A recent report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the drought California is currently experiencing is caused by natural occurrences and not by the effects of global warming, Live Science reported.

The study, which was authored by researchers from NASA, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society and Columbia University, explained that natural weather patterns have prevented rain clouds from developing in the region.

According to the researchers, a high pressure system over the West Coast was formed due to the cool temperatures brought in by a La Niña weather phenomenon in 2011. This then served as a roadblock that prevented storm clouds from entering California, Live Science reported.

Richard Seager, a professor at Caifornia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory and the study's lead …show more content…
"In fact, multiyear droughts appear regularly in the state's climate record, and it's a safe bet that a similar event will happen again."

The report's co-author Marty Hoerling stated that the study does not aim to question the existence of climate change. Instead, it explains how the drought in California was caused by natural weather patterns.

"There is no question global warming continues to unfold," he wrote. "The three-year drought is not related to the overall warming, but [droughts in California] are something that happens time and time again."

After NOAA released its findings, the organization was criticized by meteorological experts for not taking into account the obvious effects of climate change in California.

"The authors of the new report would really have us believe that [it's] merely a coincidence and has nothing to do with the impact of human-caused climate change?" Michael Mann, a meteorologist from Penn State wrote in an article published by the Huffington