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Our relationship with water

Dan Crawford | February 15, 2022 8:08 am

Climate Change

The Western U.S. and northern Mexico are experiencing their driest period in at least 1,200 years, according to the new study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The last comparable — though not as severe — multidecade megadrought occurred in the 1500s, when the West was still largely inhabited by Native American tribes.

NPR reminds us that there is still a significant drought happening in large parts of the US in its reporting on water supplies and use, weather and climate change.

9 Comments

Ken Melvin says:

February 15, 2022 at 8:34 am

Here in the SF Bay Area, in days of old, the rainy season would last through March, sometimes into May. For a couple weeks now, my hiking trails in the Eastbay Hills are starting to get dusty. So it begins most years now.
Fred C. Dobbs says:

February 15, 2022 at 1:39 pm

How Bad Is the Western Drought? Worst in 12 Centuries, Study Finds

NY Times – Feb 14

Fueled by climate change, the drought that started in 2000 is now the driest two decades since 800 A.D.

The megadrought in the American Southwest has become so severe that it’s now the driest two decades in the region in at least 1,200 years, scientists said Monday, and climate change is largely responsible.

The drought, which began in 2000 and has reduced water supplies, devastated farmers and ranchers and helped fuel wildfires across the region, had previously been considered the worst in 500 years, according to the researchers.

But exceptional conditions in the summer of 2021, when about two-thirds of the West was in extreme drought, “really pushed it over the top,” said A. Park Williams, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who led an analysis using tree ring data to gauge drought. As a result, 2000-21 is the driest 22-year period since 800 A.D., which is as far back as the data goes.

The analysis also showed that human-caused warming played a major role in making the current drought so extreme. …
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  February 15, 2022 at 1:42 pm
  
  Although there is no uniform definition, a megadrought is generally considered to be one that is both severe and long, on the order of several decades. But even in a megadrought there can be periods when wet conditions prevail. It’s just that there are not enough consecutive wet years to end the drought.
  
  That has been the case in the current Western drought, during which there have been several wet years, most notably 2005. The study, which was published in the journal Nature Climate Change, determined that climate change was responsible for the continuation of the current drought after that year. …
  - Fred C. Dobbs says:
    
    February 15, 2022 at 1:54 pm
    
    Related: West megadrought worsens to driest in at least 1,200 years
    
    Phys.org – Feb 14
Michael Smith says:

February 15, 2022 at 2:00 pm

The planned obsolescence of the Ogallala aquifer over the course of the next 3-5 years will have direct impacts of $156 billion in lost economic revenue for the state of Texas.
JaneE says:

February 15, 2022 at 2:01 pm

The Sierra Nevada was named because of the visible presence of snow for most if not all of the year. It may be Sierra, but it isn’t Nevada for about half the year now.
Kaleberg says:

February 15, 2022 at 7:18 pm

People forget. It’s not just about land. It’s also about water.
- Michael Smith says:
  
  February 15, 2022 at 7:22 pm
  
  One that we struggle with more than the land itself.
Mike B. says:

February 15, 2022 at 8:08 pm

If you want to keep up with current US conditions, https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ publishes maps each Thursday at 8:30 am ET showing current areas of different severity of drought. As you can see from the current map, it’s not just the West – a lot of the central US is also experiencing drought.