The Problem of California Drought - Essay Example

The Problem of California Drought Drought is a point of concern in today’s time because there is a problem with water resources. The climate change affects all the countries of the world influencing the state of affairs with this important resource, and the effects of this influence are negative in short and long-term perspective demanding considerable decisions. This is possible to trace on California drought example. It is necessary to consider the causes of this phenomenon in order to better understand it. The reasons of California drought are: climate change, lack of precipitations, mainly snow, and increasing population of the state. The climate change is a global situation which California follows. The scientists managed to predict this situation a decade before, when they discovered that “…warming-driven Arctic ice loss would lead to worsening drought in California”. (Romm, 2014). The researchers from Utah State University have found that the “…evidence connecting the amplified wind patterns, consisting of a strong high pressure in the West and a deep low pressure in the East, to global warming.” (Wang, 2014). The increasing index of dipole intensification which California has been facing since the 1970s and still faces up to this moment causes extreme droughts in this state. (Wang, 2014). Global warming is also an important actor in terms of climate-related drought reasons because it results in the Earth’s atmosphere becoming thicker which means also increase of high-pressure indices occurrence, and this is a key factor for temperature, snowfall and rainfall extreme levels and unorganized patterns of weather observed over the recent years. (Mooney, 2013). The problem of greenhouse gases amount increase in the atmosphere is a global point of concern which result of the ozone layer becoming thinner contributes to temperature increase which, obviously, is another cause of drought in any part of the world, including California. (Takle, 2003). Lack of precipitations in the form of snow is one more natural cause of the California drought. It is also reported that if the temperature is warmer, then reduction of snowpack in winter in the mountains of California is possible, which could result in increasing of the runoff in winter and, on the contrary, decreasing of the runoff in spring. Such shifts in runoffs of the two mentioned seasons can promote conditions for drought in summer, such as too much water loss because of flood and little water saving. (Hanak, Lund, 2008). Rain precipitations are also important in terms of reasons causing drought, and the state of affairs with this form of precipitations is also not very positive. The already mentioned research proved that loss of Arctic ice driven by warming may shift jet streams which would in its turn move the rain away from the California state. (Romm, 2014). It was reported that the year 2014 was the worst year of rainfall level since the 1920s. The situation with low amount of rainfall water of the preceding two dry years made it impossible to fill in the reservoirs with the necessary amount of water. (Oskin, 2014). Another reason that contributes to extreme droughts in California is its demographic situation. California is the most populated state in the USA, having approximately 38 million people, as of estimates of 2013. It is predicted that the population of the state will reach 50 million people by the year 2050. (Johnson, Fellow, 2014). Such situation means that the demand for water resources will increase correspondingly to the growth of population, and the lack of water is a serious problem now, with the existing number of people, and the almost 25 per cent increase of population would mean the same additional water demand. The problem related to population is also improper and uneconomic use of water resources, and people’s unconsciousness in this issue could transfer to the people of the future generations if the measures on promoting economizing on water would not be taken. There are, obviously, negative effects from extreme droughts in California region. The most obvious are declination of rivers and stream flows, increase of the to-water depth level in wells, dry vegetation. (USGS, 2014). It is necessary to distinguish between the short-term and long-term effects of drought for better perception of the problem. The short-term effects are observed during the time of drought. Declination of the water of surface adversely affects production of hydropower, recreation, navigation, and species of aquatic living things. The situation with low amount of rainfall precipitations promotes use of the groundwater, and increased use of this type of water resources results in excessive pumping of groundwater. “If a well is pumped at a faster rate than an aquifer is recharged by precipitation or other underground flow, water levels in the well can drop, resulting in decreased water availability and deterioration of groundwater quality.” (USGS, 2014). The long-term effects of the drought are more harmful because they deal with the structure of the environment. This is, for example, issues of structural character, such as overpumping of the aquifer system of California’s San Joaquin Valley, caused by land sinking as a result of loss of the water in underground storages. (USGS, 2014). The coastal areas subjected to reverse of the flows of natural groundwater towards the ocean may bring seawater intrusion to the system of aquifer. Seawater intrusion, in its turn, deteriorates the quality and the usability of the water resources, which results into cost expenditures on management the problem. When the drought is severe, such projects as restoration of wildlife, wetland, and river may be either stopped completely or reduced. Wildfires may also be caused by drought: dry vegetation combined with windy, hot and dry weather can be easily burnt from one spark, and if the weather conditions are drier that the normal ones, then the intensity of the wildfires increases and they may be more severe in terms of damages to nature. The woody debris, sediment and ash may be contaminators of water supplies as they can flow downwards the stream, and mudslides of the areas of wildfires also threaten to damage the environment. (USGS, 2014). These negative natural effects also cause economic damages to the state, mainly in agricultural sphere which is very important for the state and the nation. This is proved by the research of the University of California: “…California agriculture is weathering its worst drought in decades due to groundwater reserves, but the nation’s produce basket may come up dry in the future if it continues to treat those reserves like an unlimited savings account.” (UCDavis, 2014). The economic damage that the agricultural activity of the state encountered in 2014 was 1.5 billion US Dollars, or 3 per cent of the total agricultural index of the state. (UCDavis, 2014). 5 per cent, or about 428.000 acres of cropland which is irrigated will not be used in production in the areas of Southern California, central Coast and Central Valley as a result of the drought. This negative situation will also adversely affect the employment levels decreasing it by approximately 4 per cent of the total number of the farm employees. (UCDavis, 2014). As a result of these economic fluctuations, the prices for consumer food items might be affected to some extent of increase in combination with the market demand, which can also be modified by the situation with harvest during the drought time. (UCDavis, 2014). Conclusion Drought in California becomes more severe year to year because of the natural causes, such as climate change, lack of snow precipitations and increase of water demand as a result of the state population increase. The negative effects of the drought are both short-term and long-term, and the difference is that the first ones are felt during the drought time and the second ones deal with the long-term perspective of the situation. The effects to the state economy of the state are also negative, causing changes in employment rate, area of the cropland used and prices and quantities of the harvest. Works Cited Hanak, E., Lund, J. Adapting California’s Water Management to Climate Change. 2008. Web. 5 May 2015. Johnson, H., Fellow, B. California’s Population. 2014. Web. 5 May 2015. Mooney, C. One Meteorologists Come-to-Jesus Moment on Climate Change. 2013. Web. 5 May 2015. Oskin, B. Californias 2014 Rainfall Totals Approach Record Lows. 2014. Web. 5 May 2015. Romm, J. Bombshell: Study Ties Epic California Drought, ‘Frigid East’ To Manmade Climate Change. 2014. Web. 5 May 2015. Takle, E. Excess Greenhouse Gases may be Responsible for Drought. 2003. Web. 5 May 2015. UCDavis. Drought Impact Study: California Agriculture Faces Greatest Water Loss Ever Seen. 2014. Web. 5 May 2015. USGS. The California Drought. 2014. Web. 5 May 2015. Wang, S. Science Links California Drought to Human-caused Climate Change. 2014. 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