Tuesday, 8 Oct 2024

US weather: Western USA facing worst drought in over 1,200 years – ‘Longer, drier periods’

David Attenborough asks ‘can we curb climate change?’

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A study published in Nature Climate Change concluded the period from 2000 to 2021 was the driest in over a millennium. David Feldman, professor of urban planning and public policy at University of California at Irvine, said the long periods of drought also produced more unusual weather such as storms.

He said: “There’s good documentation that, in fact, there is less rainfall.

“What seems to be happening according to most of the climate scientists is we’re getting longer, drier periods.

“But the irony is those longer, drier periods are punctuated by very intense storm events.”

According to the report, last year’s drought was “exceptional”.

Researchers argue that all the indications are that the extreme conditions will continue in 2022.

They also argue that man-made climate change has made the drought 72 percent worse.

The burning of fossil fuels is also having an impact on water availability.

One example of this is Los Angeles which in December had 10 inches of rain – the second wettest month on record. 

However, last month less than a tenth of an inch of rain fell, making it the eight-driest January on record for the city.

February has also been very dry and fluctuations like this are more likely due to climate change.

Officials in Los Angeles have built several large, open dirt basins in order to absorb rainfall.

They are also working to ensure the city is less dependent on water imported from other areas – a figure that currently stands at 90 percent. 

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In the medium to long term, they argue that LA needs to store and recycle more water unless weather patterns change.

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