Climate Warming is Making California Drought Worse

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California's drought is not predicted to be unique
for the future because of climate warming.
The current drought we Californians are experiencing may not be the last for the near future and beyond. According to climate scientists, climate change and warming may exacerbate future droughts, and these droughts may even be worse.

In a New York Times article published today, this drought may be the worse in over a thousand years.

Today California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a mandatory water emergency, meaning everybody in the state will have to cut water use by 25%.

Climate change has caused the temperatures to increase in this region of the U.S. The water for Southern California comes from the snow pack atop the Sierra Nevada mountains. Because of the higher temperatures, rains did not change to snows, which accumulates in the mountains and in the Spring turns into rivers and reservoirs when the snows melt.

Unless something rather unusual occurs--like a whole bunch of rain--between now and the next rainy season, the water we have in our very depressed reservoirs will be the only water Californians will have until next year.

Bummer.

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