Climate Change
For people concerned about the environment, every day brings news that can cause concern. But perhaps nothing is quite as unnerving as the ongoing drought in the West of the United States.
For people concerned about the environment, every day brings news that can cause concern. But perhaps nothing is quite as unnerving as the ongoing drought in the West of the United States.
For people concerned about the environment, every day brings news that can cause concern. But perhaps nothing is quite as unnerving as the ongoing drought in the West of the United States.
Based on estimates by scientists, the West currently is experiencing the driest 22-year stretch in more than 1,200 years, according to Scientific American. Almost two-third of California, the most populous state in the union, is in either an extreme or exceptional drought. In some areas, water wells are running dry.
One broader scale, the potential harm is enormous. California farms provide food for the entire country, as well as other nations, and the lack of water has forced some farmers to leave some fields unplanted. Scientific American also notes, “There is growing concern that water exports from the Colorado River could come to a halt.”
While most of the coverage has focused on California and New Mexico, recent months have seen drought conditions in much of Texas. A map from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows the extent of extreme and exceptional levels of drought.
That situation reversed, at least temporarily, in August, as heavy rains caused flooding in Dallas and other parts of the state. However, that abrupt change is an example of another environmental issue, the increasingly commonplace extreme weather events happening around the globe.
For example, at the same time flooding took place in Texas, the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico, reported it only has about 30 days of water left. The cause is the damage done by the massive, destructive Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak Fire, which led to debris contaminating the water supply.
People in the city currently are cutting their water usage to half the usual amount. Businesses such as car washes have closed. Restaurants are serving food on paper plates to avoid dish washing. While the fire is the result of a federal government plan to have a controlled burn, its spread was fueled by unprecedented hot, dry winds.
A large reason for the drought in the West is the result of climate change, according to scientists who spoke with Scientific American.
For example, UCLA climate scientist Park Williams recently studied the impact of the drought in California, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and southwest Montana. He pinned about 40 percent of the drought’s severity on the impact of climate change.
The study noted that “the turn-of-the-twenty-first-century drought would not be on a megadrought trajectory in terms of severity or duration without” human-caused climate change.
Climate change also is responsible for at least of the 20 percent drop in water flow on the Colorado River, according to scientists. The river is a major source of water for 40 million people in the Southwest. Water restrictions are already in place in many areas, which some experts believe is a sign of things to come in many more places as the drought in the West continues.
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