Friday, January 24, 2014

California Governor Says Drought Is a “Stark Warning” of What Is to Come with a Changing Climate

California in January 2014 (top image) has almost no snowpack compared to January 2013 (bottom image). The Central Valley is also a vast swath of brown this year, in contrast to January 2013, when it was green with growing crops. The state is in the worst drought of its 163-year history. Under such record dry conditions, California may be prone to water shortages, crop loss and the loss of farm jobs, and increased wildfires. (Credit: NASA/LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team) Click to enlarge.
In his annual State-of-the-State Address, Gov. Jerry Brown issued a call to action for California to “do everything possible to mitigate the effects of the drought” and prepare for future water shortages in the midst of a changing climate.

 “We do not know how much our current problem derives from the build-up of heat-trapping gasses, but we can take this drought as a stark warning of things to come,” the governor said. 

 “The United Nations Panel on Climate Change says – with 95 percent confidence – that human beings are changing our climate.  This means more droughts and more extreme weather events, and, in California, more forest fires and less snow pack.”

California Governor Says Drought Is a “Stark Warning” of What Is to Come with a Changing Climate
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)