• The Drought in California has lasted about five years. California is an American state known for it agricultural industry and large cities. It is on the West Coast near the Ocean as well. It is supposed to get both rain and snowfall throughout the year, but the drought has prevented as sufficient amount from occurring.
• The drought was caused by overuse and over extraction from water tables and freshwater sources for the commercial agricultural industry. The biggest cause, however, was a high-pressure system near the coast diverting storms away from California because it cannot rain California is in a drought.
• Due to this drought, many crops have dies leading to poverty for many farmers. People are lacking clean drinking water forcing the state to bring it in from other states. Water tables are collapsing as well.
• To mitigate loss of life close monitoring of dry woods needs to occur that way if a forest fire starts it can be put out easier, or the surrounding areas can evacuate more effectively.
• People are also shifting away from grass lawns to save water from being wasted on something purely for intrinsic value. They are also using less water for washing dishes and showering to prevent the need for any more water extraction.
• California is also importing more produce instead of growing it on their own to prevent malnourishment and supplement the lack of produce being grown in state.
8. Hurricane/serious storm case study: discuss a serious hurricane or tropical storm. Where did it hit and what impact did it have? How did/could weather monitoring mitigate loss?
• Hurricane Katrina hit The United States and Canada. In the United States, it did the most damage in New Orleans, Louisiana. It also hit parts of Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mississippi and Alabama.
• It came onto land as a Category three hurricane with powerful windspeeds reaching more than 125 miles per hour.
• New Orleans is a large city hit by Katrina with most the land being lower to sea level making It prone to flooding. It is also has the Mississippi river flowing through it. There are many poverty-stricken neighborhoods usually in areas with more flooding.
• Meteorologists were capable of predicting Hurricane Katrina
Right now there is a drought in California and it is due to the water usage. Bach in the gold rush due to miners mining for gold, the rivers became polluted and freshwater became limited. After the earthquake in San Francisco that cause a big fire, San Francisco was in dire need of water so they made a plan to built a dam in Hetch Hetchy. Many people argue as to whether to build the dam and in the end the dam was built and that has shape California’s water system hugely. The use of water in California now has not been in the best interest of the state because The amount of water use for agriculture is disportional, laws are making us use more water than needed and the Indians and environment are being harm.
California is currently breaking the state record for longest ongoing drought, now entering it’s fourth year. This drought has taken over 98% of the state. Out of that large percentage, over 44% is in “exceptional” drought, which is the worst level of drought. There’s uncertainty about how long this drought will continue into the future and how severe the problem will become.
Over the years, California's drought has progressively gotten worse. Although some years we experience some rain, it is not enough to fulfill the need for water throughout the state. So where exactly is all the water going? Well, all of California’s water is split into three different sections: Environmental, Agricultural, and Urban.
“Economists at the University of California, Davis said that agriculture, once a $44 billion annual business in California, will suffer a financial hit of $2.2 billion due to revenue losses and higher water costs” (Associated Press, 2014). Many farmers are going out of business because the production costs have increased with rising inflation, while revenue has decreased. Others have reduced their farmland plantations which decreases the crop production. Some of the affected crops include oranges, pistachios and rice. One example of how this affects the nation is the California almonds. “California [is] the source of eighty percent of the world’s almonds” (Bloomberg, 2014). This year farmers had to come up with new tactics to rescue the nut from drought “by diverting the water used for vegetables and drilling more water wells to keep the trees hydrated” (Bloomberg, 2014). Farmers are not the only group of workers affected by the drought.
Hurricane Katrina was a colossal storm with incredibly fierce winds resulting in the death of almost 2000 people. Because of the environmental conditions of the Gulf Coast, Katrina was able to build up wind speed and mass over the water at an exceptional rate. At its strongest, Katrina had hurricane force winds stretching out 104 miles, and tropical storm force winds reaching 230 miles from its eye. After breaching the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi, the
Californians have been struggling with trying to conserve our water for over three years. Twenty-Thirteen was our driest year in many populated areas in California, and it doesn't seem to be changing any time soon, unless we all act now. In twenty-thirteen, Los Angeles and Sacramento, went down on record as the driest two cities in California. A drought is when area of land scarcely drop rain. Droughts are caused from climate changes and lack of precipitation, resulting in a shortage of water. Water is vital for all living things and is the essential component of all life. This ongoing drought has drastically affected the state of California. The long-term change in climate is truly affecting California. Our water reservations are lower than
California's future will be heavily impacted by this drought if things don’t change. Everything from its economy, to the people, to the physical land itself, is being threatened. According to American Farmland Trust, one eighth of the nation’s agricultural production comes from California: a third of the nation’s vegetables, and almost two thirds of the nation’s fruits and nuts. Agriculture is an enormous industry and is occasionally the only industry in certain parts of the state that is going through a severe drought. It’s impossible to grow crops without water, and it’s impossible to make money from crops that never grew, so in many areas the economy would collapse without sufficient water. American Farmland Trust
California has got through many severe droughts. In the history of California there have been many droughts but California was able to overpass it and keep up its agriculture. Many think it will be as easy as it was back then, to get our water supply back, but it won’t because back then there was not as much agriculture. The birth,
Part of the water drought in California most likely has to do with the lack of snowfall . This year's water content has been lower than the average by about 5 percent .
California is known for their wide variety of fires because of high temperatures and lack of rain. Fire isn’t the only thing causing problems in California but also droughts. The center around all these problems is that water is being used by everyone. California has a huge population; water is needed for farms, different businesses, and households. We can’t just put a limit on water because that might cause more harm. The reason for droughts is there’s not enough rain in California.
Geographic Inquiry Model – Drought in the West Define the issue: For four years now most of California is experiencing droughts Causing water crises Drought would cost California's economy $2.7 billion Cities and towns are ordered to reduce water use by 36% Mixed views regarding climate change can be blamed for California's drought Global warming was worsen the drought's effects Impacts on Physical Geography Threatening populations of geese, ducks Agricultural industry is suffering Farming and agriculture use more than 70 percent water Impacts on Human Geography Farmers cities and towns are said to cut down on water Farmers are disobeying the rules Water crises causing a problem for firefighters to do there
The historic drought of California has been and still is one of the greatest problems California faces. It has lasted a whopping three years already. The drought started in early January and it shows no sign of ending anytime soon. This drought has farmers and many citizens being driven up walls because of the soaring water prices. This problem will only grow worse and should become a national concern or the whole nation will be in distress.
The 2014-2017 California drought affected many aspects of living in America. The drought did not only affect California, but America as a whole because of the simple fact that California produces over 75% of U.S fruits, and 2/3 of U.S nuts. Without the necessary amount of water, there would be no way that California could upkeep their regular production. This means that if fruit and nut businesses receive a less amount of product that they usually receive, they won't be able to make a s much money, and in the end that can really end up hurting the economy. In the entire span of the drought, an estimated 2.7 billion dollars have been lost. Besides just hurting the economy, the drought also has forced people to regulate their water usage in
It seems that climate change may be partly responsible for California’s crippling drought. A new study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters , found that global warming, caused by human emissions, has intensified the drought during the period between 2012 and 2014 by 8 to 27 percent. The study also suggests an increased likelihood of future droughts due to climate change, posing a serious threat to California’s farming and agricultural industries.
Researchers have documented multiple droughts in California through the studies of tree rings, sediment, and other natural evidence. There have been multiple droughts in the state that have lasted 10 or 20 years in a row during the past 1,000 years, which is nothing compared to the mere three-year duration of the current dry spell. The two worst megadroughts