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California is not in drought

latimes.com

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Re: California is not in drought

#2

Post by 01100011 »

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mercurynews.com/2014/01/25/...

CA climate has been much drier in the past, even before global warming. We seem to have this discussion every few years when there's a drought, but quickly forget. It seems like we do the same thing with wildfires and earthquakes.

Re: California is not in drought

#3

Post by chrisco255 »

01100011 wrote: post #2

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mercurynews.com/2014/01/25/... CA climate has been much drier in the past, even before global warming. We seem to have this discussion every few years when there's a drought, but quickly forget. It seems like we do the same thing with wildfires and earthquakes.

But we moved 50 million people there in the past 60 years so clearly nature must stop the mega drought cycle.

Re: California is not in drought

#4

Post by yissp »

01100011 wrote: post #2

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mercurynews.com/2014/01/25/... CA climate has been much drier in the past, even before global warming. We seem to have this discussion every few years when there's a drought, but quickly forget. It seems like we do the same thing with wildfires and earthquakes.

During the dry years, the people forgot about the rich years, and when the wet years returned, they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way. (East of Eden)

Re: California is not in drought

#6

Post by legitster »

> But we legislated and plumbed this state for a different climate pattern, when annual winter rains reliably fell on Sonoma and points north, and a full Sierra snowpack reliably melted through the spring and summer to feed streams and irrigate orchards and farm fields. That era is long gone. The snowpack comes unpredictably, because a warmer climate means water that formerly stayed in the mountains as snow through the summer now melts sooner, or falls as rain and rushes westward to the sea in the winter, when we need it the least. A quick look at any satellite photo from a heavy-snow year reveals that no number of new dams could ever replace the snowpack’s formerly reliable volume.

The headline is the epitome of burying the lede. If you read to the bottom, the writer clearly lays out the actual thesis: rainfall is the same - the problem is that snowpack is seriously declining. Which is kind of like a moisture battery. This is why climate change can counterintuitively cause both "droughts" and floods.

I'll admit that it took the longest time for me to understand the concept myself.

Re: California is not in drought

#8

Post by idiotsecant »

benmarten wrote: post #5

I’m so tired of these pseudo science modelers. We have seen where it leads us with covid. Humans tend to overestimate their importance.

You don't really have to trust anyone's opinion on this... You literally just need a yardstick and a calendar. Or a pair of eyes. Snowpack gets worse and worse every year.

Re: California is not in drought

#9

Post by ummonk »

chrisco255 wrote: post #3
01100011 wrote: post #2

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mercurynews.com/2014/01/25/... CA climate has been much drier in the past, even before global warming. We seem to have this discussion every few years when there's a drought, but quickly forget. It seems like we do the same thing with wildfires and earthquakes.

But we moved 50 million people there in the past 60 years so clearly nature must stop the mega drought cycle.

It has nothing to do with the people. The majority of the water is used for agriculture, which supplies the nation and even the world with water-hungry food.
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