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California Drought : Is There Light At The End Of The Tunnel?

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California drought: is there light at the end of the tunnel? “If you do not take care of nature, nature will not take care of you”. Those were the words of the late Nobel award winner Professor Wangari Mathaai. Being a great lover of the environment, she foresaw the numerous effects that lack of environmental conservation would result it and true to that the world is receiving a big blow from Mother Nature. Global warming, droughts and famine, irregular climatic changes are among the effects that have adversely affected the globe and if something is not done and fast, this could get worse. California has for many years being battling with drought. Drought can be defined as a prolonged period of rainfall below normal, extended depletion …show more content…

According to scientists, particularly stubborn "blocking ridge" over the northeastern Pacific; commonly referred to as the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, or "Triple R" – that prevented winter storms from reaching California during the 2013 and 2014 rainy seasons, is the immediate cause of the drought. Blocking ridges refer regions of high atmospheric pressure that disrupt typical wind patterns in the atmosphere.3 Because winds respond to the spatial distribution of atmospheric pressure, this persistent blocking ridge has led to California remaining dry over a long period of time. Blocking ridges are not a rare phenomenon especially in the temperate latitudes but the longevity and size of the Triple R is what is worrying. It dispersed in the 2013’s summer months but came back in fall even stronger. The condition went through to winter a period when California receives most of its rainfall. The Triple R affects rainfall by diverting the jet stream (high speed air currents) towards far north. Due to this, pacific storms bypass California as well as Washington and Oregon resulting to snow and rain that would fall on the

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