow and freezing rain. A weather front that has been dubbed a 'polar vortex' has caused one of the greatest travel disruptions in American history, cancelling tens of thousands of flights over the course of several successive storms. On St Valentine's Day, while the President of the United States flew to Fresno, California, to bestow more than $100 million US in emergency aid for drought-hit farmers in the Central Valley, members of Congress were wrangling with...