USA Smoke from West Coast fires covers the skies of New York and Philadelphia
Experts have been warning it for months: the current drought in California is even worse than the one that put the agricultural industry in check between 2012 and 2016, in the longest period ever recorded in the history of the Golden State.
Now the data confirms his warning.
The past 12 months have been the worst in terms of rainfall in nearly a century, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
Cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Bakersfield or Santa Barbara received less than half the rainfall in an average year, a situation that has not been experienced since 1977 and that is approaching the worst year in state history since records are kept: 1924. Nor has the
extreme heat and dire fire season in 202
1
helped
, with nearly a million hectares consumed by now.
In May, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in 30% of the Californian territory, in a streak that has lasted for three years and that has left the main water reserves in an alarming situation.
"The hot spots have gotten even hotter and the driest spots are drier than ever," Newsom said.
"We have a water system that was designed for a world that no longer exists."
Water cuttings
The water cuts started in summer. Sacramento asked Californians to reduce consumption by 15% and restrictions were approved in agricultural regions so as not to aggravate the already complicated situation. According to the government portal Drought.gov, the entire state is affected by drought, with 87% of the territory under the category of "extreme drought" and 45.7% at the most alarming level, that of "exceptional drought. ".
According to a federal study, losses due to lack of rain in 1976 and the year after exceeded one billion dollars, a figure that can multiply exponentially if it does not start raining soon. Experts say that, even with a much more water-laden 2022, it will be difficult to return to normality in reserves such as Lake Mead, one of the main supply points in Southern California, or in Oroville, at its lowest level historically .
Climate change has a lot to do with the umpteenth drought in the western United States.
"The high temperatures that have contributed to this intense and widespread drought will continue (and increase) until strict climate mitigation is pursued and regional warming trends are reversed," the study says.
The goal seems increasingly distant and unattainable.
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