...Drought Today , I woke up thinking of a clear sunny day. the sun out, birds chirping , and smiles through the city . I start my day off with breakfast , my phone call to Mississippi. so I can make sure, my family up there is okay. Lately, the weather up there has been dry, the state has been getting hotter , temperatures have been rising. It hasn't rained in a while. Friends have been spreading the word that it's the start of a drought. I went to the store and stored up on water and before I knew it, what I prepared for had come to me unexpectedly. Now I am stocked up on water . This has never happened in New York. In Brooklyn , the pipes in he alleys are dried up. The homeless...
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...Where Oh Where is the Rain?? The drought of 2012 has grown to epic, never before seen size proportions, and is taking its toll on whole lot of people all over the country. Is their relief in sight? Not in the next few months, experts are saying. The drought of 2012 has caused many problems for our farmers, scorched millions of acres of forest and grasslands, and has President Obama scrambling to get relief to those in need. Just how big is this drought we are experiencing? According to the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), it’s the largest drought ever recorded in their 13 years they have been monitoring drought conditions. According to the USDM, 62.9 percent of the contiguous U.S. was experiencing moderate to exceptional drought at the end of July. This is an increase of about 6.9 percent compared to the end of June. The maximum value of 63.9 percent reached on July 24, 2012 is the current record holding mark in the 13 year history of the USDM. The percent area of the country in the worst drought categories (extreme to exceptional drought) doubled, from 10 percent last month to 22 percent this month. The other major drought monitoring index is the Palmer Drought Severity Index. This index has been tracking drought conditions for all of the 20th century, much longer than the USDM. The Palmer Drought Severity Index states that about 57 percent of the contiguous U.S. was experiencing moderate-to-extreme drought. The last time drought was this extensive was way back in December...
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...arid and semi-arid environment, as well as prolonged and sometimes severe droughts. Drought is the prolonged and abnormal deficiency of moisture with the concomitant decline in runoff to a level significantly lower than usual (Guldin 1989). The history of droughts in Wyoming has been uncertain in the past, but recent studies of tree rings in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming have given insight to droughts as far back as 1260A.D. (Gray et al. 2004). Looking at tree ring records in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) trees, Stephen Gray and his colleagues discovered that droughts which have been experienced in Wyoming since the 1750's, are weak in severity and length when compared to those since. The most severe drought period in Wyoming’s history occurred from 1262 to 1281. The droughts of the 1930’s and 1950’s, which have been used as benchmarks for all other droughts in the United States in recent times (Woodhouse et al. 2002), are ranked 149th and 28th respectively in comparison (Gray et al. 2004). The five top ranking droughts for 10, 15, and 20 year periods are all prior to the 1800’s, with the four driest single years being 1263, 1274, 1278, and 1280 (Gray et al. 2004). This indicates a change in precipitation patterns in the Big Horn Basin area of Wyoming since the 18th century, as all recent droughts have been mild when compared to those of Wyoming’s past. Droughts in Wyoming’s future are unpredictable and uncertain; however, Richard Guldin...
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...The California drought has claimed to be a big epidemic for this state of dreams. This drought alone has been said to put many residents in a panic of what's to become of their beautiful state, but many wonder just how this crisis began in the first place. Residents and other American’s thought of ways just how this possibly terrifying ordeal came to be. Some say it is manmade, others believe it is due to the environment while a few believe it is the way for the big businesses and the rich to gain extra money or extra water. The facts will show us each of their arguments, but the truth is up to the people themselves. The droughts claimed current state can lead anyone to their own beliefs of the matter. For instance, California water usage website gives a list of current events of the presumed drought. California Water Usage says the drought is currently in its fourth year making 2014-2015 the warmest years on record. On April, the 1st the department of water resources stated that the snow packs is now at 5%; which they presume is the...
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...A drought is a prolonged period of below-average precipitation that causes a water deficit in a particular area. Capable of lasting for months to years, the degree of drought severity and its duration depends on a number of compounding factors, including precipitation, soil moisture, stream flow, ground water and reservoir levels, agricultural health, local geography, and snowpack. Humans also play an important role in drought through factors such as water demand and water management policies. Additionally, droughts also increase the chances of flash floods, wildfire, and landslides. The severity and physical characteristics of a drought vary drastically from region to region. Resultantly, drought and the impacts that it can have in these...
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...As of August 14, 82 percent of the state of California was in extreme drought. As California entered its fourth year of record-breaking drought, it was met with extremely parched landscapes. CBS News reports reveal that, “According to an aerial survey conducted by the U.S. Forest Service in April, about 12 million trees have died in California forestlands in the past year because of extreme drought.” Dead trees along with plant life in severe condition are seen throughout the Los Padres National Forest. These dead trees add another element to the hazards of the drought by threatening the dry landscape with the possibility of intense wildfires. On January 17, Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency for the state of California. This...
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...English 1A 20th May 2014 Drought Problems It is clear to everyone, Water is main source of survival for all mankind. Nevertheless people seem to imagine that our water supply is endless. So why worry? But problems of severe drought have affected many states in America. California is also one of the states that have been severely affected and the government has declared drought emergency state-wide. Many urban areas in the bay area have started taking action against drought emergency. The government in many district in Contra Costa county has requested the public to conserve water and introduced the preliminary water use reduction target that are to be followed by all the residents and customers. As a result of the drought emergency small suburban city like El Cerrito has done a lot to help conserve water that could be implemented by many other district in Contra Costa County. The different projects El Cerrito has implemented to conserve water during drought could be also used by urban cities so that they do not have to implement extreme actions later on and also will be of great help during worsening drought conditions. In order to prevent serious damage due to shortage of water El Cerrito city started The Energy and Water Efficiency Program (EWEP) in 2008 so that it could fund projects that have innovative approaches for energy and water conservation (Innovative). Just by starting such program El Cerrito city was able to fund 1 water efficiency project due to which...
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...Environmentalists are said to be one of the main problems that causes the drought in California and they are defending themselves. Environmentalists have a problem with farmers and agriculture. It is point out that environmentalist tried to preserve the federal guideline that limiting water supplies from the north to the south California while farmers said they were restricting important source of water supplies from reaching places that need the water (“Facing Drought, California”). At this point, it can be seen that environmentalists and farmers have their right point of view about the water supply. One side supposes to preserve water for fishes and this can help fishermen survive while the other is against that people need more water than...
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...What would you do if you had 2.2 billion dollars? California has been in a drought for about four years. This means there are citizens and farmers who have less water than they are used to or they do not have water at all. So they are not able to live the life they are used to living. To prevent this, the state should have rules to save the water they do have. California suffered from the drought economically recently. In Source two it is informed that the “drought is expected to cost the states $2.2bn in 2014”. The money the states wasted on the drought could have been used for a better cause. The citizens and the government could have prevented the misuse of the water since they could not have prevented the drought. This drought...
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...because California is now in the fourth year of drought in which no rain, snow, or hail has fallen (“California Drought”, CA.gov. Online at: http://ca.gov/drought/). In her work on the topic, Dorothy Green describes very carefully the system by which the rain, snow, and hail that fall in northern California move downwards in a flow of water that serves the entire state thanks to the power of gravity. The river systems of California include Colorado River and the Sacramento River. These great river systems move the water southwards, (to Los Angeles) and westwards (to San Francisco), respectively. In addition to these well known rivers to the system of rivers in California includes more than thirty rivers including the Klamath, the American, the Tolumne, the Merced, the Yuba, the Kern, the Russian, the Tule, and right here in Los Angeles the Los Angeles River which runs right through the industrial section of downtown Los Angeles in a cement channel : In addition to the river systems of California, Green describes a network of dam release channels, canals and even underground aquivers that also transport water from north to south in the State of California. The systems just listed bring the precipitation of water in all its forms from the north of the state to the large urban regions of the south since the beginning of settlement in the state. In more recent times, however, it has begun to appear that the State of California is now in...
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...California's Water Crisis The state of California has dealt with many problems, one of the most major ones being the drought. California has dealt with droughts for many years now. The current drought isn’t the first,it's one of many. Myself along with many hope it is the last. Do the people in California have what it takes to solve the problem? California gets most of their water supply from the aqueduct,colorado river, sacramento, and from water conservation. The Los Angeles Aqueduct receives water from the Eastern Sierra Nevada. The aqueduct now gets the supply from basins and snow covered mountains within the state. This water comes from far distances just to get to anyones place. The colorado river provides water for the upper part of calfornia. The state gets water from sacramento, the surface water found their is about 85 percent and groundwater is about 15 percent. Thirty to forty percent of ground water is used by the state(aceplumbing). The most significant droughts recorded are from 1929-1934, 1976-1977, 1987-1992, 2011-present (California Department of Water Resources). According to the article the year 2014,overlapping the driest calendar year, ended September 30 the states 3rd driest in 119 years of record. The weather has a lot to do with the drought. The state has been struggling for a very long time. There has been a few ideas to try and fix the issue but those ideas are not enough because obviously the drought keeps...
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...April Adams Our Obsession with Green Lawns The manicured lawn exploded into popularity in the 1950s. The advent of inexpensive motorized lawn mowers and fertilizing chemicals made lawns a reality for the middle class. America has over 50,000 square miles of grass in cultivation. Now in 2014, California is facing a drought like none seen before in modern times. Crops are withering, lakes are running dry, fires are catching everywhere and yet, around every corner, I see manicured lawns. Vast expanses of nothing but healthy, beautiful, allergy inducing grass. It’s irresponsible, and harmful to our environment and economy. The 2013-14 rainfall season is on track to be the driest in 434 years, according to Lynn Ingram, a paleo-climatologist at UC Berkley. The concern generated by this drought brought together a group of emergency planners and water managers for an event known as the “California Drought Outlook Forum” on February, 20 2014 in Sacramento, California. They determined that the water outlook for the state was similar to the droughts in the 1970s. However, our water obligations have increased greatly in the following decades. Marty Hoering of the NOAA states, “The stress created by the current failed rains is more severe than for similar rainfall deficits 40 years earlier.” The central focus for this concern is the substantial agricultural business that California sustains, from avocados to almonds to pistachios, a number of crops are grown in California’s fertile central...
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...food, wash cars, and cook food, but it’s are running out. Northern states do not have the same water supply issues that the southwestern states have, but that does not mean they do not exist. Water is a precious resource that is vital for an organism to survive and creates an habitable environment compared to other planets. However, though earth possesses water there isn’t enough to fulfill the needs of everyone. A large percentage of water on earth is salt water and cannot be used the same way as fresh water. In the southwest region of America there are 30 million people...
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...Water Crisis Impact in California Monica Mois Essentials of College Writing/COMM/215 October 6, 2014 Carolyn Geiser Water Crisis Impact in California 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. Communities, Agriculture, Organic Ranchers and Dairy Farmers Many communities in California struggle with shortage of drinking water. One example is “the small community of Cameron Creek Colony in Tulare County is struggling due to severe drought. About ten percent of its residents have no access to water because their wells have run dry. Others have only intermittent access” (USDA, 2014). In other communities, residents are urged to avoid wasting water. The Waterboards.ca.gov (2014) website has a list of emergency water conservation regulations stating that every citizen is prohibited to use potable water to wash sidewalks and driveway, to use hoses with no shut off nozzles to wash their cars, water the lawn more than two times a week, and reduce the amount of watering time for each station using an automatic sprinkler system. Residents could face...
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...Jim Jordan 3/10/13 Environmental Planning Risk Management and Drought In order to be able to discuss the components needed for a risk management approach to a drought, it is important to first understand what risk is. How likely is it? What can happen? What are the impacts? Questions like these are very useful in understanding what risk is, and how to evaluate the risk. By taking both the possibility of an event happening as well as the possible consequences of such an event, such as a flood for example, can help rank how big of a risk is involved. It is also important to realize that risk affects different people differently, so the risk perception and concern is different from one person to the next, so therefore the needs for reduction is different from one individual to the next. These needs can apply to any event, but are particularly important when it comes to managing a drought. A drought is defined as a deficiency of precipitation from expected or “normal” that extends over a season or longer period of time. It is important to note that a drought is not a permanent feature of climate, but instead is a temporary feature or an aberration. Aridity on the other hand is a permanent climate feature that is primarily dry, and is often found in the Southwestern part of the United States. Another distinct feature about a drought is that unlike other climate phenomena, it is a very slow onset, sometimes referred to as “creeping” or non-event. The impacts tend...
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