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The Importance Of Drought In California

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California has been widely known across the globe for its great agriculture. As its main source for economic growth, California prides itself on its ability to produce mass amounts of crops in order to serve our nation. The backbone of everything that goes on in California is built around the Californian farmers’ ability to produce crops. As of late, the task of producing crops has become more difficult than ever for farmers to accomplish. Farming, and producing crops, has become increasingly difficult for farmers in California due to the scarcity of water. With little access to fresh water for their crops, farmers in California are having a hard time maintaining their fruits, vegetables, livestock, and nuts. Water has been hard to come by …show more content…
With no rainfall, fresh water tends to become scarce resulting in a drought, and it ultimately affects farming negatively. The drought in California however, is being caused by a wide array of environmental factors. First off, like many other droughts, it is being caused by lack of rainfall in the past four years. The past four winters have remained dry with very little amounts of rainfall. California is experiencing little amounts of rainfall due in part to a large area of high pressure just off the west coast. This area of high pressure is causing a blockade and isn’t allowing storms to reach the coast and provide rainfall. The rainfall can be useful in more ways than just one. Not only can it naturally water our crops while providing us with rich soil to grow our crops, but it also fills our mountains with snow. The snow is important because when it melts it ultimately turns into fresh water for our farmers to use. One of California’s biggest water provider is the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which is at just twenty percent of its usual capacity due to dry winters and little rainfall (Walsh, …show more content…
In fact, the past three winters from 2011 to 2014 were not only recorded as the second driest winters in a three-year span, but they were also reported to be the hottest winters on average since 1985 (Seager, Hoerling, Schubert, Wang, Lyon, Kumar,Henderson, 2015). This is a major problem for all of the people in California because not only are we lacking rainfall we are also trending in the direction of warmer winters. During this combination of dry and warm winters, water is starting to evaporate at a much higher rate. Many believe that the winters are becoming warmer due to the excess release of greenhouse gases by the people, which is causing the climate to change. This leaves California and its soil drier than it already is. Although we are experiencing a severe drought right now, it is actually not uncommon for California to be dry. Some scientists believe that California has had droughts that have lasted up to twenty years (Walsh, 2014). The California drought might be a big inconvenience for many people on the west coast but for the everyday worker in California’s agriculture it could have devastating

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