The chart shows that there was a severe drought, but that the current year precipitation is at a normal level. Here in Silicon Valley, our usage level is still set at 37% below our base period usage.
Whether or not the downward slope of the fitted precipitation line is predictive is debatable. In any event, that slope is miniscule. OTOH, there is a clear, large upward slope is the population of the state. It's up by 2500% since the year 1900 and up by 5% since 2000. California's shortage of water is caused by population growth, not long-term change in precipitation.
Warming might cause a water problem, separate from precipitation trend. Since there's little or no rain on the coast in the summer, the water supply depends on the snow pack in the Sierras. A high amount of rainfall in the mountains is considerably less helpful than a high amount of snow.
I was afraid you would have data how Mossack Fonseca pays me a monthly fee from the Chinese government to destroy American manufacturing.
ReplyDeleteSo the trend is -0.04 inches per year = -1.02 mm. per year.
ReplyDeleteThe chart shows that there was a severe drought, but that the current year precipitation is at a normal level. Here in Silicon Valley, our usage level is still set at 37% below our base period usage.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not the downward slope of the fitted precipitation line is predictive is debatable. In any event, that slope is miniscule. OTOH, there is a clear, large upward slope is the population of the state. It's up by 2500% since the year 1900 and up by 5% since 2000. California's shortage of water is caused by population growth, not long-term change in precipitation.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004986.html
US Drought Monitor
ReplyDeletehttp://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
Warming might cause a water problem, separate from precipitation trend. Since there's little or no rain on the coast in the summer, the water supply depends on the snow pack in the Sierras. A high amount of rainfall in the mountains is considerably less helpful than a high amount of snow.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Warming always contributes to a drought, because (1) it reduces snowpack, and (2) it increases evaporation, exponentially.
ReplyDeleteI agree with (1). But, (2) is less clear. Increased evaporation over the entire oceans has the potential to lead to increased rainfall over land.
ReplyDelete