While California has had a history of droughts 2023 is proving to be a record breaking year for quite the opposite reason. After all of the recent storms and all of the natural occurrences resulting, mudslides, power outages, and flooding, this record breaking snowfall has many people scared for the possibility of similar occurrences once the snowpack melts. While there has been an increase in demand for ski excursions, not all feelings surrounding the weather are as pleasant.
According to The New York Times, “The recent storms have led Gov. Gavin Newsom to lift some drought restrictions, but parts of California are still struggling to meet their water needs, particularly rural communities in the Central Valley that rely on groundwater wells. As the snow melts in the coming months, the valley might have to deal simultaneously with “very, very significant flooding”” Many Californians are still dealing with the struggles of drought crisis but the very real possibility of flooding in the future is causing the state into a panic due to the unsure nature of when and how quickly the snow will melt and where all the water will go.
This uptick in snow storms in California is quite startling as it has resulted in 2.7 million acre-feet of water. A considerably greater amount than the amount of water which normally flows into the state's bodies of water. 800,000 more acre-feet to be precise. This snowpack is California’s record greatest for the past forty years thus far, but is trending towards breaking the all-time record, in relation to data beginning in 1950.
Due to the severity of the storms specialists have been unable to measure the moisture level of the soil in the Sierra’s and make reliable predictions about how much of the water from the snow will be absorbed by the soil and how much will runoff into the state's bodies of water. Overall, this snowpacking occurrence represents the larger problem of climate change and the fallout that is beginning to ensue. Ultimately any outcome of the melting snow will not be good, either the snow melts early and it is too cold for the majority of the water trickling out to be absorbed by the plants leading to minor flooding. Or, all of the lakes and rivers will be overrun by all of the water at once resulting in very extreme flooding.
The livelihoods of many Californians are being put at risk and the government’s lack of willingness to consider climate change as an imminent danger, in need of immediate action, is causing financial insecurity and putting people at risk of physical danger created by the fallout of these weather conditions. All the while corporations are benefiting from the increase in demand for related goods like flashlights, batteries, and umbrellas while people are struggling to anticipate their future needs given the unprecedented nature of these weather occurrences.
5 comments:
I think an important angle to consider is how these record snowfalls/rainfalls will affect the coming fire season. All this precipitation is causing tons of green growth around California, which on its own is a great thing. However, when fire season arrives, this growth will in many cases serve as fuel, making it more devastating than it already is. And because CA has not historically taken sufficient preventative measures for fire season, I expect calls for change to be amplified as the effects are realized.
It is interesting to see other aspects of extreme weather similar to the extreme amounts of rain and wind that we have been seeing recently as well as the overall polarization of the weather over the past years. It's important to consider how climate change is the cause of this phenomenon and the effect that it has. As was already pointed out the coming fire season will be vastly different to these record snows. However, due to the same cause as the record snowpack the coming fire season will be equally if not more intense if the trend over the last few years follows. It will be interesting to see if there are other effects that this record snowpack has on the environment going forward both in the short term and long term.
This year's bay area weather is indeed unusual. Although winter is the rain season for us, this year is simply flooding. Rough storms and temperature drops around the neighborhood caused many troubles. It is important for us to ponder upon the question WHY is this happening? And what can we do to maintain nature's natural patterns? California Environmental Protection Agency's newly approved 2022 Scoping Plan includes the objective, 48% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by the end of this decade. There are still many steps for the government and people to take; even more, rapid climate changes aren't only happening in the CA, the U.S, it is happening around the world.
I think that the huge shift in weather from past seasons has really shown how unprepared California is and how unusual the weather has been. Many of my friends houses have been flooded this winter, including mine, which is so surprising and something that has never happened in the past years. Im glad that we’ve had rain because its made California much more green, but at the same time, there have been so many devastating effects from the weather already, before the snow has even melted. I hope more will be done, quickly, to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change.
I think that it is interesting that while the recent storms have lifted some drought restrictions, the state is still struggling to meet its water needs, particularly in rural communities. The uncertainty of when and how quickly the snow will melt and where all the water will go is a rightful concern too, as this amount of precipitation is unusual. I think this also highlights the larger problem of climate change and the fallout that is beginning to ensue. It is crucial that governments take immediate action to address climate change as an imminent danger. It is also disheartening to note that corporations are benefiting from the increase in demand for related goods like flashlights, batteries, and umbrellas while people are struggling to anticipate their future needs given the unprecedented nature of these weather occurrences. This highlights the need for businesses to be more socially responsible and to contribute to finding solutions to the challenges posed by climate change.
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