California's drought is a pressing issue. There is problems with water supply, and also water restrictions. The environment is drying and is causing major flooding. There are some clues to how the drought started, like climate change. There are some companies who are actually making money of the drought. California's drought is a serious and ongoing event that leaves a lot of questions.
Climate change is a big reason for drought (Valentine, Katie). About 20 percent of California's drought can be blamed on climate change, this was calculated by looking at how much water was evaporated each month from California's soil (Valentine, Katie). California's constant rising temperatures because of climate change and there already natural weather
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Studies show from tree rings and natural clues that in the California's past there have been long droughts lasting 10 or 20 years long (Rogers, Paul). Who knows what California's future could be like considering its been in a four year drought so far. In the 2013-14 rainfall season they hit their driest in 434 years(Rogers, Paul). California has tried to adapt to these conditions over its time by changing there water managing (Floods, Droughts, and Lawsuits: A Brief History of California Water Policy). During the gold rush they tried experiments with there flood management (Floods, Droughts, and Lawsuits: A Brief History of California Water Policy). The debris from this would choke up rivers which lowered the amount of water going down through them and forced water and sediment into lowland flood plains (an area of low-lying ground adjacent to a river, formed mainly of river sediments and subject to flooding.)(Floods, Droughts, and Lawsuits: A Brief History of California Water Policy). This caused annual spring flooding. Farmers, because of the low water supply would rely on some water diverted from River and spring flooding to water there crops but with California's rising population and growing global demands for food they will have to find new ways to water there crops (Floods, Droughts, and Lawsuits: A Brief History of California Water Policy). How long will California's drought last this
I.) Water and Drought in California: Facts and data show that the weather we are experiencing here in California is that there is a difference between La Niña that brings the ocean temperature down and making them cooler and El Niño brings much warmer ocean temperatures. Currently california is experiencing a weakened La Niña. With a 55% chance of this weather continuing for the next 3 months. La Niña affect patterns of rainfall, atmospheric pressure, and global atmospheric circulation. Even though California is in a severe drought, with coordination, modernization, and compromise, California should be able to provide enough water for a growing population and growing economy.
After more than five years of drought in California, we are just now beginning to see an above-average precipitation,and this is leaving many to ask, "is the drought over?" This last drought was one of the worsts droughts California has experienced in history and it left many panicked and trying to come up with solutions. “Governor Jerry Brown even made one of the first cutback to farmers ' water rights since 1977, and ordered cities and towns to cut water use by as much as 36 percent ” (Zamora,et al..) Overall California has 39 million residents and on top of that California also grows an unbelievable amount of
In the article “Richard Goode: California drought crisis is everyone’s fault,” Richard Goode (2015), states that California does not have enough water to provide and everyone is responsible for it. California’s water problem has been an ongoing situation for years. Hydrologists have predicted and advised us about the water deficit in California, but everyone chose to ignore it. California has been pumping its water straight from the aquifer for years and now it is becoming dry. An enormous amount of water is being pumped each year which causes the water table to go low. When the water table is low, wells go dry and people are left without water. Richard Goode mentions, that California will be in a drought until we are able to receive the same amount of groundwater that we withdraw. However, we might be too late.
Another one of the many problems that the severe water drought caused was it has a big impact on farmers, families,business, and many other people in the Sacramento area. In “Addressing California’s Droughts” it states that the harsh drought has been hurting a lot of Sacramento families, farmers, and small business that don’t do so well because of the drought which affects their business majorly (Addressing California’s Droughts).The CBS News explain that the State Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin says “there simply is not enough water in the system to meet the needs of the farmers” (Facing Drought,California Will Not Allow Water To The Farmers, Cities). It is also said that without the water on the surface the farmers have to pump water from underground aquifers (Facing Drought,California Will Not Allow Water To The Farmers,Cities). This happens to alter the farmers and their business because without the water for their crops they end up not having any business because they don’t have any crops grown to
California’s continuous drought not only affects California, but essentially impacts the entire food system. Could you imagine an entire state unable to contribute to the growing demands of a thriving economy? As California enters its fifth year of drought the consequences of an ever depleting natural resource, water, continues to negatively impact landscape plants, agricultural production, wildlife, and the economy. The lack of water in California has the potential to have a devastating effect on an ever thriving economy.
The drought is not a result of Global warming because the California drought is caused by a lack of Pacific subtropical storms and the Nina ocean current pattern. However, Global warming does make California’s drought more severe in effect due to the rise of temperature which only contributes to hotter days resulting in more inland water evaporating into the atmosphere. As global warming persist and increases California’s current or future droughts will only become more severe. The implications Globe warming causes in just one state’s drought should be a realization of what global warming can cause in areas of drought at a larger
Right now there is a drought in California and it is due to the water usage. Bach in the gold rush due to miners mining for gold, the rivers became polluted and freshwater became limited. After the earthquake in San Francisco that cause a big fire, San Francisco was in dire need of water so they made a plan to built a dam in Hetch Hetchy. Many people argue as to whether to build the dam and in the end the dam was built and that has shape California’s water system hugely. The use of water in California now has not been in the best interest of the state because The amount of water use for agriculture is disportional, laws are making us use more water than needed and the Indians and environment are being harm.
Due to the lack of rain in the past few years, and particularly in the last few months, California faces severe drought. This is the worst drought in more than one hundred years. The impact of California drought affects community, agriculture, organic ranchers, and dairy farmers. Because of these facts, the United States must rethink the way it uses water. Californians alone are asked to reduce their water usage by twenty percent to prevent water waste.
Californians have been struggling with trying to conserve our water for over three years. Twenty-Thirteen was our driest year in many populated areas in California, and it doesn't seem to be changing any time soon, unless we all act now. In twenty-thirteen, Los Angeles and Sacramento, went down on record as the driest two cities in California. A drought is when area of land scarcely drop rain. Droughts are caused from climate changes and lack of precipitation, resulting in a shortage of water. Water is vital for all living things and is the essential component of all life. This ongoing drought has drastically affected the state of California. The long-term change in climate is truly affecting California. Our water reservations are lower than
The California Drought is one of the most catastrophic weather and climate related events in recent history. It has singlehandedly altered the geographic landscape of the state and brought down entire industries to a grinding halt. Not since global warming became a prominent fixture in the national spotlight has a climate issue so deeply challenged Californians to reconsider their lifestyles according to their climate conditions. This essay will examine the origins of climate change and the California Drought, how the two are related, the current state of California as a result of the drought, and the future outlook of California.
Most of us consider drought as a period of dry and hot weather with too little or no rain, and while any or all of these conditions might be existent during drought, the definition of drought is more complex and subtle. According to the United States Geological Survey, California Water Science Center (as cited in Congressional Digest, 2015, p. 2):
The historic drought of California has been and still is one of the greatest problems California faces. It has lasted a whopping three years already. The drought started in early January and it shows no sign of ending anytime soon. This drought has farmers and many citizens being driven up walls because of the soaring water prices. This problem will only grow worse and should become a national concern or the whole nation will be in distress.
It seems that climate change may be partly responsible for California’s crippling drought. A new study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters , found that global warming, caused by human emissions, has intensified the drought during the period between 2012 and 2014 by 8 to 27 percent. The study also suggests an increased likelihood of future droughts due to climate change, posing a serious threat to California’s farming and agricultural industries.
California has been in a drought for about 4 years now and it has been considered the most severe drought in the last 15 years. The California drought has been causing multiple ongoing problems for the last few years. The state of California has tried to take actions toward ending the drought, but the efforts put forth are clearly not enough to end this drought. The main focus in ending the drought has been water conservation, but many California resident are taking the seriousness of the drought too lightly. The drought has already caused several problems, for example water shortages, dying crops, and wildfires all across the state. If serious actions towards ending the drought are not taken soon, California will continue to surface or may get worse. There are a few ideas underway to try and end the drought in California such as, desalination, wastewater recycling, ground water digging, and the main focus water conservation. All of the solutions to ending the drought will cost a good amount of money, so the fact of the matter is which idea would be most efficient and less costly.
California has for many years being battling with drought. Drought can be defined as a prolonged period of rainfall below normal, extended decrease of groundwater, or the stunting of vegetation growth due to a lack of water. In the past four decades, California has weathered many droughts. These ranged from a short, severe drought from 1976–77 to a prolonged six-year drought in 1987–92. The latest drought began in 2012, and it includes the driest three-year stretch in 120 years of recordkeeping. This drought has been more widespread than most, covering the entire state. The year 2014 was also the hottest on record, which made conditions even drier (Jeffery, Ellen, et al. 2015).