{"id":2274,"date":"2014-11-17T15:42:41","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T20:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/diplomacy\/?p=2274"},"modified":"2014-11-19T13:15:05","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T18:15:05","slug":"2274","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/journalofdiplomacy\/2014\/11\/2274\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Thirst: How California\u2019s Drought Affects the International Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

The drought in California is not going away. Over the past few years, the state has received well below normal levels of rainfall and the statewide snowpack is at a record low. The impact of global warming is visible everywhere in California, but the global community is in for a rude awakening when California can no longer be the agricultural<\/a> powerhouse that it has historically been.<\/p>\n

According to multiple climate scientists, the Arctic ice loss has been much faster<\/a> than researchers<\/a> expected. These same scientists also predicted a decade ago that the Arctic ice loss would bring about worse droughts in the West, especially California<\/a>. So far, it appears their claims have been correct.<\/p>\n

Snowpacks<\/a>, particularly from the Sierra Nevada Mountains, provide about 60% of California\u2019s water supply. As of January 2014, the snowpacks have been at 20% of their average. In December, roughly 88% of the Sierras were covered in snow; a month later, only a meager 21.3% of the mountain range was covered by snow.<\/p>\n

\"snowpack2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The animation shows the reduction in snow cover from early December to early January. (<\/em>Source: Weather.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

According to the United States Drought Monitor, <\/a>55% of California is in exceptional drought and 24% is in extreme drought<\/a>. California’s Central Valley, home of its lucrative agriculture industry, is classified under both of these categories. These mark the highest percentages of exceptional and extreme drought<\/a> in California during the winter months of December through February since 2000. Rainfall is at an extreme low as well. For example, the higher elevations of the San Francisco Bay area typically receive an average of 50 inches of precipitation<\/a> annually. According to the National Weather Service in Monterey, California, only 2.39 inches of precipitation has been measured this year. Furthermore, San Francisco has only received 1.50 inches of rain this year, about 17% of average.<\/p>\n

\"US<\/a>
\nCalifornia Drought Monitor<\/a><\/p>\n

(Credit U.S. Drought Monitor\/ Matthew Rosencrans, NOAA\/NWS\/NCEP\/CPC)<\/em><\/p>\n

The California Department of Water Resources reported that several reservoirs<\/a> are at less than 40% of capacity as of January of this year, including California’s two largest reservoirs<\/a>, Shasta Lake and Lake Oroville. Lake Oroville is at 36% of its usual 3.5 million acre-foot capacity and Shasta Lake is at 36% of its usual 4.5 acre-foot capacity<\/a>. The Department of Water Resources <\/a>estimates<\/a> that it will only be able to deliver 5% of water requested by 29 public agencies. The water goes to more than 25 million Californians and a million acres of irrigated<\/a> farmland.<\/p>\n

U.S. farmers produce about $143 billion worth of crops<\/a> and about $153 billion worth of livestock each year. According to a study conducted by the University of California at Davis<\/a>, California would individually be the world\u2019s 9th<\/sup> largest economy<\/a> in terms of agricultural production. Because of water costing as much as ten times more than before the drought, many farmers are choosing to abandon certain crops<\/a>, including corn and wheat. California is currently the top dairy producer in the United States and grows half the country\u2019s fruits<\/a>, vegetables and nuts. Without water, crop switching will become the norm and affect everything from the price of milk in China to cherries eaten by Americans. Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, points out<\/a> that Southern California\u2019s drought is one of the worst in recorded history, \u201cRanchers in the West are selling off their livestock. Farmers all over the Southwest, from Texas to Oregon, are fallowing in their fields because of a lack of water. For farmers and ranchers, this is a painful drought.\u201d<\/p>\n

California is the largest food<\/a> producer in the United States in terms of dollars of produce sold. A drought, such as the one now, has a greater impact<\/a> than it did 50 years ago due to the growth in population and economic development. Not only will this drought result in higher food prices<\/a>, but as the population increases, the amount of water available per person decreases. Milt McGiffen, a field crop expert at the University of California states<\/a>, \u201cEither [we\u2019ll] find a technological way around it or enough people will die, and the population will crash and it\u2019ll take care of it.”<\/p>\n

California has been called<\/a> the \u201cbreadbasket of the United States\u201d due to the large amounts of wheat<\/a>, nuts, fruits, and vegetables it produces. However, the impact of California\u2019s decreased production will be felt beyond the U.S. in the form of global food price increases. The United Nations<\/a> reported that food prices last year were among the highest on record.<\/p>\n