California Drought
By: Priscilla Velez
For the past five years, all of California has been experiencing a state of emergency, that is, a very severe drought. The drought that California is currently experiencing is the worst drought in 1,200 years. By definition, a drought is an abnormally long period of time in which an extreme lack of rainfall causes water shortage. During a drought, it is a normal sight to see visibly dry vegetation and huge declines in the water levels of lakes and reservoirs.
What caused the California drought?
The immediate cause of the California drought is a high pressure ridge located in the western Pacific Ocean. Nicknamed by scientists as “Ridiculously Resilient Ridge”, the ridge has consistently deflected California’s winter storms downward, thus preventing winter storms from reaching California. This lack of winter storms is detrimental, as California receives most of its precipitation and water supply from the winter months.
Although the immediate cause of the drought is beyond control of humans, global warming and climate change, two events that are man-made, have been widely accepted as accelerating the intensity of the drought. Specifically, the higher temperatures resulting from global warming and climate change worsen the drought by increasing the rates at which soil dries and water evaporates from lakes, streams, and reservoirs.
Effects of California Drought:
- Agriculture and Economy California has been widely known and recognized for being a major producer in fruits/vegetables, nuts, and dairy. Due to the drought limiting California’s water supply, it has become increasingly difficult for farmers to irrigate their crops. Farmers have been turning to groundwater pumping as a way to compensate from a lack of water. Groundwater depletion has severe effects on its own, such as deterioration of water quality and land subsidence (the settling or sinking of the Earth’s surface). Lack of water and groundwater pumping have proven themselves as having severe impacts on California’s economy. In 2015, California experienced an economic loss of 5 billion dollars. (Groundwater pumping costs $454 million)
- Residents’ Water Supply: One of the main and most known effects of the drought is a limited water supply. California residents have been told by their respective city governments to limit the amount of water they use. Specifically, some California cities have asked residents to stop watering their driveways and landscapes all together.
- Wildlife: Wild animals are severely affected by the drought. In particular, animals are affected by the limited supply of water along with the increasing occurrence of trees dying. Without water, many animals and plants may die. Some animals, such as deers, bears, and coyotes, venture off onto mountain highways in search of water and are sometimes unfortunately killed in road incidents. Due to a lack of precipitation, many trees dry out and die. Some trees are becoming more susceptible to diseases and pests as a result of a lack of soil moisture. A loss of trees is detrimental to animals as it leads to a loss of food, loss of canopy (protection from predators for certain animals), and a loss of habitat. Countless animals are finding themselves displaced and even endangered as a result of the drought. For example, the amargosa vole and salmon are both endangered because of the drought.
- Wildfires: Wildfires are more common during droughts due to the increased prominence of high temperatures and dry conditions. From January to August 2016 alone, California has already experienced 3,642 wildfires that have burned 92,890 acres. (http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_stats?year=2016).
- Air Pollution: As a result of the drought, California has experienced both an increase in air pollution along with a decrease in air quality. Since soil is drier, it is easy for dirt and dust to be blown away into the air. Also, since the demand for groundwater pumping has increased due to a lack of natural irrigation, large amounts of greenhouse gases have been emitted into the atmosphere from the fossil fuel-relying machines used for pumping. Lastly, the increasing amount of wildfires release harmful air pollutants and toxins.
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