Bare
Mount Shasta Reveals California Drought Severity
Images
of a nearly bare Mount Shasta taken from space reveal the severity of
the California drought
21
January, 2014
The volcanic
peak,
normally blanketed in snow this time of year, has almost no snow
cover on the south, west and eastern slopes. Snow cover has decreased
dramatically since November, when the mountaintop looked mostly
white,NASA's
Earth Observatory reported.
Normally,
snow cover peaks around April 1, and by the first of the year, 15 to
30 percent of that snow has already accumulated.
"The
Shasta snow cover reflects two dry winters (in 2012 and 2013), plus a
December 2013 snowfall that puts the area less than 5 percent of the
way toward the April 1 average," Roger Bales, a hydrologist at
the University of California–Merced, told the Earth Observatory.
Right now, snow cover may even be below the permanent snow line,
Bales said.
Mt.
Shasta in November 2013 had less snow than usual.
The
volcanic slopes are a popular destination for skiers and other winter
sports enthusiasts. But this year, with just 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5
centimeters) of the white stuff on the ground, most ski lifts were
closed on Jan. 16, according to the Earth Observatory. Die-hard
skiers had to hike up a few glaciers to get their fix.
But
a depressing ski season is the least of California's worries.
Snowpack provides the water supply for many parts of the state,
meaning water shortages could be imminent.
The Colby
Wildfire burning
near Los Angeles likely took hold because of the unusually parched
conditions this winter. And the drought,
which is gripping much of the Western United States, could also
threaten crop yields.
"Precipitation
in some areas of the state is tracking at about the driest year of
record," the California Department of Water Resources reported
on its website, as quoted by the Earth Observatory.
"On
average," the observatory quoted, "about half of
California’s statewide precipitation occurs in December, January
and February, with only a handful of large winter storms accounting
for the difference between a wet year and a dry one."
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Historic
California drought called a red flag for future of US
The
California drought, the worst in its history, could have far-reaching
impacts for the state and for a nation that is only now starting to
cope with climate change, experts say.
21
January, 2014
As
California faces the worst drought in its 163-year history with no
hint of relief in sight, some scientists are calling the event a red
flag for the future of the nation.
Gov.
Jerry Brown raised the issue in his State of the State address
Wednesday, saying “we do not know how much our current problem
derives from the build-up of heat-trapping gasses, but we can take
this drought as a stark warning of things to come.”
Water
shortages have widespread impacts. Agriculture and energy generation
account for 80 percent of the nation’s clean water use, says David
Dzombak, head of Carnegie Mellon University’s Civil and
Environmental Engineering Department. And even when cities meet their
water demands during a drought, the costs can leave them “exposed
to significant risk of financial failures,” says Patrick Reed, a
professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell
University, in an e-mail.
In
that way, crises can led to new policies and new attitudes, and some
say the California drought could be just such a catalyst.
“At
the state, regional, and federal level, and across the country,
people are just starting to come to grips with the fact that our
climate is not stationary,” says Professor Dzombak. “We are in a
dynamic, changing climate situation that will affect all parts of the
country in different ways,” he says, led by the West and Southwest
so impacted by drought.
Governor
Brown laid out a roadmap of drought solutions Wednesday. He asked
businesses and homeowners to voluntarily reduce their water usage by
20 percent. Last week, he declared a state of emergency.
“It
is imperative that we do everything possible to mitigate the effects
of the drought,” he said in his speech. “We need everyone in
every part of the state to conserve water. We need regulators to
rebalance water rules and enable voluntary transfers of water and we
must prepare for forest fires.”
Longer
term, the State Water Action Plan prioritizes water recycling,
expanded storage, and groundwater management, as well as investments
in safe drinking water, “particularly in disadvantaged
communities.”
These
mandates are a “tall order,” Brown said. But it is “what we
must do to get through this drought and prepare for the next.”
Major
innovations of the last century came in response to water shortages,
such as the 1928-34 drought, notes Jay Lund, director of the Center
for Watershed Studies at the University of California at Davis, in a
blog post.
“This
six-year drought accelerated design and construction of the Central
Valley Project and served as the design standard for most of
California’s water system until 1976,” he says. Quoting Stanford
University economist Paul Romer, he adds, “a crisis is a terrible
thing to waste.”
Similar
innovations today could involve shifting to renewable energy sources
that do not require as much water as steam-driven electrical plants.
The
severe drought highlights the need for “a new way of thinking about
our infrastructure,” says Dzombak.
California
drought: Scientists puzzled by persistence of blocking 'ridge'
While
much of the United States has experienced a weather year
with fewer extremes and an easing drought, the
record-breaking California drought – the worst since 1895
– is not leaving the region anytime soon, according to
climatologists
21
January, 2014
The
unseasonal balmy but dry weather is the result of an
equally unprecedented high pressure ridge lurking offshore and
blocking the typical winter storms needed to drop precipitation all
along the West Coast..
This
ridge has persisted for 13 months and the longer it lingers, the
less likely it is to leave, points out climatologist Brian Fuchs,
from the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.
This high pressure ridge system is feeding on itself, “creating a
sort of perfect environment for perpetuating the dry conditions”
it creates, he says.
High-pressure
systems are not uncommon, but it is abnormal for them to hang around
uninterrupted for so long. “This makes it even harder as
winter storms approach for them to break through and change that
pattern,” he adds.
This
recent dry spell accentuates a continuing background condition of
prevailing drought across much of the Southwestern US,
notes Christopher
Williams,
a specialist in US drought conditions and an assistant professor at
Clark University’s Graduate School of Geography in Worcester, Mass.
Precipitation
is below 20 percent of normal and signs of the drought impact run
across the region, including low river flows, low snow packs,
low reservoir levels, and out-of-season wildfires.
“Wintertime
shortages are particularly worrisome,” adds Mr. Williams via
e-mail, “because winter is a key time of year for building up water
supplies that carry the West through the rest of the year.” What is
worse, he says, “shortfalls extend well beyond the state of
California itself, reaching nearly all of the remote regions on which
the California water supply network relies, particularly the Colorado
River Basin.”
Scientists
are uncertain as to why the ridge has stubbornly refused to break
down and allow incoming storms to hit land. Climate change may
be one of many factors, suggests Mr. Fuchs.
“It’s
always difficult to know if a specific disaster or storm is tied
to climate change,” he says, but over the course of decades it is
possible to see large trends moving in a certain direction. “You
can’t really pinpoint one thing, but you can say that over a period
of decades there is less snow accumulation and warmer
temperatures, and climate change is playing a part in that,”
he adds.
On
Friday, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency,
calling for a 20-percent voluntary conservation effort state-wide.
This
is just the beginning, says Doug
Parker,
director of the California Institute for Water Resources. “We have
seen essentially no rain or snowfall this year and short- and
long-term forecasts are bleak for California,” says Mr. Parker via
e-mail, adding that this means that California will have very
low water deliveries to much of its agricultural sector.
This
agriculture is an important part of the state’s economy,
points out Parker. “This will lead to fallowing of farmland which
will reduce output and reduce employment,” he suggests, adding that
could drive up the prices of certain commodities. In addition,
the dairy and meat sectors will be particularly hard hit, he notes,
as those sectors will have to import feed.
The
drought throughout the West will impact other states similarly,
points out Parker.
The
drought will increase pressure on already over-used groundwater
supplies, says Parker. “We have seen dropping groundwater levels in
many parts of the state. We expect growers to increase use of
groundwater, especially for tree and vine crops. This will
accelerate the decline in groundwater,” he adds.
Little
currently on the horizon offers much hope for change, says California
climatologist Mike Anderson, with the Department of Water Resources.
This
offshore ridge is very stable, he says, adding, “this is good news
if you want nice weather, but if you want precipitation it is not.”
More
heat records set in Southern California
22
January, 2014
LOS
ANGELES (AP) - Cloudy skies have made Southern California look a bit
wintry but thermometers continue to insist it’s summer.
A
record-tying high of 84 degrees at Camarillo on Tuesday was among
many balmy readings across the region, including downtown Los
Angeles, which topped out at 78, 10 degrees above normal.
The
National Weather Service says high pressure and weak offshore flow
will keep Southern California rather warm Wednesday, and after some
cooling Thursday, gusty Santa Ana winds will usher in warmer weather
again on Friday.
The
high pressure and offshore flow should keep daytime highs well above
normal through the middle of next week.
Forecasters
also say there’s no rain in sight. Downtown Los Angeles has had
less than an inch of rain since July 1.
Yosemite
Falls
Yosemite
Falls now a trickle too small to see. If you visit send postcards
instead of photos to show the water.
Another
example of California's worst drought in state history: Yosemite
Falls is dry right now. This image is from this afternoon via the
webcam..
This is what it SHOULD look like. No doubt the view is different
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