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A drought for the ages - 1/3 of the U.S. »

Posted by: TechnologyExpert 2 years, 5 months ago

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Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental USA. And it's spreading. As summer starts, half the nation is either abnormally dry or in outright drought from prolonged lack of rain that could lead to water shortages, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly index of conditions.

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Avg rating: (+3/-0 3)
TechnologyExpert
June 8, 2007, 10:42 a.m.
Dry episodes have become so persistent in the West that some scientists and water managers say drought is the "new normal" there. Reinforcing that notion are global-warming projections warning of more and deeper dry spells in the Southwest, although a report in last week's Science magazine challenges the climate models and suggests there will be more rainfall worldwide later this century.
"It seems extremely likely that drought will become more the norm" for the West, says Kathy Jacobs of the Arizona Water Institute, a research partnership of the state's three universities. "Droughts will continue to come and go, but â;¦ higher temperatures are going to produce more water stress." That's because warmer temperatures in the Southwest boosts demands for water and cause more to evaporate from lakes and reservoirs.
Avg rating: (+16/-0 16)
TimALoftis
June 8, 2007, 10:49 a.m.
The area of Georgia in which I live is currently under a record drought. During the period of March through today, we have only received 4 inches of rain with almost half of that falling the first week or so of March.
Avg rating: (+4/-0 4)
texangelwings
June 8, 2007, 11:22 a.m.
Reading history of the dustbowl days of last century, leaves little to the imagination.
Up until this year, we have had record water shortages here in east Tx. Last year one towns small lake dried to the point where water had to be trucked into the town for drinking and people used the water in their swimming pools for laundry.
Most people who live on this lake have aerobic septic systems that process the water, leaving it clean enough to water the yards, gardens etc. (no one has to water their yards.)
Avg rating: (+1/-0 1)
nunbot
June 8, 2007, 1:16 p.m.
to compensate for the drought we should all embrace global warming as a solution; everyone wins.