'Megadrought' emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years

[OldLady]

I wonder if we are in for another dust bowl, combined with economic collapse. This is also includes areas that have seen a big increase in population.


'Megadrought' emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years

Fueled in part by human-caused climate change, a “megadrought” appears to be emerging in the western U.S., a study published Thursday suggests.

In fact, the nearly-20-year drought is almost as bad or worse than any in the past 1,200 years, scientists say.

Megadroughts – defined as intense droughts that last for decades or longer – once plagued the Desert Southwest. Thanks to global warming, an especially fierce one appears to be coming back:

"We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts," said study lead author A. Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Columbia University, in a statement. This is “a drought bigger than what modern society has seen."

Scientists say that about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming. Some of the impacts today include shrinking reservoirs and worsening wildfire seasons.

Megadroughts could return to southwestern U.S.

Severe droughts parched western North America hundreds of years ago. They may return, thanks to climate change.

www.nationalgeographic.com

Described in a comprehensive new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, scientists now understand the causes of the megadroughts common during the medieval period. With climate change, they predict more megadroughts in the future.
"What’s new here is they are really putting the pieces together in a way that hasn’t been done before,” says Connie Woodhouse, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who was uninvolved with the study.

A string of decade-long droughts occurred in the American Southwest during the medieval period, between 800 and 1600 CE. The researchers tied together previously existing theories about megadroughts to discover three main drivers.
Lead author Nathan Steiger, a climate scientist at Columbia University, says that the study was “exciting scientifically, but [the] consequences are not good” for a warming future.

Their analysis pinpoints three main factors causing megadroughts in the American Southwest: Cooling water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, warming water in the Atlantic Ocean, and something called radiative forcing. A novel part of this study, Steiger says, was “showing that radiative forcing is important too for causing these megadroughts.”

If we have another great depression and mega drought like the Dust Bowl era then expect mass genocide and a new world order.

The other day I told my adopted brother the difference between now and the dust bowl era is that we are not in a drought, but if this happens I will eat my crow...

There are some significant differences between then and now that might effect things. Part of the dustbowl's impact was due to bad farming practices in an area never meant for that kind of agriculture. Wheat speculation combined with false land advertising and an unusually wet few years drove thousands of people out to tear up the plains and plant. When the normal droughts came back, they were devastated and desperately plowed up more and more buffalo grass to plant more wheat in an attempt to get back some of their money. Prior to this, the area has been grazing for buffalo and cattle, the tough grasses had deep interwoven root systems that held the soil down. It's never fully recovered but farming practices have changed.

True and rotating and letting a land sit a year or two is practice more today and also most people do not farm and farming is more of a corporate thing in today time..

Sure, we have independent farmers still but very few compared to the corporate farms...

Personally if I were healthy I might farm this next few years seeing it will be profitable as can be...

As for the drought, let hope for the best and why hasn't California ever change the water system?

I've never understood why people chose to farm in desert areas of California, needing massive irrigation efforts to sustain it. At the very least, they should stop producing high water content crops like lettuce. We can do hydroponics now.

Issue with Southern Cali is they rely on other states for their water source and that has been an issue forever.

Northern Cal could do so much more with retaining water so they could supply Southern Cal and not rely on Nevada and Arizona to supply Southern Cal from the Colorado River...

I was afraid to say that because it's been so long since I read about that, I was afraid I'd messed it up. But that was what I was thinking, too. The Colorado River which literally no longer exists by the time it reaches the ocean. No more to take, folks. Start thinking.

 

[Bruce_T_Laney]

I wonder if we are in for another dust bowl, combined with economic collapse. This is also includes areas that have seen a big increase in population.


'Megadrought' emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years

Fueled in part by human-caused climate change, a “megadrought” appears to be emerging in the western U.S., a study published Thursday suggests.

In fact, the nearly-20-year drought is almost as bad or worse than any in the past 1,200 years, scientists say.

Megadroughts – defined as intense droughts that last for decades or longer – once plagued the Desert Southwest. Thanks to global warming, an especially fierce one appears to be coming back:

"We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts," said study lead author A. Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Columbia University, in a statement. This is “a drought bigger than what modern society has seen."

Scientists say that about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming. Some of the impacts today include shrinking reservoirs and worsening wildfire seasons.

Megadroughts could return to southwestern U.S.

Severe droughts parched western North America hundreds of years ago. They may return, thanks to climate change.

www.nationalgeographic.com

Described in a comprehensive new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, scientists now understand the causes of the megadroughts common during the medieval period. With climate change, they predict more megadroughts in the future.
"What’s new here is they are really putting the pieces together in a way that hasn’t been done before,” says Connie Woodhouse, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who was uninvolved with the study.

A string of decade-long droughts occurred in the American Southwest during the medieval period, between 800 and 1600 CE. The researchers tied together previously existing theories about megadroughts to discover three main drivers.
Lead author Nathan Steiger, a climate scientist at Columbia University, says that the study was “exciting scientifically, but [the] consequences are not good” for a warming future.

Their analysis pinpoints three main factors causing megadroughts in the American Southwest: Cooling water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, warming water in the Atlantic Ocean, and something called radiative forcing. A novel part of this study, Steiger says, was “showing that radiative forcing is important too for causing these megadroughts.”

If we have another great depression and mega drought like the Dust Bowl era then expect mass genocide and a new world order.

The other day I told my adopted brother the difference between now and the dust bowl era is that we are not in a drought, but if this happens I will eat my crow...

There are some significant differences between then and now that might effect things. Part of the dustbowl's impact was due to bad farming practices in an area never meant for that kind of agriculture. Wheat speculation combined with false land advertising and an unusually wet few years drove thousands of people out to tear up the plains and plant. When the normal droughts came back, they were devastated and desperately plowed up more and more buffalo grass to plant more wheat in an attempt to get back some of their money. Prior to this, the area has been grazing for buffalo and cattle, the tough grasses had deep interwoven root systems that held the soil down. It's never fully recovered but farming practices have changed.

True and rotating and letting a land sit a year or two is practice more today and also most people do not farm and farming is more of a corporate thing in today time..

Sure, we have independent farmers still but very few compared to the corporate farms...

Personally if I were healthy I might farm this next few years seeing it will be profitable as can be...

As for the drought, let hope for the best and why hasn't California ever change the water system?

I've never understood why people chose to farm in desert areas of California, needing massive irrigation efforts to sustain it. At the very least, they should stop producing high water content crops like lettuce. We can do hydroponics now.

Issue with Southern Cali is they rely on other states for their water source and that has been an issue forever.

Northern Cal could do so much more with retaining water so they could supply Southern Cal and not rely on Nevada and Arizona to supply Southern Cal from the Colorado River...

I was afraid to say that because it's been so long since I read about that, I was afraid I'd messed it up. But that was what I was thinking, too. The Colorado River which literally no longer exists by the time it reaches the ocean. No more to take, folks. Start thinking.

Five Years Later, Effects Of Colorado River Pulse Flow Still Linger

From inside a small airplane, tracing the Colorado River along the Arizona-California border, it’s easy to see how it happened.

www.kpbs.org

 

[ReinyDays]

La Niña might be so long and severe as to result in a depletion of water reserves in the arid South-West that cannot be filled during subsequent years. A quick succession of La Niñas might compound the problem, like, every other year rather than every three or four years. Sum it up, that's a mega-drought.

Now, put higher temperatures and increased evaporation on top of that, water levels dropping even farther. That's why normal droughts become more severe, and mega-droughts more frequent and more devastating.

Long and severe La Niña events have not been demonstrated ... mainly due to a lack of data, we've only been measuring this during the Age of Satellites, roughly fifty years ... but in this time we've only seen an oscillation between El Niño and La Niña with roughly a four year period, so this back and forth all averages out and that's where we get our 100 year average precipitation numbers ... any depletion of water reserves will be due to increase usage, Phoenix, AZ has tripled in population in the past 50 years ... rainfall rates and patterns haven't changed much as of yet ...

The arid South-West already has dry air from aloft ... it doesn't matter the temperature if the relative humidity at the surface is low ... evaporation will proceed until RH is up to 100% ... and then the next pressure wave cycling down from the north will create an unstable atmosphere and the resulting rainfall ... an increase in temperature only increases the mass of water vapor in the atmosphere at 100% RH ... thus more rainfall ...

"May", "might" and "could" are all words that can be applied the other way ... I'm of the opinion that whichever effect comes about will be slight, and of no consequence to the day-to-day lifestyle of those who reside there ... the current climate allows for megadroughts, so another one will still be within the current climate ... this whole mechanic is not any sign of future climate change ...

 

[ReinyDays]

Issue with Southern Cali is they rely on other states for their water source and that has been an issue forever.
Northern Cal could do so much more with retaining water so they could supply Southern Cal and not rely on Nevada and Arizona to supply Southern Cal from the Colorado River...

Wow ... you don't know much about California if you think Northern California is going to help Southern California ... the San Francisco/Sacramento line will be the battlefield in the upcoming water wars there ... the Peripheral Canal was voted down 40 years ago and feelings haven't changed ... this canal would have diverted Sacramento River water around the Delta area so it could be shipped to points south ... mainly because salt water would back up into the Delta and ruin all the farmland there, not to mention the environmental disaster ...

There's an agreement between all the States that border on the Colorado River ... and California gets her fair share ... the question is whether we want to ruin Los Angeles, Las Vegas or Phoenix ...

 

[Olde Europe]

Long and severe La Niña events have not been demonstrated ... mainly due to a lack of data, we've only been measuring this during the Age of Satellites, roughly fifty years ... but in this time we've only seen an oscillation between El Niño and La Niña with roughly a four year period, so this back and forth all averages out and that's where we get our 100 year average precipitation numbers ... any depletion of water reserves will be due to increase usage, Phoenix, AZ has tripled in population in the past 50 years ... rainfall rates and patterns haven't changed much as of yet ...

The arid South-West already has dry air from aloft ... it doesn't matter the temperature if the relative humidity at the surface is low ... evaporation will proceed until RH is up to 100% ... and then the next pressure wave cycling down from the north will create an unstable atmosphere and the resulting rainfall ... an increase in temperature only increases the mass of water vapor in the atmosphere at 100% RH ... thus more rainfall ...

"May", "might" and "could" are all words that can be applied the other way ... I'm of the opinion that whichever effect comes about will be slight, and of no consequence to the day-to-day lifestyle of those who reside there ... the current climate allows for megadroughts, so another one will still be within the current climate ... this whole mechanic is not any sign of future climate change ...

So, you've been wondering, "I don't see how a seasonal ocean anomaly would cause a ten year drought"...

I ventured to explain how that might be brought about, and worsened by climate change. No need to thank me.

But then, you've been talking past the argument, invoking an average El Niño and La Niña cycle (which isn't what we see all the time), and even went on to detail the population of Phoenix, which has neither to do with El Niño and La Niña nor with precipitation patterns on the Pacific nor with anything else related to the question at hand. You then spout the same nonsense about "dry air from aloft" - we all know that - and that also was so since prehistoric times, and also adds nothing to our understanding of mega-droughts, which are not the usual. They are (or rather were) extraordinary events brought about by an unusual confluence of circumstances, but made more prevalent and worse by climate change.

That's all the explanation I have. You may now proceed reiterating the same non-pertinent truisms you've been posting without shedding any light on the issue.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

I wonder if we are in for another dust bowl, combined with economic collapse. This is also includes areas that have seen a big increase in population.


'Megadrought' emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years

Fueled in part by human-caused climate change, a “megadrought” appears to be emerging in the western U.S., a study published Thursday suggests.

In fact, the nearly-20-year drought is almost as bad or worse than any in the past 1,200 years, scientists say.

Megadroughts – defined as intense droughts that last for decades or longer – once plagued the Desert Southwest. Thanks to global warming, an especially fierce one appears to be coming back:

"We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts," said study lead author A. Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Columbia University, in a statement. This is “a drought bigger than what modern society has seen."

Scientists say that about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming. Some of the impacts today include shrinking reservoirs and worsening wildfire seasons.

Megadroughts could return to southwestern U.S.

Severe droughts parched western North America hundreds of years ago. They may return, thanks to climate change.

www.nationalgeographic.com

Described in a comprehensive new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, scientists now understand the causes of the megadroughts common during the medieval period. With climate change, they predict more megadroughts in the future.
"What’s new here is they are really putting the pieces together in a way that hasn’t been done before,” says Connie Woodhouse, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who was uninvolved with the study.

A string of decade-long droughts occurred in the American Southwest during the medieval period, between 800 and 1600 CE. The researchers tied together previously existing theories about megadroughts to discover three main drivers.
Lead author Nathan Steiger, a climate scientist at Columbia University, says that the study was “exciting scientifically, but [the] consequences are not good” for a warming future.

Their analysis pinpoints three main factors causing megadroughts in the American Southwest: Cooling water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, warming water in the Atlantic Ocean, and something called radiative forcing. A novel part of this study, Steiger says, was “showing that radiative forcing is important too for causing these megadroughts.”

if we had mega droughts before the industrial revolution, what caused them?

 

[ReinyDays]

I ventured to explain how that might be brought about, and worsened by climate change. No need to thank me.

Your physics is wrong ... your explanation violates conservation laws ... what water is evaporated into the air is condensed and returns to Earth as rainfall ... higher temperatures increases this process, thus more rainfall ... your explanation requires less rainfall ... neither of which changes the climate there ... it will be arid there for many hundreds of years to come ...

 

[theHawk]

I wonder if we are in for another dust bowl, combined with economic collapse. This is also includes areas that have seen a big increase in population.


'Megadrought' emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years

Fueled in part by human-caused climate change, a “megadrought” appears to be emerging in the western U.S., a study published Thursday suggests.

In fact, the nearly-20-year drought is almost as bad or worse than any in the past 1,200 years, scientists say.

Megadroughts – defined as intense droughts that last for decades or longer – once plagued the Desert Southwest. Thanks to global warming, an especially fierce one appears to be coming back:

"We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts," said study lead author A. Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Columbia University, in a statement. This is “a drought bigger than what modern society has seen."

Scientists say that about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming. Some of the impacts today include shrinking reservoirs and worsening wildfire seasons.

Megadroughts could return to southwestern U.S.

Severe droughts parched western North America hundreds of years ago. They may return, thanks to climate change.

www.nationalgeographic.com

Described in a comprehensive new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, scientists now understand the causes of the megadroughts common during the medieval period. With climate change, they predict more megadroughts in the future.
"What’s new here is they are really putting the pieces together in a way that hasn’t been done before,” says Connie Woodhouse, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who was uninvolved with the study.

A string of decade-long droughts occurred in the American Southwest during the medieval period, between 800 and 1600 CE. The researchers tied together previously existing theories about megadroughts to discover three main drivers.
Lead author Nathan Steiger, a climate scientist at Columbia University, says that the study was “exciting scientifically, but [the] consequences are not good” for a warming future.

Their analysis pinpoints three main factors causing megadroughts in the American Southwest: Cooling water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, warming water in the Atlantic Ocean, and something called radiative forcing. A novel part of this study, Steiger says, was “showing that radiative forcing is important too for causing these megadroughts.”

^^ Fear mongering is all these loons have left.

 

[Coyote]

I wonder if we are in for another dust bowl, combined with economic collapse. This is also includes areas that have seen a big increase in population.


'Megadrought' emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years

Fueled in part by human-caused climate change, a “megadrought” appears to be emerging in the western U.S., a study published Thursday suggests.

In fact, the nearly-20-year drought is almost as bad or worse than any in the past 1,200 years, scientists say.

Megadroughts – defined as intense droughts that last for decades or longer – once plagued the Desert Southwest. Thanks to global warming, an especially fierce one appears to be coming back:

"We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts," said study lead author A. Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Columbia University, in a statement. This is “a drought bigger than what modern society has seen."

Scientists say that about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming. Some of the impacts today include shrinking reservoirs and worsening wildfire seasons.

Megadroughts could return to southwestern U.S.

Severe droughts parched western North America hundreds of years ago. They may return, thanks to climate change.

www.nationalgeographic.com

Described in a comprehensive new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, scientists now understand the causes of the megadroughts common during the medieval period. With climate change, they predict more megadroughts in the future.
"What’s new here is they are really putting the pieces together in a way that hasn’t been done before,” says Connie Woodhouse, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who was uninvolved with the study.

A string of decade-long droughts occurred in the American Southwest during the medieval period, between 800 and 1600 CE. The researchers tied together previously existing theories about megadroughts to discover three main drivers.
Lead author Nathan Steiger, a climate scientist at Columbia University, says that the study was “exciting scientifically, but [the] consequences are not good” for a warming future.

Their analysis pinpoints three main factors causing megadroughts in the American Southwest: Cooling water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, warming water in the Atlantic Ocean, and something called radiative forcing. A novel part of this study, Steiger says, was “showing that radiative forcing is important too for causing these megadroughts.”

if we had mega droughts before the industrial revolution, what caused them?

Did you miss the parts that stated climate change isn’t a cause but may exacerbate these mega droughts?

 

[whitehall]

Note the catchword "emerging". It's a meaningless word in this context. The drought of the 30's and the Great Depression was ten times worse.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

I wonder if we are in for another dust bowl, combined with economic collapse. This is also includes areas that have seen a big increase in population.


'Megadrought' emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years

Fueled in part by human-caused climate change, a “megadrought” appears to be emerging in the western U.S., a study published Thursday suggests.

In fact, the nearly-20-year drought is almost as bad or worse than any in the past 1,200 years, scientists say.

Megadroughts – defined as intense droughts that last for decades or longer – once plagued the Desert Southwest. Thanks to global warming, an especially fierce one appears to be coming back:

"We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts," said study lead author A. Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Columbia University, in a statement. This is “a drought bigger than what modern society has seen."

Scientists say that about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming. Some of the impacts today include shrinking reservoirs and worsening wildfire seasons.

Megadroughts could return to southwestern U.S.

Severe droughts parched western North America hundreds of years ago. They may return, thanks to climate change.

www.nationalgeographic.com

Described in a comprehensive new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, scientists now understand the causes of the megadroughts common during the medieval period. With climate change, they predict more megadroughts in the future.
"What’s new here is they are really putting the pieces together in a way that hasn’t been done before,” says Connie Woodhouse, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who was uninvolved with the study.

A string of decade-long droughts occurred in the American Southwest during the medieval period, between 800 and 1600 CE. The researchers tied together previously existing theories about megadroughts to discover three main drivers.
Lead author Nathan Steiger, a climate scientist at Columbia University, says that the study was “exciting scientifically, but [the] consequences are not good” for a warming future.

Their analysis pinpoints three main factors causing megadroughts in the American Southwest: Cooling water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, warming water in the Atlantic Ocean, and something called radiative forcing. A novel part of this study, Steiger says, was “showing that radiative forcing is important too for causing these megadroughts.”

...stopped reading at the first mention of human caused climate change

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Scientists say that about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming.

So what caused the drought 1200 years ago? Mongol ponies?

It can only mean that the internal combustion engine is far, far older than what "they" want us to believe

 

[ReinyDays]

It can only mean that the internal combustion engine is far, far older than what "they" want us to believe

Plus smelting iron is massively carbon-intensive ...

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

I seem to recall not too long ago, a great deal of hysteria about a drought in California caused by global warming that could last for decades. That drought lasted until the next year when it was replaced by deluge after deluge of rain, causing mudslides like had never been seen before. Dams were close to failing and reservoirs were all full. That cycle repeats itself every few years.

 

[MeBelle]

Issue with Southern Cali is they rely on other states for their water source and that has been an issue forever.
Northern Cal could do so much more with retaining water so they could supply Southern Cal and not rely on Nevada and Arizona to supply Southern Cal from the Colorado River...

Wow ... you don't know much about California if you think Northern California is going to help Southern California

Where in the heck do you think Southern Cali gets its water from during times of drought?

Northern Cali CONSERVATIVES! (kinda funny!)
Yup Northern Cali is forced to conserve water so SoCal can water their lawns and hose off their driveways.

California has been ignoring this issue for more years than I've been around.
Save the Delta smelt ... kill the Salmon!

 

[MeBelle]

I seem to recall not too long ago, a great deal of hysteria about a drought in California caused by global warming that could last for decades. That drought lasted until the next year when it was replaced by deluge after deluge of rain, causing mudslides like had never been seen before. Dams were close to failing and reservoirs were all full.That cycle repeats itself every few years.

The Oroville Dam

Another Cali failure.

Pumped millions of dollars in upkeep, but nobody kept it up.
Where did the $$ go?

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Ya, that must be why the Colorado snow pack has been well above average 4 out of the last 7 years with 2 of those years being records. And lake Powell is up over 30'.

Quit listening to clowns who can't get money for research if they don't predict doom and gloom. Just like Kung Flu projections, shit in, shit out.

http://snowpack.water-data.com/uppercolorado/index.php

http://bluemesa.water-data.com/

http://lakenavajo.water-data.com/

And don't forget Flaming Gorge has to draw down every year in the last decade to make room for run off and is doing it again this year.

http://flaminggorge.water-data.com/

states-snowpack-still-below-average-despite-wet-march
While California's snowpack in March was in better condition than it was in February, the month's precipitation was not enough to offset the state's dry winter, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

A survey DWR officials conducted in the Sierra Nevada on Wednesday measured snow depth at 43.5 inches, with 16.5 inches of water contained in the snowpack.

The measurement is two-thirds of the April average at the Phillips Station survey site. Statewide snow level sensors also showed that the snowpack's water level was down 53% from April averages.

Snow Drought

Snowpack typically acts as a natural reservoir, providing water throughout the drier summer months. Lack of snowpack storage, or a shift in timing of snowmelt from that reservoir, can be a challenge for drought planning. Snow drought is a period of abnormally little snowpack for the time of...

www.drought.gov

Current Situation and Impacts in the West
April 2, 2020
After an extremely dry February, particularly in CA and NV where many locations were record dry, active weather returned during March. Stormy weather has led to above normal precipitation over the past 30 days for much of California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. Despite the wet weather, snow water equivalent (SWE) averaged over large river basins (HUC 6) in south-central Arizona and New Mexico saw the greatest percent of average declines over the past month in the West. The Salt River basin in Arizona and the Upper Gila river basin that straddles the Arizona-New Mexico border are both currently at 29% of normal SWE. This is partially due to warmer temperatures with recent storms and rain in the mountains driving warm snow drought conditions. These lower latitude locations also reach peak snowpack earlier in the season and late March is already the melt season.

In contrast to the active weather in the Southwest, the majority of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon were drier than normal for March. Cooler than normal temperatures, however, helped to preserve the snowpack already in the Pacific Northwest mountains with gains in SWE during the storms that did move into the region. The exceptions are the eastern slopes of the central and northern Cascades in Washington, the Okanogan basin of Washington (SWE ranges from 55 to 75% of normal), and south-central Idaho, specifically the Sawtooth Mountains (with a cluster of stations below the 20th percentile). In southwest Oregon, the snowpack entered March well below average, but benefitted somewhat from recent storms, increasing to 79% of normal in the Klamath basin. The relative lack of snow in this region has contributed to developing moderate-to-extreme drought conditions in Klamath, Jackson, and Josephine counties. A drought declaration in Klamath county was approved in late February in significant part due to the water supply issues caused by the lean snow year.

We didn't have a dry winter. Is there an anomaly someplace?

 

[Wyatt earp]

I wonder if we are in for another dust bowl, combined with economic collapse. This is also includes areas that have seen a big increase in population.


'Megadrought' emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years

Fueled in part by human-caused climate change, a “megadrought” appears to be emerging in the western U.S., a study published Thursday suggests.

In fact, the nearly-20-year drought is almost as bad or worse than any in the past 1,200 years, scientists say.

Megadroughts – defined as intense droughts that last for decades or longer – once plagued the Desert Southwest. Thanks to global warming, an especially fierce one appears to be coming back:

"We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts," said study lead author A. Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Columbia University, in a statement. This is “a drought bigger than what modern society has seen."

Scientists say that about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming. Some of the impacts today include shrinking reservoirs and worsening wildfire seasons.

Megadroughts could return to southwestern U.S.

Severe droughts parched western North America hundreds of years ago. They may return, thanks to climate change.

www.nationalgeographic.com

Described in a comprehensive new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, scientists now understand the causes of the megadroughts common during the medieval period. With climate change, they predict more megadroughts in the future.
"What’s new here is they are really putting the pieces together in a way that hasn’t been done before,” says Connie Woodhouse, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who was uninvolved with the study.

A string of decade-long droughts occurred in the American Southwest during the medieval period, between 800 and 1600 CE. The researchers tied together previously existing theories about megadroughts to discover three main drivers.
Lead author Nathan Steiger, a climate scientist at Columbia University, says that the study was “exciting scientifically, but [the] consequences are not good” for a warming future.

Their analysis pinpoints three main factors causing megadroughts in the American Southwest: Cooling water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, warming water in the Atlantic Ocean, and something called radiative forcing. A novel part of this study, Steiger says, was “showing that radiative forcing is important too for causing these megadroughts.”

I was reading that today in the newspaper, unfortunately you missed out on the part of computer modeling was a factor to predict the past.."of the story"

They got a bunch of soil samples, big deal ..pfft.

 

[bodecea]

Is that why California is even getting water from the other western states, and dumping all that fresh water into the ocean (possibly to keep the fish from getting thirsty)???

California Dumps a Trillion Gallon of Fresh Water in Ocean – Declares Water Shortage

California continues to dump trillions of gallons of fresh water in the ocean. It’s been raining cats and dogs in the LA basin and warnings of dams breaking from the pressure of so much water have …

telephoneengineerwarrington.wordpress.com

To save the delta smelt!

Northern Cali has to adhere to water conservation in order for Southern Cali to even have water!


but...save the smelt...

What is the great need for water in California anyhow? They crap on the sidewalk, it isn't like they need it to flush the commode.

My...that was intelligently spoken.

 

[Wyatt earp]

I wonder if we are in for another dust bowl, combined with economic collapse. This is also includes areas that have seen a big increase in population.


'Megadrought' emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years

Fueled in part by human-caused climate change, a “megadrought” appears to be emerging in the western U.S., a study published Thursday suggests.

In fact, the nearly-20-year drought is almost as bad or worse than any in the past 1,200 years, scientists say.

Megadroughts – defined as intense droughts that last for decades or longer – once plagued the Desert Southwest. Thanks to global warming, an especially fierce one appears to be coming back:

"We now have enough observations of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts," said study lead author A. Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Columbia University, in a statement. This is “a drought bigger than what modern society has seen."

Scientists say that about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming. Some of the impacts today include shrinking reservoirs and worsening wildfire seasons.

Megadroughts could return to southwestern U.S.

Severe droughts parched western North America hundreds of years ago. They may return, thanks to climate change.

www.nationalgeographic.com

Described in a comprehensive new study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, scientists now understand the causes of the megadroughts common during the medieval period. With climate change, they predict more megadroughts in the future.
"What’s new here is they are really putting the pieces together in a way that hasn’t been done before,” says Connie Woodhouse, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona who was uninvolved with the study.

A string of decade-long droughts occurred in the American Southwest during the medieval period, between 800 and 1600 CE. The researchers tied together previously existing theories about megadroughts to discover three main drivers.
Lead author Nathan Steiger, a climate scientist at Columbia University, says that the study was “exciting scientifically, but [the] consequences are not good” for a warming future.

Their analysis pinpoints three main factors causing megadroughts in the American Southwest: Cooling water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, warming water in the Atlantic Ocean, and something called radiative forcing. A novel part of this study, Steiger says, was “showing that radiative forcing is important too for causing these megadroughts.”

if we had mega droughts before the industrial revolution, what caused them?

Did you miss the parts that stated climate change isn’t a cause but may exacerbate these mega droughts?

The two local newspapers I read today (waiting for the cops to leave) said that it was a 47% chance do to humans/climate change.. all by computer modulation.

In the same two articles I read Wyoming was not effected. Btw there is still good snow fall up In the mountains of Idaho, enough snow pack to still ski on, today, if the virus didn't shut them down