SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
A dried up area of the Folsom Lake reservoir in northern California. (Photo: Mr.Morgan.Murphy/cc/flickr)
The increasingly frequent and severe droughts that have punished California over the past two decades--including the current record-breaking one--are primarily the result of human-caused climate change and will likely grow even worse, scientists at Stanford University warn.
Published in Monday's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new research analyzes historical records, as well as computer simulations of global warming, to investigate the role of changing temperatures during California droughts over the last 120 years.
The researchers concluded that human-driven global warming is exacerbating and increasing the confluent warm and dry conditions that have produced the state's most severe droughts.
"Of course low precipitation is a prerequisite for drought, but less rain and snowfall alone don't ensure a drought will happen," explained Stanford professor and lead author Noah Diffenbaugh. "It really matters if the lack of precipitation happens during a warm or cool year."
"We've seen the effects of record heat on snow and soil moisture this year in California, and we know from this new research that climate change is increasing the probability of those warm and dry conditions occurring together," Diffenbaugh added.
Danielle Touma, a graduate student and co-author of the study, explained, "When we look at the historical record, not only do we see a doubling of the odds of a warm-dry year, but we also see a doubling of the frequency of drought years. Warm conditions reduce snowfall, increase snowmelt and increase water loss from soils and plants."
The researchers say their findings predict worse weather to come.
"We found that essentially all years are likely to be warm--or extremely warm--in California by the middle of the 21st century," said study co-author Daniel Swain, who is also a graduate student in Diffenbaugh's lab. "This means that both drought frequency--and the potential intensity of those droughts which do occur--will likely increase as temperatures continue to rise."
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
The increasingly frequent and severe droughts that have punished California over the past two decades--including the current record-breaking one--are primarily the result of human-caused climate change and will likely grow even worse, scientists at Stanford University warn.
Published in Monday's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new research analyzes historical records, as well as computer simulations of global warming, to investigate the role of changing temperatures during California droughts over the last 120 years.
The researchers concluded that human-driven global warming is exacerbating and increasing the confluent warm and dry conditions that have produced the state's most severe droughts.
"Of course low precipitation is a prerequisite for drought, but less rain and snowfall alone don't ensure a drought will happen," explained Stanford professor and lead author Noah Diffenbaugh. "It really matters if the lack of precipitation happens during a warm or cool year."
"We've seen the effects of record heat on snow and soil moisture this year in California, and we know from this new research that climate change is increasing the probability of those warm and dry conditions occurring together," Diffenbaugh added.
Danielle Touma, a graduate student and co-author of the study, explained, "When we look at the historical record, not only do we see a doubling of the odds of a warm-dry year, but we also see a doubling of the frequency of drought years. Warm conditions reduce snowfall, increase snowmelt and increase water loss from soils and plants."
The researchers say their findings predict worse weather to come.
"We found that essentially all years are likely to be warm--or extremely warm--in California by the middle of the 21st century," said study co-author Daniel Swain, who is also a graduate student in Diffenbaugh's lab. "This means that both drought frequency--and the potential intensity of those droughts which do occur--will likely increase as temperatures continue to rise."
The increasingly frequent and severe droughts that have punished California over the past two decades--including the current record-breaking one--are primarily the result of human-caused climate change and will likely grow even worse, scientists at Stanford University warn.
Published in Monday's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new research analyzes historical records, as well as computer simulations of global warming, to investigate the role of changing temperatures during California droughts over the last 120 years.
The researchers concluded that human-driven global warming is exacerbating and increasing the confluent warm and dry conditions that have produced the state's most severe droughts.
"Of course low precipitation is a prerequisite for drought, but less rain and snowfall alone don't ensure a drought will happen," explained Stanford professor and lead author Noah Diffenbaugh. "It really matters if the lack of precipitation happens during a warm or cool year."
"We've seen the effects of record heat on snow and soil moisture this year in California, and we know from this new research that climate change is increasing the probability of those warm and dry conditions occurring together," Diffenbaugh added.
Danielle Touma, a graduate student and co-author of the study, explained, "When we look at the historical record, not only do we see a doubling of the odds of a warm-dry year, but we also see a doubling of the frequency of drought years. Warm conditions reduce snowfall, increase snowmelt and increase water loss from soils and plants."
The researchers say their findings predict worse weather to come.
"We found that essentially all years are likely to be warm--or extremely warm--in California by the middle of the 21st century," said study co-author Daniel Swain, who is also a graduate student in Diffenbaugh's lab. "This means that both drought frequency--and the potential intensity of those droughts which do occur--will likely increase as temperatures continue to rise."