The figure 4 shows that between the years 2009 and 2014, there has been an average temperature increase of between 1 to 2 centigrade. 2009 is prior to the official onset of the drought. According to the Winker Index for vineyard suitability, in 2010 30% of vineyards in Napa Valley fell into Class IV which is considered “hot” for grape growing. One can assume through this image that more vineyards will feel the temperature increase and raise to Class IV or even Class V (too hot). A warmer climate leads to drier soils which add stress to vineyards. In addition, the drought has also led to increased wildfires which can be devastating to specific vineyards. For example, Lake County Winegrape Commission estimates that the wildfires in …show more content…
It has been noted that fog will have implications on the wine industry, yet there has been little research done to see what the affects will be.
A major source of water for California is the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. However, the drought has greatly affected snows accumulation and in 2015 we are seeing the worst situation over the past 500 years. The author of an article published in Nature Climate Change describes, “The snowpack is really important in California because of the Mediterranean climate. There is no precipitation in the summer. The only time they are going to get precipitation is those winter months” . Therefore, California must adapt their water resource processes to assume less snowpack melt into reservoirs.
The rise in insect-borne diseases as a result of temperature change
The changes in temperature and humidity may increase the insects and insect-borne diseases. Many regions long believed to be climatically protected from certain pests may find themselves now open to infestation and contamination. The Glassy-winged Sharpshooter has brought Pierce׳s disease to California. With rising temperatures, this disease may spread to other places as well. A new study from Penn State University suggests that increasing temperature may result in growth of vineyard destroying pests, such as mealybugs (Pseudococcus longspinus), grass grubs (Costelytra melodica) and erinose mites (Colomerus vitis), all of which are likely
I.) Water and Drought in California: Facts and data show that the weather we are experiencing here in California is that there is a difference between La Niña that brings the ocean temperature down and making them cooler and El Niño brings much warmer ocean temperatures. Currently california is experiencing a weakened La Niña. With a 55% chance of this weather continuing for the next 3 months. La Niña affect patterns of rainfall, atmospheric pressure, and global atmospheric circulation. Even though California is in a severe drought, with coordination, modernization, and compromise, California should be able to provide enough water for a growing population and growing economy.
After more than five years of drought in California, we are just now beginning to see an above-average precipitation,and this is leaving many to ask, "is the drought over?" This last drought was one of the worsts droughts California has experienced in history and it left many panicked and trying to come up with solutions. “Governor Jerry Brown even made one of the first cutback to farmers ' water rights since 1977, and ordered cities and towns to cut water use by as much as 36 percent ” (Zamora,et al..) Overall California has 39 million residents and on top of that California also grows an unbelievable amount of
Californians are being heavily fined for using a certain amount of water a month, which impacts the daily lives of everyone. Water is a natural resource that is crucial to everyone’s survival. Whether if it’s being used for cooking, showering, gardening, washing your car or just simply drinking purposes; water is a necessity for everyone. Though the bill has not yet been passed by congress and officially has not become a law, the issue still remains on the table. The drought in California has taken a massive toll on agriculture, the environment and infrastructure. The drought is on its route to damage California’s climate change. In the past three consecutive years the average rain fall has drastically decreased, and the winter temperatures have increased. Since majority of California’s water comes from the Western Rocky Mountains, the water supply there is dropping resulting in more strict laws and regulations on how much water can be consumed by the average
The Sierra Nevada snowpack feeds Central Valley river systems and is a critical source of water in the state 's long dry season. Up to 30 percent of California 's water supply is from snowpack. Much of California 's extensive reservoir and aqueduct system is designed to store and capture runoff from the Central Valley watershed. The Central Valley watershed provides most of the water for Northern and Central California, as well as a significant proportion of Southern California 's usage.
The drought is not a result of Global warming because the California drought is caused by a lack of Pacific subtropical storms and the Nina ocean current pattern. However, Global warming does make California’s drought more severe in effect due to the rise of temperature which only contributes to hotter days resulting in more inland water evaporating into the atmosphere. As global warming persist and increases California’s current or future droughts will only become more severe. The implications Globe warming causes in just one state’s drought should be a realization of what global warming can cause in areas of drought at a larger
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.
California has always had a warm climate, yet its supply of water has rarely been affected. In 2014 California’s water shortage issue truly began. Due to low amounts of snow in the winter in recent years, California has tried to equal out these shortages by drilling water from underground aquifers. Yet, underground aquifers recharge much slower than surface water sources. California has already made significant drawbacks to attempt to limit the amount of water they use, so these aquifers can recharge. But still resources continue going down and the Central Valley Aquifer’s water level is rapidly declining. Luckily, on April 7, 2017 the drought stage of emergency in California was ended. Yet the issue isn’t truly resolved. Glen MacDonald
Touching back on the temperature raising the number of wild brush fires are increasing. This is happening cause of the droughts that we are having. These droughts cause the plants to become so dry that they become a big a very big fire hazard. For example like here on the big island we have been getting some mean droughts that
California state and some other west regions face the problem of severe drought and the researchers show several reasons to explain this phenomena. According to research in weather data for the past century, in terms of overall precipitation and spring snowpack, the past three years are not record-breakers and paleoclimate studies show that the current drought is not exceptional given the natural variations in precipitation of the past seven centuries. It cannot thoroughly attribute drought to global warming. California may be faced a future of “perfect drought” because of following reasons. Rising heat increases the evaporation, continuing depletion of ground water, and growing water shortages on the Colorado River [1]. It is predictable
Currently California is facing a water shortage. The issue has been addressed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in February. He called for all state agencies to find the way to help in the statewide water shortage. This is California’s third consecutive year of drought and last spring and summer was the worst of the season because it had the lowest amount of water recorded and California’s reservoirs were at their lowest point as well which did not help in the water shortage. Many agencies have been acquired to find possible solutions to the water shortage, the Department of Water Resources has been directed to find solutions to the problem as well as asking people to conserve water.
Most of us consider drought as a period of dry and hot weather with too little or no rain, and while any or all of these conditions might be existent during drought, the definition of drought is more complex and subtle. According to the United States Geological Survey, California Water Science Center (as cited in Congressional Digest, 2015, p. 2):
Water is the most important resource, controlling all aspects of life. The effect on climate change is changing California’s water quality and quantity. This creates
The climate in California is expected to become warmer in the next few decades, as stated above. It would cause five key threats to California: drought and wildfires, coastal danger, bad air days, spreading disease and loss of native fish.3
California has been in a drought for about 4 years now and it has been considered the most severe drought in the last 15 years. The California drought has been causing multiple ongoing problems for the last few years. The state of California has tried to take actions toward ending the drought, but the efforts put forth are clearly not enough to end this drought. The main focus in ending the drought has been water conservation, but many California resident are taking the seriousness of the drought too lightly. The drought has already caused several problems, for example water shortages, dying crops, and wildfires all across the state. If serious actions towards ending the drought are not taken soon, California will continue to surface or may get worse. There are a few ideas underway to try and end the drought in California such as, desalination, wastewater recycling, ground water digging, and the main focus water conservation. All of the solutions to ending the drought will cost a good amount of money, so the fact of the matter is which idea would be most efficient and less costly.
Drought is another factor of climate change that causes severe damages to agriculture and livestock. The effects of drought on agricultural production and livestock holding can be a detrimental issue and result in quality dissatisfaction of products. The agricultural industry can be affected by drought both economically and environmentally. The economical effects of drought on crops and animals can lead to the loss of money and time. When droughts occur farmers lose money because they will have to spend more money earned from their