Water Supplies Dwindling

Posted on August 24, 2019 by marcia

Extremely High Water Stress In 17 Countries, Representing One-Quarter Of The World’s Population

August 20th, 2019

By Amelia Harris

It’s no secret that we are experiencing a world water crisis. But the situation may be more critical than we thought. A new list of 17 countries facing extremely high water stress offers insight into this issue.

17 Countries With Extremely High Water Stress

The World Resources Institute is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to help people live sustainably and protect the environment. The organization recently released a list of 17 countries facing extremely high water stress. These 17 countries represent 25% of the world’s population. (1, 2) In order of severity, they are:

Qatar
Lebanon
Israel
Iran
Jordan
Libya
Kuwait
Saudi Arabia
Eritrea
United Arab Emirates
San Marino
Bahrain
India
Pakistan
Oman
Turkmenistan
Botswana

For a country to be considered under extremely high water stress, it must be using 80% of its available surface and groundwater annually. These water sources are feeding municipalities, agriculture, and industry. (1)

If a country is using this much of its water, a negative change in availability can have dire consequences. And because of rising temperatures and population expansion, droughts and higher water withdrawals are projected to increase. (1)

The Impacts Of Water Scarcity

Water scarcity can have far-reaching consequences. Of the 17 countries identified with extremely high water stress, 12 are located in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Experts have identified that water stress can intensify conflicts and migration in these regions. And because water is used to grow crops as well as power industry, food insecurity and financial instability are other possible realities. (1)

Vanishing Groundwater

Places that have relied on groundwater for years are now finding that it’s running out. Mexico City is sinking because it’s using groundwater so quickly. Dhaka, Bangladesh has to draw water from aquifers that are hundreds of feet deep to supply its residents and many garment factories. (3, 4)

India, whose population is three times larger than all 16 of the other countries on the list combined, has widespread water issues. But the situation in Chennai, India’s sixth-largest city, is particularly challenging. The city has run out of groundwater, and the four reservoirs that provide Chennai with water have run dry. And to make matters worse, 2019’s late monsoon season means more time between the replenishing these reservoirs. (3, 4)

Water Stress In The United States

The World’s Resources Institute ranked the United States as having low-medium baseline water stress. But the U.S. is a large country with diverse ecosystems, and water scarcity varies from state to state and city to city. In particular, the Southwest, western Great Plains, and some of the Northwest have water supplies that can’t keep up with the demands of their citizens. (2, 5)

Much of the U.S. has experienced a drop in rainfall in recent years, leading to widespread drought. Water is a limited resource in places like California, where 66% of its agriculture faces extremely high water stress. Drought impacts two-thirds of Texas. And there are fears of a modern Dust Bowl in Colorado. (6)

It is hard to tell if these conditions will improve, as rainfall rates become more unpredictable in the coming years. And as average temperatures rise, soil dries out. So even if more rain does fall, it will remain challenging for farmers to water crops and feed their herds. (6)

Steps To Take For A Water-Secure Future

With a global water crisis looming, many are looking for small-scale actions they can take to be a part of the solution. On a cooperative scale, countries, states, and cities can evaluate their water usage. They should identify ways to decrease demand and invest in water efficiency systems. They can plan for droughts by collecting rainwater, refurbishing unused wells, and cleaning lakes and wetlands. Companies are also responsible for assessing and mitigating their water usage. (3, 6)

Additionally, individuals can take steps to conserve water in their homes and practices. These actions include:

Never leave faucets running unnecessarily (washing dishes, brushing teeth, shaving, etc.)
Take shorter showers – set a timer to get the hang of showering efficiently
Fix any leaks as soon as you discover them
Switch to low-flow toilets and shower heads
Harvest rainwater for non-drinking functions, like watering the garden or irrigating your yard. (7)
Repurpose clean water from the sink or shower (waiting for the water to get hot) for plants
Grow or purchase foods that require less water to grow. For instance, millet needs far less water than rice. (3)
Buy clothing made from flax, linen, or monocel, which is a bamboo material that uses a reduced amount of water and toxic chemicals. Cotton takes an incredible amount of water to grow, so purchasing clothing that uses alternative fabrics is a great way to conserve water. (8)

As with any resource, consciously doing your part to conserve water where possible goes a long way. It may seem like a small contribution, but multiply that by 7.5 billion people, and the amount of water saved could make all the difference.

Article sources:

About the author:

Amelia Harris is a writer and eco-activist, interested in health and all things esoteric, with a passion for sharing good news and inspiring stories. She is a staff writer for Wake Up World.

from: https://wakeup-world.com/2019/08/20/extremely-high-water-stress-in-17-countries-representing-one-quarter-of-the-worlds-population/

Manipulating Climate

Posted on November 9, 2015 by marcia

Engineering Winter, The Increasing Desperation Of The Weather-Makers

by Elle – Nov 9, 2015

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Engineering Winter, The Increasing Desperation Of The Weather-Makers

Dane Wigington
Contributor, ZenGardner.com

The climate engineers are increasingly desperate to mask the true extent of planetary meltdown by creating short term extreme chemical cool-downs. In recent winters the geoengineers kept most of their focus on the Eastern US. Boston was the target for headlines in the winter of 2014-2015. The engineered winter in the East was accompanied by engineered drought in the West. The 8 minute video below, “Engineered Winter, Engineered Drought” outlines this scenario.

In the next map the sporadic spotting of frozen precipitation is telling. Rain in northern Montana and snow in south central Arizona. Chemical ice nucleating materials sprayed over storm precipitation can and do turn what should have fallen as rain, into snow. The Chinese government has openly disclosed this practice. The nucleation process creates a cold dense layer of air which sinks, builds up on the ground, and eventually lowers the mercury. This is a temporary effect, but it produces the desired headlines and deception in regard to the overall picture.

The Nov. 4, 2015, map below shows extensive radio frequency/microwave transmission impacts which are clearly visible in the moisture flows feeding the engineered western winter event.

On the evening of November 4th, 2015, corporate media (like the Weather Channel) were trumpeting the big winter storm in the West. Does the next map below reflect true winter snow storm temperatures? There is only one temperature reading on the entire map that is even at the freezing mark, and that is not where the snow is falling. The majority of the map shows record or near record highs for a 6 pm temperature reading for November 4th. More record highs are expected in the East during the coming week and perhaps off and on during the rest of November. Welcome to geoengineered weather whiplash.

The Taos New Mexico report below shows possible snow showers for Thursday November 5th at a temperature of 41 degrees. Why would it snow at 41 degrees?

Let’s go North to Montana where snow showers can apparently occur at 43 degrees after rain at 41 degrees.

This is the latest NOAA extended “forecast” (scheduled weather) map. It is important to remember that private defense contractor (and geoengineering entity) Raytheon, does all the weather modeling for NOAA (whose personnel are all under a federal “gag order” along with all NWS employees). This is yet another ridiculously unprecedented scenario showing conditions that are unbelievably out of balance. Record high temperatures in the East are expected to continue in some regions until mid November.

What did it look like for most of the last three winters? The exact opposite of what is occurring at this time. The East was put under the big chill while the West was fried. The geoengineers can only cover so much area with their jet stream manipulated chemical cool-downs. The size of those areas is shrinking as the planet continues to warm.

The map below is especially astounding and documents a very tragic event that occurred on October 4th, 2013.

Take a good look at the temperatures on the map above, they are as a whole, very high. The small cool section is a huge departure from the rest of the country, but still there are no below freezing temperatures shown. Yet, this map documented a snowstorm in South Dakota that killed up to 100,000 cows, how is that possible when temperatures were almost 90 degrees in regions surrounding the event? I captured the temperature map above before it was taken offline, the map reflects another example of engineered winter.

The next map shows the “departure from normal high temperatures” for a 2 year period from 2013 to 2015. The constantly engineered cooling Eastern North America is evident. It has been the most anomalously below normal zone in the entire world since 2013 (2012 was the warmest year ever recorded in the US). What happened? The geoengineering assault was ramped up to new highs. Temporary toxic cooling at the cost of a worsened overall warming.

Though there are countless sources of anthropogenic damage to the planet and the climate system, climate engineering must be considered the top of the list. The ongoing winter weather warfare is not natural in any way. The extreme climate forcing being pushed on planet Earth by the climate engineers is tearing the climate system apart and wreaking havoc on the biosphere as a whole. Few have any idea how extensively the weather and climate is being modified. Even many who are already aware of geoengineering are unfortunately not yet acknowledging the cool-downs for what they are, completely engineered. Accepting the engineered cool-downs as natural is exactly what the power structure and the geoengineers want, why would we do their bidding? If we are to effectively fight against the climate engineering insanity, it is imperative to understand and recognize all the parts to the puzzle. The engineered deception of the US population is a major goal for the geoengineers, we must all learn to see through it. Make your voice heard in the critical battle to stop the ongoing omnicide being inflicted on our planet by climate engineering.

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ZenGardner.com

from: http://www.zengardner.com/engineering-winter-increasing-desperation-weather-makers/

Weather Engineering & Drought

Posted on August 4, 2015 by marcia

Geoengineering Continues To Rob Rain From Where It Is Most Needed

by Dane Wigington – Aug 4, 2015

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Geoengineering Continues To Rob Rain From Where It Is Most Needed

While the entire science community is still pretending climate engineering is only a proposal, the total decimation being inflicted on what is left of our environment from the ongoing geoengineering programs is mounting at blinding speed. Mainstream media also parrots the official narrative of climate engineering denial and the majority of the population is all too willing to accept the lies in spite of the expanding mountain of data to the contrary. Geoengineering is the single most destructive activity ever fully unleashed by the human race against the natural world. Though the list of horrific consequences directly related to climate engineering is long and growing rapidly, the total disruption of the hydrological cycle is one of the most visible effects. As reservoirs empty out in many regions around the globe, record forest fires are close behind.

Lake Oroville California

Where have the climate engineers most consistently focused their efforts to cool things down? The eastern half of the US lower 48 states sticks out with shocking clarity on the map below. This map reflects “departure from normal high temperatures” for the entire 2014 year. Meteorologically, such a profound anomaly is beyond any natural possibility, it is the result of relentless climate manipulation. Why focus on the eastern US? Because that is where the majority of the US population lives. Keep them cooled down, and the global warming/cooling divide and conquer debate continues, even though the planet is descending into total meltdown with climate engineering contributing to the overall process.

Departure From Normal High Temperatures For 2014

In order to keep the Eastern US cooled down, the West becomes a climate sacrifice zone at minimum. Controlling food supplies and water rights also appears to be a goal of the engineered drought in the West, especially California. Much of the golden state’s water comes from outside it’s borders. A major reservoir the state relies on is Nevada’s Lake Mead, which is also drying up. Constant atmospheric aerosol spraying combined with radio frequency manipulation of the conductive (and highly toxic) nanoparticles gives the climate engineers the power to decide who gets rain, and who does not. The drought in the Western US is historically unprecedented and cannot be explained by natural meteorological processes.

As countless regions are systematically dried out (with deluge created in other parts of the country and world), rapidly increasing wildfires are raging around the planet. This is power that is wielded by the climate engineers, geoengineering is nothing less than omnicide.

Photo of “Rocky Fire” in Lake County California, August 2, 2015

Modern industrialized society has inflicted immense damage to our planet and it’s life support systems. Though there are countless forms of anthropogenic destruction, climate engineering is the most expansive and lethal of all. If you don’t believe those in power have the right to control the climate system and your future, then make your voice heard in this battle. Reading this article or a thousand more like it won’t get the job done, we must all make every possible effort to wake others by sharing critical and credible data with them and asking them to also help spread the word. If we do not all take a stand today, we will not have tomorrow.
DW

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from: http://www.zengardner.com/geoengineering-continues-rob-rain-needed/

Water Control, Drought, & Survival

Posted on June 22, 2015 by marcia

The UN Is Conquering America Through the Control of All Water

20 Jun, 2015 by Dave Hodges

Do you remember when Detroit when bankrupt and President Obama refused to intervene in order to help Americans in a beleaguered American city? This was both baffling and maddening to the American people. After all, this “hope and change” President promised to fundamentally transform America. Little did we realize that the Detroit bankruptcy would open the floodgates to the total foreign control of American’s most precious resource, namely water, where the UN has gained a significant foothold in Detroit and its influence is spreading across the country. When Obama refused to help Detroit’s bankruptcy and its ensuing water crisis, subsequent UN involvement was a portend of what was coming.

Today, we see California on the verge of extinction because of the profound water shortage. Not to worry America, the United Nations has promised to intervene in all of America’s coming water crises. The U.N. High Commission on Human Rights special rapporteur on safe water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, is in possession of a mandate which dictates that it must directly intervene with the U.S. government, first in a confidential manner and then in a public manner. This is why Obama did not help the people of Detroit, as he was helping the UN establish a foothold in the United States when it comesto the control of our water supply. It is interesting that Obama would bail out GM, but not its host city, Detroit. Now we know why. The UN is interested in water, not automobiles, at least not in the present moment. Now the UN has turned its sights on California.

Detroit Is History and California Is Next

In yesterday’s article, I briefly touched upon the fact that California would experience a mass population exodus due to the artificially contrived water shortage. A few of the readers had trouble believing that the water situation was as grave as I stated in the previous article. Here is a chart that counters these misguided beliefs as it depicts the severity of the California drought.

What if California could not produce food, what impact would that have on the nation? California produces a sizable majority of American fruits, vegetables and nuts; 99 percent of walnuts, 97 percent of kiwis, 97 percent of plums, 95 percent of celery, 95 percent of garlic, 89 percent of cauliflower, 71 percent of spinach, and 69 percent of carrots and the list goes on and on. A lot of this is due to California’s soil and climate.

“Lemon yields, for example, are more than 50 percent higher than neighboring states. California spinach yield per acre is 60 percent higher than the national average. Without California, supply of these products in our country and abroad would dip, and in the first few years, a few might be nearly impossible to find. Orchard-based products specifically, such as nuts and some fruits, would take many years to spring back.

Soon, the effect on consumer prices would become attention-grabbing. Rising prices would force Americans to alter their diets. Grains are locked in a complicated price-dependent relationship with fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. When the price of produce increases, people eat more grain. When the price of grain rises, people eat more fruits and vegetables. (In fact, in some parts of the world, wheat and rice are the only “Giffen goods” – a product in which decreasing prices lead to decreasing demand.) Young people and the poor in America, more than others, eat less fresh fruit when prices rise”.

It is not just California that is in danger of having very serious life-threatening water nd resulting food shortages. Please take a look at the following map

For those who believe in the coincidence theoriy of history, the following won’t mean much to you. However, to those who have taken off of your blinders as you have come to realize that there is an elite faction of powerful people who do engage in conspiratorial behavior to get what they want at any cost, please note the similarity between the above chart depicting widespread water shortages in the west and the original Jade Helm map featured below.

Only an avowed “coincidence theorist” could believe that there are not strong connections between Western water shortages, Jade Helm and Atzlan.

And there is more….

The UN Has Private Partners In Its Thirst for Control Over All Water

The infamous corporate raider and robber baron of the oil industry, T. Boone Pickens, is leading the charge to unscrupulously enrich himself as he leads the globalist depopulation efforts to create a series of artificially contrived water shortages. Pickens was one of the first to rush to capitalize on the impending water shortage by his insidious acquisition of the largest underground aquifer in the US, the Ogallala Aquifer, containing a quadrillion gallons of water, This massive underground reservoir extends from Texas to South Dakota.

In Roberts County, TX., Pickens has purchased nearly 70,000 acres, as well as the water rights to personally remove up to half of the Ogallala aquifer of which he plans to sell back to nearby residents in order to enrich himself. Much of this aquifer extends into prime farm land located in America’s bread basket. One man, T. Boone Pickens, is acquiring the ability to turn the American heartland into a dustbowl. Pickens will soon have the political power to charge so much for water, that farmers will be forced to abandon their farms and ranches in a Hunger Games rendition in which government sponsored interests will eventually become the sole purveyor of the nation’s food and water supply as the anti-humanist, Pickens, makes more money from water than he ever did with oil.

In order to acquire the water and expand his control over the Oglala Aquifer, Pickens needed more political power. In 2006, Pickens bought off the Texas State Legislature for $1.2 billion. This purchase of water-related law making power has allowed Pickens the ability to do accomplish four goals: (1) He created an eight-acre town and an accompanying local government, and subsequently made his tiny municipality into a powerful Water Supply District; (2) As such, Pickens automatically acquired the right to issue tax-free bonds and thereby, giving himself the lucrative benefit of borrowing at a tremendous discount; (3) Now operating as a public entity, Pickens is armed with the power of eminent domain which will allow him to expand his water acquisition potential in which he bullies local residents, along the aquifer, to sell their properties for pennies on the dollar; (4) Pickens used his 1.2 billion dollar bribe money to get the Texas legislature to pay for a 250 foot wide water pipeline corridor all the way to Dallas where Pickens will make an estimated yearly profit of $165 million at taxpayer expense. Pickens has become the poster child for the phrase “crony capitalism.”

Pickens told Business Week that he is only planning on selling surplus water, but according to the United Nations research and scientific studies report, nearly two-thirds of the entire population inhabiting the planet will face severe, life-threatening water shortages by the year 2025. So, Mr. Pickens, what surplus could you be talking about? And you only thought you had to worry about Obama collapsing the economy through his socialist policies.

T. Boone Pickens’ control over the water supplies through America’s heartland is only the tip of proverbial iceberg.

Nestle is Depleting the Great Lakes

There is a second front which is being used to create an artificial water shortage in the United States. Perrier, a subsidiary of the multi-national Nestle corporation, has invested heavily in Michigan and the Great Lakes. Locked behind two sets of chain link fence, huge siphoning pumps are deliberately hidden from view in the forest. They are pumping the Great Lakes dry and shipping the water overseas. Much of the Great Lakes water is headed for China, filled in massive cargo bags which are pulled across the ocean by a large supertanker.

By using a gaping loophole in the 2006 Great Lakes Compact, Obama’s appointees are allowing the Nestle Company to export precious fresh water out of Lake Michigan to the tune of an estimated $500,000 to $1.8 million per day profit. Obama’s Federal water managers are allowing the theft and subsequent export of our Great Lakes water out of our country across thousands of miles of oceans into the Asian basin plagued by huge population centers that are suffering from their constant lack of fresh water.

Nestle is not just taking water from the Great Lakes, they are contributing to the misery in California as Nestle is, today, in the midst of the California water crisis, draining California aquifers, from Sacramento alone taking 80 million gallons annually. Nestle then sells the people’s water back to them at a grealy inflated price and this is being done under dozens of brand names.

The Defense Intelligence Agency Warns the World

Even the Defense Intelligence Agency has clearly echoed the dire warnings of the United Nations report by stating that unstable water supplies will greatly impact all and water will subsequently be used as a weapon. The DIA report evoked a reaction from former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton,just prior to leaving office as she commented that the DIA’s findings are “sobering” and that as the world’s population continues to expand, the demand for water will increase but fresh water supplies will not keep pace and by the year 2025, the world will face catclysmic and very deadly water shortages. In yesterday’s article, I made the point that the technology exists to artifically create droughts as I revealed the series of Air Force documents known as “Air Force Owning the Weather 2025. Why is the year, 2025, figure so prominently into the dire forecasts of the globalists? I almost forgot that the CIA front group, Deagel, forecasted America’s population would slip to 65 million by the year 2025. My oh my, it is just raining coincidences.

Conclusion

I have written many articles about how past despots have used water and food as a weapon. If one controls water, one will control food. The United Nations, through The U.N. High Commission on Human Rights special rapporteur on safe water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, has asserted its authority under the guise of protecting human rights to assume control of an area which has severe water issues. Will Americans, one day, be forced to enter a camp to receive life-sustaining supplies?

At the end of the day, someone thinks that California will be abandoned. Consider what is happening with U-Haul prices:

“U-Haul Prices 6/18/15:

Denver to Los Angeles = $985

Los Angeles to Denver = $2,273

Difference: $1,288

Here’s another one:

Atlanta to Los Angeles: $1,112

Los Angeles to Atlanta: $3,582!!!

Difference: $2,470″

Somebody knows something. But apparently, Obama does not know enough because Time Magazine reported that he will golf Saturday on a lush, green course in California later today.

Nero may have fiddled while Rome burned. And it could be said that Obama golfed while America burned. This is a lot of coincidences to have been complied inside of only one article.

.from: http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2015/06/20/the-un-is-conquering-america-through-the-control-of-all-water/

California Property Values – Going Down

Posted on June 20, 2015 by marcia

As Always – Do Your Research: (Although, if you have not noticed, quite a number of Hollywood star-types have been putting their CA properties on the market recently. What do they know?)

California property values collapse as water shut-offs begin… wealthy community to go dry in days… real estate implosion now inevitable

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

(NaturalNews) Water shut-offs have now begun in California, where government-ordered restrictions are starting to leave large communities high and dry. As CBS News is now reporting, the Mountain House community of 15,000 residents will run out of water in just a matter of days.

“The community’s sole source of water, the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District, was one of 114 senior water rights holders cut off by a curtailment notice from the state on Friday,” reports CBS.

And just like that, the property values of millions of dollars worth of homes belonging to 15,000 residents nosedives toward zero.

After all, what’s the value of a home that has no running water? California isn’t Africa… yet… so the idea of carrying your own buckets of water for bathing isn’t widely accepted.

Get ready for a real estate collapse in Collapsifornia

As Natural News readers know, I saw all this coming. In a May 7th article entitled Why the California water crisis will lead to a housing collapse, municipal bankruptcies and a mass exodus of climate refugees, I wrote:

How many California homes and businesses are headed for a zero-water future? Many millions. How many Californians are aware of all this and already have their homes on the market so they can move somewhere else? A very small number… a tiny fraction of the total number of home and property owners invested there.

What these people are unfortunately not yet seeing is the catastrophic consequences of a continued drought and how it can utterly destroy the value of their property.

In that same article, I also foretold what’s going to happen next: plunging property tax revenues, municipal bankruptcies, a wave of climate refugees fleeing California and the collapse of the California economy. Unless rain starts falling out of the sky, all this is going to start unraveling like clockwork. (Count on it.)

“A number of water districts plan to sue the state on the grounds the State Water Resources Control Board has no legal authority to cut off some of California’s oldest and most protected water rights,” reports CBS. And so the water wars begin: there’s not enough water to go around, and the courtroom serves as the new battleground over a resource that the state of California has squandered for far too long.

The Collapsifornia real estate collapse has already begun

Just as I predicted in May, the collapse of real estate valuations in California is already well under way.

As the Washington Post now reports:

Rancho Santa Fe resident Randy Woods was feeling burdened by his lush landscape and opted to downsize. …The drought has dampened demand for large estates in San Diego County.

Woods said his girlfriend is among those struggling to sell. Her home boasts a yard designed by Kate Sessions, a well-known landscape architect and botanist who died in 1940. But now, the rare palm tree specimens, the secret garden and the turret-shaped hedges are a liability rather than a selling point.

Another friend, Woods said, has seen the value of his nine-acre plot plummet from $30 million to $22 million.

Did you read that correctly? A multi-million-dollar estate has lost over 25% of its value virtually overnight due to the issue of water. And this collapse in property prices is for properties that still have running water. What happens when the water supply to a $30 million estate is cut off? The value collapses to almost nothing. Who wants to live in a $30 million mansion and pay seven figures of property tax each year to the same California government that cuts off your water supply? Who wants to live like a third world refugee in a $30 million estate?

Nobody in their right mind, it turns out. Not even in California.

Freak out and get out, or be the last one holding worthless property

As this drought has unfolded, my message to Californians has been consistent and simple: freak out early and you might still be able to sell and leave. But if you delay, you’ll be among the last people holding near-worthless property.

This isn’t difficult to predict. As the sell-off begins, property valuations will plunge in an accelerated manner. (It has already begun.) The more water gets cut off by the government, the more desperate people will be to sell and leave. The term “motivated seller” will be ratcheted up to “panicked seller” and then finally “fire sale!”

People who buy the properties will soon be able to pick up once-prized real estate for dimes on the dollar. But it’s a gamble: If the rainfall comes back, property valuations may recover. And yet, according to nearly all the people who live in California right now, this drought is all caused by man-made global warming. And because I don’t see China shutting down its coal-fired power plants anytime soon, there’s no end to this drought if the climate change alarmists are correct.

Welcome to Delusionville, where the power of magical belief in Big Government can overcome any drought

California, it seems, is reverting back to a barren desert. Meanwhile, far too many of the people who live in California remain in a state of absolute denial over where this is all headed. Overall, I love California optimism, and many of my best friends live in California. But as anyone who lives in Los Angeles knows all too well, California is also the home of fantasyland dream weavers… people who live in their minds instead of reality. (Oh yeah, and I have a really awesome script I need you to read… it will change the movie industry forever!)

Delusional thinking is also a key trait of California’s political leadership. These are people who think money falls out of the sky and water runs uphill. They’ve recently even decided that California should cover the health care costs of the children of illegal immigrants.

And why not? If you’re going to live in Delusionville, you might as well dress it up with all the false hope and delusional wishes on your list: free health care for everyone, unlimited debt spending on entitlement programs, magical waterfalls of free H2O falling out of the clouds, and so on.

I once lived in Arizona, and many of the street names there envision concepts that are total fiction: Waterfall Lane, Great Spring Drive, Surging Rivers Rd. and so on. (Most of the rivers in Southern Arizona are bone dry riverbeds nearly all the time.) Wouldn’t it be great if California renamed its own streets and thoroughfares to match its own fantasies? Everything Is Free Hwy and Limitless Entitlements Drive seem especially fitting. Why not open a new swimming area called No Consequences Beach?

I think I’ll also take a long, meandering drive down If I Think It, It Must Be Real Highway, where “positive thinking” overpowers negative obstacles to such an amazing degree that you don’t even need to wear seatbelts or turn on your headlights.

Desalination is an environmental nightmare

For those who are saying, “There’s no water problem in California! It has the entire Pacific Ocean right next door!”, you need to look into the catastrophic environmental destruction tied to ocean water desalination.

Not only does desalination use fossil fuels which emit the very same carbon emissions that the California government insists caused the drought in the first place, the desalination process itself pollutes the ocean with high concentration salt brine that kills marine ecosystems and destroys ocean life along the California coastline.

And that’s on top of all the Fukushima radiation that’s already causing a marine ecosystem collapse in many areas of the coast. Add more salt brine to the mix and you get a state where rich, self-entitled Hollywood celebrities demand their lush, green lawns at the expense of ocean life, climate change and the global ecosystem. If that happens, California will lose all credibility as a “green” state, and its wealthiest residents will be living an ecological lie.

The new green, it turns out, is actually BROWN.

How dare we think ahead!

I fully realize it’s entirely evil of me to think ahead and point out what’s coming. There is no person more hated in modern society than someone who tells the truth. (Just ask Donald Trump, who’s now running for President by abandoning political correctness and stating the obvious.)

But when I see headlines like Rich Californians balk at limits: ‘We’re not all equal when it comes to water’, I can tell you without hesitation that California’s water woes have only begun.

If you live in California and don’t have your own individual water supply — a private well that still works, large-scale rainwater collection in a rare area that still has rainfall, access to a private year-round stream, etc. — you either wake up to what’s coming or you get steamrolled by it.

Think of California as a jumbo jet that has just run out of fuel and is plummeting toward a mountain. You can either grab a parachute and bail out, or you can plug in your headphones and keep watching the in-flight Hollywood entertainment, pretending nothing bad is happening outside your immediate focus.

I know this isn’t the good news you wanted to hear. It’s much nicer to turn on the local TV and hear how Gov. Jerry Brown is going to brilliantly solve all of California’s problems by using the magic of wishful thinking and sleight-of-mind economic trickery. Meanwhile, in the real world, the taps are running dry, employers are fleeing the state’s high taxes, the almond orchards have shriveled into dust, the flood of non-citizen immigrants is draining the state’s revenues and property valuations are about to fall off a cliff.

Perhaps the California that has been promoted by socialist-minded propagandists can be recreated as a virtual reality destination for Oculus Rift fans, but in the real world, nobody wants to live in third-world conditions and drink their own recycled urine. Not even Ed Begley, Jr., and he’s a pretty cool dude who’s willing to do almost anything to save the planet.

Hence the coming wave of recently-bankrupt California climate refugees who will flood into neighboring states seeking water, low-cost housing and free entitlements. That’s not gonna win friends in neighboring states, trust me. If you’re living in California right now, I urge you to strongly consider where things are really headed and start making a realistic list of your options.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/050101_California_drought_property_values_real_estate_collapse.html#ixzz3dcIylGuE

Record Drought in California

Posted on May 15, 2014 by marcia

Record May Heat, Drought, and Fires Scorch California

By: Dr. Jeff Masters , 2:21 PM GMT on May 15, 2014

Record May heat sent temperatures soaring above 100° in much of Southern California on Wednesday, and fierce Santa Ana winds fanned fires that scorched at least 9,000 acres in San Diego County, forcing thousands to evacuate. For the second consecutive day, the Los Angeles Airport set a record for the hottest May temperature since record keeping began in 1944. Wednesday’s 96° beat the record set on Tuesday of 93°. Other all-time May record heat was recorded at Camarillo (102°) and Oxnard (102°) on Wednesday. In Downtown Los Angeles, the mercury hit 99° on Wednesday, falling short of the all-time May record is 103° set on May 25, 1896. More record heat is forecast on Thursday, and hot offshore Santa Ana winds will bring extreme fire danger.

Figure 1. A firenado in Fallbrook, California at old Highway 395 and Interstate 15 on May 14, 2014. Image credit: Jena Rents via Twitter.

Figure 2. True-color MODIS satellite image of fires burning in Southern California and Northern Mexico on Wednesday afternoon, May 14, 2014. Image credit: NASA.

100% of California in severe to exceptional drought
Today’s U.S. Drought Monitor report showed grim news for California: 100% of the state is now in severe or higher drought, up from 96% the previous week. Though just 25% of California is classified as being in the highest level of drought, “Exceptional”, Erin McCarthy at the Wall Street Journal estimates that farms comprising 53% of California’s $44.7 billion market value lie in the Exceptional drought area. Averaged state-wide, the Palmer Drought Severity Index during April 2014 was the second worst on record, behind 1977. For the 12-month period ending in April, drought conditions in California for 2013 – 2014 were also the second most severe on record, slightly below the 2008 – 2009 drought. To break the drought, most of the state needs 9 – 15″ or precipitation to fall in one month. This amounts to more than a half-year’s worth of precipitation for most of the state.

Figure 3. The May 13, 2014 U.S. Drought Monitor showed 100% of California in severe or higher drought, with 25% of the state in the highest level of drought, “Exceptional.” Image credit: U.S. Drought Monitor.

California’s rainy season is over
The California October through April rainy season is now over. Between October 2013 and April 2014, the state received 10.44″ of precipitation, which is just 51% of average for the period, and the third lowest such total on record. Going back to 1895, the record low mark was set in 1976 – 1977, when the state got just 34% of its average rainy season precipitation. California typically receives less than 10% of its annual precipitation between May and September, and the coming hot and dry summer in combination with a severely depleted Sierra snowpack will cause a severe fire season and significant agricultural damages. The fifth and final snow survey of the season on May 1 found that the statewide snowpack’s water content–which normally provides about a third of the water for California’s farms and cities–was only 18% of average for the date. Already, the 2014 drought has cost the state at least $3.6 billion in agricultural damages, the California Farm Water Coalition estimates. CAL FIRE recently announced it had hired 125 additional firefighters to help address the increased fire threat due to drought conditions.

from: http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2679

Water Rationing in Venezuela

Posted on May 10, 2014 by marcia

Government Begins Emergency Water Rationing In Venezuela Amid Drought

| by JORGE RUEDA

Posted: 05/08/2014

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — In deeply polarized Venezuela even the rain can set off political fighting.

As the country’s dry season extends longer than normal, the water level at one of the three reservoirs ringing Caracas has fallen to near record lows. That prompted authorities on Wednesday to begin implementing a rationing plan that will leave some of the capital’s 6 million people without water for as many as three days a week.

The government said the emergency plan is needed to confront a severe drought. They don’t expect water at the Lagartijo reservoir to return to normal levels until August or September.

But opponents of the socialist government said President Nicolas Maduro and not mother nature is to blame.

Carlos Ocariz, mayor of the capital’s Sucre district, said there hasn’t been a single reservoir built during 15 years of socialist rule. Instead of waiting for storage ponds to dry, the government should have implemented a less burdensome, water-saving plan months ago, he said.

“We didn’t have to wait for things to reach this point to begin taking action,” Ocariz said in a statement.

Water shortages are nothing new in Venezuela, especially in poorer neighborhoods that lack proper urban planning. During the last extended drought, in 2009, water levels at many hydroelectric power generators also fell to critical levels, triggering blackouts across the country.

While nobody is predicting such a severe crisis this time, the squabbling isn’t likely to abate. For months, opponents of Maduro have been on the streets protesting against everything from galloping inflation to rampant crime.

Still, as the rationing plan took effect Wednesday, there was one development that both sides could welcome: a late-afternoon shower.

from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/08/water-rationing-venezuela_n_5288748.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Food, Food Prices, & Gardening

Posted on April 5, 2014 by marcia

Why Are Food Prices So High?

Click image to enlarge

Holly Deyo
Activist Post

Everyone is complaining about sky high food prices. Why are they going nuts? The fault is mostly due to harsh weather conditions of drought, vicious storms, floods, soggy soil, hail, frost and ice, and ferocious winds. Escalating extremes have beaten fruits, vegetables and farm animals to death around the world and we’re paying for it – literally. In the last 3 years, America was slammed with 32 multi-billion dollar disasters that for the most part, hit during crop-growing seasons. The 2012 Drought / Heatwave alone took a $30 billion bite out of peoples’ pockets.

For the past three years drought has decimated Texas cattle herds by over 2 million head. Now California’s cattle are getting smacked. This is small potatoes by comparison, but last year South Dakota lost 30,000 head – frozen in a single November blizzard. Our neighbor to the south, Mexico, lost 1.7 million head in 2011 due to drought. There are other cattle losses as well, but there’s not time to document them all.

It used to be that cattle herds took about 3 years to replenish. Experts stated this week it could take the rest of this decade – 6 years – to rebuild America’s beef and dairy livestock. That’s double the norm. Meanwhile, food prices continue to ramp up. That’s if no more catastrophes descend. How much do you want to bet on a lucky break? In the first 3 months of this year, 1/3 of the U.S. is in USDA-declared crop disaster areas.

Gas prices are moving up again with Brent Crude kissing a $100/barrel yesterday. It costs more money to move produce, dairy and meat from farmer to fork. Also, more countries are eating better so farmers ship more food to other nations. This puts a squeeze on our supply. Then there’s the idiocy of bio-fuels, which takes another bite from food stocks. However, the most direct and dire cause of rising food prices is unquestionably weather disasters.

MITIGATION

Having your own garden helps counteract rocketing food prices. All you need is a bit of space, some know-how and a little time. Frankly, I’d rather be outside messing in the garden, soaking up the Sun, doing what we can to provide in the face of Nature’s fury, and helping plants spring to life than read depressing news. It’s like my girlfriend’s phone recording: “Hey, I’m out playing in the dirt. Leave a message!”

You don’t need to have this much space dedicated to veggies. Generally speaking, all that is needed is one 4×4 bed for salad greens and one 4×4 bed for vegetables for each adult. See? It requires little space for the basics. However, in light of ever-darkening current events, worsening weather and escalating grocery prices, we’re taking out our own food insurance for pennies on the dollar. Since the world is now a global food store, everyone’s pain is our pain and we all feel it at the grocery store. If you’re a newbie gardener or are bleary-eyed from reading news, here’s a look at our layout for this year’s crops.

DESIGNING YOUR GARDEN GOLD

Stan and I practice what we preach and have greatly expanded our veggie gardens this year. In fact, from 8 years ago, they’ve doubled in size. Some of the harvest will be canned, some frozen, some eaten fresh, some given to friends and some taken to the homeless shelter. Nothing will go to waste. We see hard times coming this year and having an ample garden is one way to fight back.

Image: This year we really concentrated on what we like to eat and grow just that. Figures 1, 2 and 3 show the layout of this year’s gardens. We’ve expanded them considerably in light of much higher food prices. It will save money in the long run. See the first article in this series, How to Beat Coming Killer Food Shortages. Since we grow organically, we won’t fall victim to repeated fruit and veggie recalls due to E. Coli, listeria and salmonella contamination. Numbers in red are the weeks that successive crops will be planted.

For example, the first lettuce, carrot, radish and spinach seeds were sown on March 29. Second crop will be planted April 12 and the 3rd crop on April 26. For radishes, since they only take about a month to harvest, the 4th planting on May 10 will go where the March 29 seeds were and so on. For peas and other lettuces, we’ll plant for Fall crops.

THINK WITH THE BRAIN, NOT THE BELLY

Last year, we had tons too many tomatoes, summer squash and zucchini and ended up giving away more than half of everything. Neighbors were happy to help us with this!

We still have plenty of Jalapeños, Serranos and Big Jim/Nu Mex in the freezer from 2013, so this year, the garden will just grow Santa Fe chilies.

Bell Peppers have a ton of uses whether they’re eaten fresh or grilled or included in salads, omelettes and kabobs. Extras at the end of season can be Ziplocked and frozen to make colorful tasty additions to soups and stews.

Zucchinis over-produce for our use, so there will be just a couple of seedlings planted. Since we adore baked Acorn and Butternut squash we’ve allowed for plenty. They store for months and are super versatile.

My favorite method is to slice them in half lengthwise, scoop out the seed goo, add a bit of butter, white wine and seasoning like Lawry’s or even better, Red Robin. The flavor of a little sweet wine mixed with a hint of Red Robin zing? Yum. Bake them in water about 1/3 of the way up the squash until fork-tender. Baste occasionally. A clone for Red Robin Seasoning goes like this:

Red Robin Seasoning

3 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon instant tomato soup mix (Knorr tomato with basil works great)
2 teaspoons chili powder
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl and stir well. Store in a covered container. Makes 1/3 cup.

Stan is a major fan of small watermelons, so we’re planting a bunch of Sugar Babies. Ditto for Holly on cantaloupe. The best ever is grown just a few miles away – Rocky Ford. Yes, this is the same ‘loupe involved in the 2011 listeria outbreak. Regardless, they are the sweetest cantaloupes on the planet. To be clear, Jensen Farms in Holly, Colorado that was responsible for the listeria drama is not the same as Rocky Ford Grower’s Assn. They are 100 miles apart. To further confuse things, Rocky Ford is both a place and the name of these luscious ‘loupes.

Image: The dotted line represents two different growing areas. The two ‘old beds’ on the left are out by the orchard and the two ‘new beds’ are about 50 feet off the back deck.

We love Snap and Snow Peas and Green Beans and have been known to munch them straight off the vine. 🙂 Plus, they freeze well. Since beans and peas are something we consume regularly, we’re planting a bunch.

And then there’s Pinto Beans. Stan and I must have Hispanic roots somewhere “in another life” because Tex-Mex is our favorite food bar none. Nothing beats a hair-raising, nosebleed-bitingly flavorful bit of really southern tucker. This brings us to that weird patch of cilantro in Figure 1. It is integral to many Tex-Mex meals. This stuff simply won’t die out. It grew throughout winter with no water in sub-freezing temps. So for its faithfulness, we let it live, otherwise I’d dig up this herb and replace it with a veggie.

TIP: Spices can take up as much room as veggies. Economically speaking, it’s more cost-effective to buy them in bulk from Tone’s and save your space for fruits and vegetables. Besides Tone’s for dried bulk buys, check McCormick, Frontier Natural Products Co-op, Monterey Bay Spice Company and My Spice Sage. We’ve purchased most of ours from the first three, not the last two. However, nothing beats the fragrance and flavor of fresh herbs and spices.

KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM

Four years ago, we put in an asparagus bed with 47 crowns. You’d think that’d be plenty and then some. Mistakenly we thought multiple varieties would be clever. Not so. The Martha Washington, Jersey Giant and Jersey Knights were ready at different times. Some were thicker and some thinner, which meant they steamed at different times. There wasn’t a single instance when more than 4 or 5 stalks were ready to harvest simultaneously. Not exactly a side dish for 2. It was a nice stalk here, 2 more there. Since we live in the high desert, it was a perpetual uphill fight to get them going productively, like pushing a boulder along with a toothpick. Plus, you’re not supposed to harvest the first year’s crop. More waiting. Florence, a town just 30 minutes west of us, has them growing wild by the Arkansas River. When our neighbor lived there his mom sent Jerry nightly to pick all they needed – for free. Lucky dog!

If in having a practical, usable garden, some things are just too difficult and expensive to cultivate, yell calf rope! Enough already! This year, the asparagus patch now holds melons, cucumbers, broccoli and celery.

CHANGE FOR THE BETTER, NOT OBAMA’S “HOPE & CHANGE”

Don’t be surprised if, over the years, your garden beds morph. This is what we started with in 2007: 6 – 4×4-foot beds. The strawberry bed is history. They didn’t produce enough at the same time (like the asparagus) to warrant the space. Unless you have time every week to cut off runners, the bed soon becomes an overgrown, tangled mess. For fruit, these plants were replaced by raspberry, blueberry, grape and elderberry bushes on a berm not pictured. Also in the fruit department are 15 trees consisting of varieties of apple, peach, plum, pear and cherry.

Photo: In eight years our gardens have changed considerably and doubled in size.

The cedar beds (pictured above) didn’t weather well in Colorado’s high altitude and strong UV. Gone are the chicken wire walls and cages. Where the 4 – 4×4 beds were on the left are now 2 – 4×4’s and 1 – 4×8. The two decorative brick beds on the right have morphed into two more 4×8’s. Our total bed space is this: 4 – 4×4’s, 4 – 4×8’s and one goofy-sized 6×7. We use recycled plastic and natural fiber board raised beds from Frame-It-All with nifty animal barriers. They also sell very cool attachable greenhouse tops and trellises.

The image below of a Frame-It-All 4×8 bed is their older model for the animal barrier. Now where “A” is, it has a cap like on “B”. This allows for multiple 2-foot additions of animal barriers – in case you have tall invaders! Numerous other companies manufacture similar raised bed kits. We just happened to land on Frame It All and stuck with them for continuity. You can also build your own as detailed in Garden Gold.

All of our beds are 12″ deep, which makes rotating crops no problem. If you use only a 4″ or 6″ high board, which holds just 3-5 inches of Super Soil, it makes growing potatoes, carrots and some other root veggies nearly impossible, so it greatly cuts down on the ability to rotate crops. With extra depth, there is always flexibility. It’s vital that crops are rotated yearly to naturally prevent bug infestations. Not every bug likes the same veggie so if they’ve visited cauliflower one year, next year’s crop of cauliflower needs to go in a different area. This is one of the main natural preventative techniques used by organic farmers.

SIDEBAR TIP: Also changed is the 500-gallon propane tank pictured above. No, it’s not gone. When natural gas was made available to our area, we chose to go with it. However, we’ve kept the propane tank – always filled – for back-up fuel. In the event of a prolonged power outage – as in months – gas appliances can be switched back to propane. You can’t believe how much less expensive it is to refill your BBQ canisters from this big tank. It’s always available so if you’re cooking and the 20-gallon BBQ tank is unexpectedly empty, it’s easy-peasy-cheapy to fill up.

Back to gardening. Areas around the beds are now grassed in. That, combined with the Chinese bio-intensive growing method of planting everything close together keeps weeds at bay as there’s no place for them to take root. In case you’ve read our accounts and saw this video of massive tumbleweed issues in southern Colorado, it’s best not to give their seeds a place to land. It’s also easier on the feet and knees than surrounding beds with sharp, decorative rock. All it takes is a quick go with the Weedeater to keep grass in line.

from: http://www.activistpost.com/2014/04/why-are-food-prices-so-high.html

And the Drought Goes On

Posted on September 6, 2013 by marcia

Drought Tortures Half of U.S.

Sep 6, 2013 08:18 AM ET // by Tim Wall

The catastrophic drought of 2012 lingered on in some parts of the United States, while other areas of the country have slipped back into dry conditions recently. U.S. Drought Monitor statistics released recently show that approximately half of the contiguous U.S. now suffers some degree of drought.

Multi-year drought tortures the western half of the United States especially in portions of Texas, western Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, California and the Four Corners states, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s most recent maps. These ongoing dry conditions contributed to the wildfires that devoured forests and homes in the western United States this year.

However there has been some improvement. Less of the western United States suffers under “exceptional” and “extreme” drought category conditions than at the start of this year. In January, The National Drought Mitigation Center classified 6.75 percent of the Lower 48 as an “exceptional” drought and 21.31 percent as “extreme.” Those statistics have dropped to 1.25 percent and 9.86 percent, respectively.

ANALYIS: 2013 Already a Drought Disaster

The Midwest and southern Mississippi River Valley escaped from the drought after a wet winter. Though recently, dry conditions have returned to the Midwest. A streak of high temperatures and little rain caused a “flash drought” in the corn-growing region. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that approximately 45 percent of the nation’s prime corn growing region have dipped into drought as the harvest season approaches.

NEWS: Record Drought Hits New Zealand’s North Island

2013 has been a year of contrasts for corn growing communities. For example, Burlington, Iowa had its wettest spring on record since 1898, but also its driest summer in that same time period.

IMAGE: “Pray for Rain” placard in Wichita Falls, Texas on April 5, 2013. (Billy Hathorn, Wikimedia Commons)

from: http://news.discovery.com/earth/weather-extreme-events/drought-tortures-half-of-us-130906.htm

Drought Causes Colorado River Flow Cut

Posted on August 20, 2013 by marcia

For the first time in history, the U.S. government has ordered that flow of Colorado River water from the 50-year-old Glen Canyon Dam be slashed, due to a water crisis brought about by the region’s historic 14-year drought. On Friday, the Federal Bureau of Reclamation–a division of the Department of Interior that manages water and electric power in the West–announced that it would cut water released from Lake Powell’s Glen Canyon Dam by 750,000 acre-feet in 2014. An acre-foot is the amount of water that will cover an acre of land one foot deep; 750,000 acre-feet is enough water to supply at least 750,000 homes for one year. The flow reduction will leave the Colorado River 9% below the 8.23 million acre feet that is supposed to be supplied downstream to Lake Mead for use in California, Nevada, Arizona and Mexico under the Colorado River Compact of 1922 and later agreements. “This is the worst 14-year drought period in the last hundred years,” said Upper Colorado Regional Director Larry Walkoviak in a Bureau of Reclamation press release.

In the winter of 2005, Lake Powell reached its lowest level since filling, an elevation 150′ below full pool. Lake levels recovered some in during 2005 – 2011, but the resurgence of severe to extreme drought conditions have provoked a steep decline in 2012 and 2013, with the lake falling 35′ over the past year. As of August 18, 2013, Lake Powell was 109′ below full pool (45% of capacity), and was falling at a rate of one foot every six days.

Figure 1. Satellite comparisons of water levels in Arizona and Utah’s Lake Powell between 1999 and 2013 show a huge reduction in the amount of water in the lake. Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory.

Figure 2. From October 1, 2012 – July 31, 2013, precipitation over the Colorado River Watershed was about 80% of average. Image credit: Colorado Basin River Forecast Center.

Las Vegas’ Water Supply, Lake Mead, Near a Record Low
Downstream of Lake Powell lies Lake Mead, filled in 1936 when Hoover Dam was completed. Lake Mead supplies Las Vegas with ninety percent of its drinking water, and the water level of Lake Mead is expected to fall by eight feet in 2014 due to the lower water flow levels out of Lake Powell ordered on Friday. Lake Mead has fallen by 100 feet since the current 14-year drought began in 2000, and the higher of the two intake pipes used to supply Las Vegas with water from the lake is in danger of running dry. As a result, a seven-year, $800 million project is underway by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to build a third intake pipe that will tap the deepest part of the reservoir. This so-called “third straw” is scheduled to be available late in 2014, which may be cutting it close, if the Colorado River watershed experiences another year of drought as severe as in 2012 – 2013. Southern Nevada has done well to reduce water usage, though–the region’s annual water consumption decreased by nearly 29 billion gallons between 2002 and 2012, despite a population increase of more than 400,000 during that span.

Figure 3. Lake Mead water levels from 1938 – 2013 in July show a precipitous drop since drought conditions gripped the Western U.S. in 2000. The Lake Mead photo was taken by wunderphotographer LAjoneson June 29, 2007, when the lake had a “bathtub ring” 109′ tall. Water level data from The Bureau of Reclamation.

Figure 4. Workers handle the main drive sections of the tunnel boring machine that is drilling a 3-mile long tunnel through solid rock to supply Las Vegas with water from Lake Mead. The new intake tunnel is designed to maintain the ability to draw upon Colorado River water at lake elevations as low as 1,000 feet above sea level. The lake already has two intake pipes, and the higher of these will go dry when the lake level hits 1050′ – 1075′. As of August 2013, the Lake Mead water level was 1106′ above sea level, which is 114′ below full pool, but 24′ above the record low water level of 1081′ set in November 2010. Image credit: Southern Nevada Water Authority.

Drought conditions worsen over Southwest U.S. in August
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the Western U.S. drought peaked in July 2002, when 79% of the West was in at least severe drought, and 45% of the region was in the two highest categories of drought–extreme to exceptional. However, drought conditions have been steadily intensifying this summer. The August 13, 2013 Drought Monitor report showed that drought conditions in the Western U.S. are now the worst since 2004, with 78% of the West in at least severe drought, and 20% in the two highest categories of drought, extreme and exceptional. The latest U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook, issued on August 15, calls for drought to remain entrenched over the large majority of the Western U.S. through the end of November.

Figure 5. As of August 13, 2013, severe to exceptional drought gripped nearly all of the Colorado RIver’s watershed in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, California, and Colorado. Image credit: NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC.

Causes of the great Western U.S. drought
It is well-known that natural variations in sea surface temperature patterns, such as seen from the El Niño/La Niña oscillation, can influence storm tracks and can cause prolonged periods of drought. These natural variations likely had a hand in causing the great 2000 – 2013 Western U.S. drought. However, changes in the amount of sea ice covering the Arctic can also have a major impact on Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation patterns. We must consider if global warming, which has led to a 50% decline in summer Arctic sea ice extent since 1979, may be altering storm tracks and contributing to drought. In 2004, Lisa Sloan, professor of Earth sciences at UC Santa Cruz, and her graduate student Jacob Sewall published an article in Geophysical Research Letters, Disappearing Arctic sea ice reduces available water in the American west. An accompanying news release explained that their climate models found “a significant reduction in rain and snowfall in the American West” as a result of Arctic sea ice loss:

What they found was a change in atmospheric circulation patterns that caused a small northward shift in the paths of winter storms over western North America. This shift in winter storm tracks resulted in significantly reduced winter precipitation from southern British Columbia to the Gulf of California. In some areas, average annual precipitation dropped by as much as 30 percent. The reductions were greatest along the West Coast, with lesser changes further inland. But even as far inland as the Rocky Mountains, winter precipitation fell by 17 percent.

The sea ice acts like a lid over the ocean surface during the winter, blocking the transfer of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere, Sewall explained. Where the sea ice is reduced, heat transfer from the ocean warms the atmosphere, resulting in a rising column of relatively warm air. The shift in storm tracks over North America was linked to the formation of these columns of warmer air over areas of reduced sea ice in the Greenland Sea and a few other locations.

A follow-up paper by Dr. Sewall in 2005, “Precipitation Shifts over Western North America as a Result of Declining Arctic Sea Ice Cover: The Coupled System Response”, used a more sophisticated modeling technique but confirmed the results of the 2004 paper. In a June 2013 interview with climateprogress.org, Dr. Sewall commented:

“I think the hypothesis from 2004 and 2005 is being borne out by current changes. The only real difference is that reality is moving faster then we though/hoped it would almost a decade ago.”

Figure 6. The area of the Western U.S. in drought peaked during 2002 – 2004, but during 2013 has been approaching levels not seen since 2004. Image credit: U.S. Drought Portal.

Western North America drought of 2000 – 2004 the worst in over 800 years
The Colorado River’s water woes are due to an extraordinary 14-year drought that began in 2000, which peaked during 2000 – 2004. A 2012 study titled, Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America, found that the 2000 – 2004 drought was the most severe Western North America event of its kind since the last mega drought over 800 years ago, during the years 1146 – 1151. The paper analyzed the latest generation of climate models used for the 2013 IPCC report, which project that the weather conditions that spawned the 2000 – 2004 drought will be the new normal in the Western U.S. by 2030, and will be considered extremely wet by the year 2100. If these dire predictions of a coming “megadrought” are anywhere close to correct, it will be extremely challenging for the Southwest U.S. to support a growing population in the coming decades.

Figure 7. Normalized precipitation over Western North America (five-year mean) from 22 climate models used to formulate the 2013 IPCC report, as summarized by Schwalm et al., 2012, Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America. The horizontal line marks the precipitation level of the 2000 – 2004 drought, the worst of the past 800 years. Droughts of this intensity are predicted to be the new normal by 2030, and will be considered an outlier of extreme wetness by 2100. The paper states: “This impending drydown of western North America is consistent with present trends in snowpack decline as well as expected in-creases in aridity and extreme climate events,including drought, and is driven by anthropogenically forced increases in temperature with coincident increases in evapotranspiration and decreases in soil moisture. Although regional precipitation patterns are difficult to forecast, climate models tend to underestimate the extent and severity of drought relative to available observations. As such, actual reductions in precipitation may be greater than shown. Forecasted precipitation patterns are consistent with a probable twenty-first century megadrought.” Image credit: Schwalm et al., 2012, Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America, Nature Geoscience 5, 551-555, Published online 29 JULY 2012, DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1529, www.nature.com/naturegeoscience.

from: http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2495

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