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A drought is a long period of time with little to no rainfall. The California drought started in 2011, and is one of the worst droughts that we have experienced in many years.

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California temperature on the rise

From October 1, 2011 - the start of the 2012 water year - through 2016, California endured five years of record-breaking high temperatures and scant rainfall, resulting in drought conditions unprecedented in at least 1,200 years.[1] On January 17, 2014 California State Governor, Jerry Brown, declared a drought state of emergency.

The year 2014 ended as California's driest and warmest since records began in 1895.[2][3] In 2015, the state experienced its second-driest and second-warmest year on record.[3] In May 2014, for the first time on record, 100 percent of California was experiencing drought conditions ranked "severe" or worse.[4][5] From 2012 to 2015, Lake Tahoe warmed at an average rate of 0.3°F per year-15 times faster than the long-term warming rate.[6]

Among the major consequences of the extreme heat and drought was an unprecedented tree die-off event, which has elevated California's wildfire risk. In November 2016, the US Forest Service announced that an estimated 102 million trees died in California since 2010, with 62 million deaths recorded in 2016 alone.[7]

Many large wildfires during California's 2016 season were exacerbated by dried out fuels and record-breaking temperatures, including the Soberanes fire, which burned 132,127 acres, becoming the costliest firefight in US history at $260 million US dollars.[8]

The record warmth in recent years caps a period of persistent and unusual warmth, which has lasted over three decades.

A paleoclimate study found that, while precipitation levels throughout the drought were extremely low, it was largely the remarkable, record-high temperatures that made this drought stand out as the worst to hit the area in 1,200 years.[1]

Dr. Valerie Trouet, Assistant Professor in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona, explains:

What we are seeing now is fundamentally different from previous mega-droughts, which were driven largely by precipitation. Now, thanks to higher temperatures driven by climate change, droughts are increasingly temperature-driven.

Snowpack loss and drier soils

The rising average temperature in California, combined with lower-than-average rain and snowfall during the state's rainy season, has reduced the wintertime snowpack that provides about a third of the state's total water supply.[9]

Snowpack levels stood at or near record lows during the three consecutive winters of 2013, 2014 and 2015.[10] The statewide snowpack on April 1, 2015 held only 5 percent of the average water content on that date in records dating to 1950, leaving virtually no water to replenish state reservoirs.[10][11]

Warmer conditions mean that mountain snow melts earlier, more precipitation falls as rain instead of snow, and soils dry out faster. The winter of 2014 set a new seasonal record at 4.4°F (2.4°C) above the 20th century average, until 2015 bested that record by 1.5°F (0.83°C), or 5.9°F (3.3°C) above average.

Despite a strong El Niño during the winter of 2015-2016-conditions that have historically brought above average water to the state-rain and snowfall totals were barely above the long-term average.

Diminishing rains

There is now considerable evidence that climate change was at least partly responsible for the dramatic fall-off in precipitation during the winter rainy seasons of 2013/14 and 2014/15. Research led by Daniel Swain at Stanford University linked the unprecedented high-pressure weather pattern that blocked storms from California, known as the "ridiculously resilient ridge,"[12] to climate change. Others have also identified the fingerprint of global warming in the emergent high-pressure pattern.[13]

In 2013 and 2014, a high-pressure zone formed over the Pacific Ocean, diverting precipitation towards Alaska[14] (where the record warmth and precipitation caused avalanches).[15] While these zones are common, they normally change position quickly.

In contrast, the stability of this particular high-pressure "ridge" was unprecedented in modern weather records, held by a large, static bend in the jet stream.[16] The ridge blocked storms from reaching the state for almost all of the 2013/14 rainy season.[12] A similar high-pressure ridge returned during the 2014/15 rainy season, bringing well above-normal temperatures and well below-normal precipitation.

Many recent studies connect the changing weather patterns that diverted precipitation from the state to climate change. A May 2014 study looking at the high-pressure ridge found that, "[T]here is a traceable anthropogenic warming footprint in the enormous intensity of the anomalous ridge during winter 2013-2014 and the associated drought."[13]

A September 2014 study led by Swain also links the ridge to climate change.[17]

The basic science regarding how global warming affects changes in atmospheric circulation is still being established, in particular on the question of how changes in circulation affect the weather patterns that steer storms. However, recent observations of lower-than-average precipitation are consistent with earlier forecasts.

A 2005 study predicted the impact of Arctic warming on California's precipitation.[18] Projections from climate models produced a high-pressure ridge exactly like the one that California experienced.[18]

Finally, a study from October 2014 added to the science linking such high-pressure zones to extreme low precipitation in California.[19] Looking over the past century, total annual precipitation in California has declined slightly. Since 2000, precipitation has been below average in eleven of sixteen years.

The rest of the picture

One of the hallmarks of climate change is that, on average, wet regions are getting wetter and dry regions are getting drier.[20] The Southwestern United States is one such dry region, and the Colorado River (which provides much of the water used in Southern California), is experiencing drought conditions " nearly unrivaled in 1,250 years."[21][22] The fingerprint of global warming has been found in the climate change contribution to the severity and duration of the recent drought afflicting the Southwest.[23] The Rocky Mountains are unable to provide the water that Southern California needs, just as the Sierra Nevada cannot provide relief for Northern California.

As hotter temperatures dry out crops and precipitation is scarce, groundwater withdrawals increase. An August 2014 study finds that the greater demands on the groundwater supply and the rapid rate of depletion may threaten the groundwater supply in multiple Western states for many years to come.[22]

Groundwater has an immensely long rate of recharge, and according to this research, the rate of groundwater depletion during the drought is almost six times greater than that of surface water. This has many repercussions for the farmers, businesses, and homes that depend on groundwater for survival. It also contributes to land subsidence, which has reached historically high rates of over one foot per year in some areas.[24]

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Climate Signals | California Drought 2011 - 2016

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From October 1, 2011 - the start of the 2012 water year - through 2016, California endured five years of record-breaking high temperatures and scant rainfall, resulting in drought conditions unprecedented in at least 1,200 years.[1] On January 17, 2014 California State Governor, Jerry Brown, declared a drought state of emergency.

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A mass of warm water in the Pacific Ocean  had drifted closer to the West Coast recently. 

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A mass of warm water in the Pacific Ocean  had drifted closer to the West Coast recently. 

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You may have seen images of fires lighting up the nighttime sky in California caused by their historic drought. So just how bad are things?

So bad that "drought shaming," where neighbors report or publicly shame their neighbors or celebrities for water over-usage via social media, is now officially a thing.

How Severe is the Drought?

Over 71 percent of the state is experiencing extreme drought conditions, and 46 percent is experiencing exceptional drought, the most severe drought category.

This extreme drought has stressed the fresh water supply and made conditions ideal for wildfires across much of the state. According to the Weekly Drought Brief from the state of California, as of Wednesday, September 2 nd, 2015:

" Since the beginning of the year, firefighters from CAL FIRE have responded to over 4,743 wildfires across the state, burning 146,279 acres. Fire activity across California remains high with nearly 272 wildfires in just the past week."

Also,

"With California in its fourth year of a severe, hot drought, the Governor's Drought Task Force continues to monitor and identify communities and local water systems in danger of running out of water. As of August 26, approximately 2,257 wells statewide have been identified as critical or dry, which affects an estimated 11,285 residents. Cal OES has reported that 2,160 of the 2,257 dry wells are concentrated in the inland regions within the Central Valley. "

Causes of the Drought in California

The drought is believed to be caused in part by a mass of warm water in the Pacific Ocean that has drifted closer to the West Coast recently. The warm water formation, known as "the blob," has persisted in about the same location for over two years, and is about a thousand miles across and 300 feet deep.

La Niña likely kicked off the drought cycle in 2011 by creating a persistent high-pressure system just off of the West Coast, close to California. The high-pressure system interfered with storm tracks and wind flow, causing storms that would usually have hit California to chart a different course and drench other locations with their much-needed precipitation.

The high-pressure system created by La Niña also rerouted cold air away from this location over the Pacific, which prevented the atmosphere from removing the usual amount of heat from the ocean, contributing to "the blob."

Another factor influencing the drought is the form of precipitation - because of the way water resources are managed in California, snow is more beneficial than rain for drought relief. California relies upon the buildup of a snowpack in the winter to melt into runoff in the spring for the state's water supply.

Unfortunately, the blob, which is two to seven degrees Fahrenheit warmer than usual for water in that part of the ocean, heats the atmosphere above it, making rain more likely than snow. During this drought, California has had record-high temperatures and record-low snowpack depths.

Drought Predictions Through the End of November 2015

The likelihood of the drought continuing depends mainly upon three things: Current conditions, precipitation and temperature forecasts, and El Niño.

Although parts of southern California had record rainfall in July due to moisture left over in the atmosphere from Hurricane Delores, it was not enough to counteract the long-term drought conditions. The state is currently in a very deep precipitation deficit, and would need a lot of precipitation (preferably in the form of snow) to compensate for it. Also, September, October and November tend to be dry months on average for most of the U.S., and California is no exception.

We're currently experiencing an unusually strong El Niño, which has a 90 percent chance of continuing through winter 2015 and a 70 percent chance of continuing into the spring of 2016. Conventional wisdom has it that El Niño is a drought-buster for the West Coast and Southwest United States. However, it is premature to assume that this will halt the drought since, historically, years with similar El Niño signals only have a track record of bringing about a wetter winter than usual about half of the time.

Shifts in El Niño due to climate change make it an even less certain proposition, so it is optimistic to say that there is even a 50 percent chance that this year's El Niño will reverse drought conditions in California in the next few months.

The Climate Prediction Center expects that long-term hydrological drought is likely to continue in California (and the Far West in general).

Infrastructure Also Matters

Let's say El Niño comes in all its glory, fulfilling the best case scenario and dumping much-needed precipitation on the state of California. Do we all rejoice - end of story? Unfortunately, it's not so simple - for two main reasons.

First of all, El Niño tends to bring more warm winter storms than snow, which do not build up the snowpack. And because this year is hotter than previous years with similar El Niño signals, precipitation is even more likely to materialize in the form of rain rather than snow this time around.

Secondly, water systems in California (and much of the West) aren't equipped to make use of heavy rainfall. The infrastructure is set up to move drenching rains off of land and into the oceans and quickly as possible to avoid flooding. This may seem like an oversight in a state that tends to be dry, but the system worked fine as long as it could rely on a consistent snowpack. Most of California's water supply comes from snowmelt captured and stored from the Sierra Nevada Mountains in reservoirs and canals.

Ending the California Drought

As humans, we can't fight "the blob" or bring an end to the drought. We can, however, change our infrastructure to adapt not just for the current drought, but for future droughts that will inevitably become more frequent in the region due to climate change.

&copy Copyright 2015 Elizabeth Klusinske, All rights Reserved. Written For: Decoded Science

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The California Drought: Causes, Predictions and Infrastructure

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You may have seen images of fires lighting up the nighttime sky in California caused by their historic drought. So just how bad are things? So bad that "drought shaming," where neighbors report or publicly shame their neighbors or celebrities for water over-usage via social media, is now officially a thing.

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You can change your water use habits. You can also  reduce outdoor water use.
Source::https://www.google.com/search?hl=en-US&ei=7StLXIX2Gqqa_QbWo6jADw&q=how+can+you+preventa+drought&oq=how+can+you+preventa+drought&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i13.325827.331351..331556...0.0..1.224.2591.20j7j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0j0i131j0i67j0i22i10i30j0i22i30j0i13i30.GBE0LdbZRNc&safe=active&ssui=on

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How did the drought effect the enviroment?

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How did the drought effect the enviroment?

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Credit: Digital Media Pro / Shutterstock.com

Epic droughts like the one gripping California for three years now may become more frequent in the future due to climate change, according to new research.

This will not only strain the drinking-water supplies for California's 38 million people, but will also induce a cascade of other hazards - including fires, floods and poor water quality - as populations continue to grow statewide, scientists say.

Despite heavy rains this month, 78 percent of California is still experiencing either exceptional or extreme drought, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. Unusually low snowfall across the state is largely to blame, scientists say. About one-third of California's water comes from snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which stretch through the eastern part of the state for nearly 400 miles (644 kilometers).

"All this rain is great," Nina Oakley, a scientist with the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, told Live Science at the annual American Geophysical Union meeting earlier this month. "But really, the snow in the Sierra is what we are after for a good year to help bring us out of drought." [ Video: California Drought Map Time-Lapse Shows Distressing Trend]

In April 2014, when the year's snowpack should have been at its peak, the California Department of Water Resources reported that levels were at only 18 percent of the average for that time of the year. One of the reasons snowpack was so low this year, Oakley said, was that California's winter temperatures have been increasing in recent years, resulting in less snow and earlier melting times in the spring.

This trend toward less snowpack is projected to continue this century as some climate models suggest that minimum winter temperatures will continue to increase across the state, Oakley said.

"And as we continue to have warmer temperatures and get less snowpack, it's going to have a big impact on California's water supply," Oakley said.

Fires blazing

Drier conditions are also priming California's forests for larger and more frequent fires, especially along the fringes of urban areas, where more people are coming to the forests for recreation, according to Alicia Kinoshita, a professor at San Diego State University. Visitors to the forest may smoke, or make bonfires.

Aside from the direct dangers fires pose to the people and property in their paths, they also set the stage for compounding hazards in the future, including landslides, floods and poor water quality, scientists say.

For example, burnt plant material leaves a waxy residue on forest floors that is relatively waterproof, causing storm runoff to then flow over a forest floor without seeping into the ground, Kinoshita said.

This drought map of California shows that 78 percent of the state is experiencing exceptional or extreme drought this week.

Credit: U.S. Drought Monitor

"If you pour water on it, it will run right off like a parking-lot effect," Kinoshita told Live Science. This can lead to floods, or landslides, because the burnt tree roots just below the waxy layer offer poor support for topsoil, she said.

The waxy coating lasts for only about a year, but even rapid regrowth of vegetation after stormy periods can worsen the threat of fires if drought conditions return soon after, Kinoshita said.

"It's a good thing that we are getting all this rain, but there is this whole dynamic of, you get a lot of rain, then you get all this vegetation and then you get more fuel for the fires," Kinoshita said.

Dirty water

As forest fires singe the root systems of California's trees and weaken their ability to hold on to soil, California's water quality will also suffer as more soil gets into the drinking-water supply, said Tim Kuhn, a hydrologist for Yosemite National Park. Without ground cover to shield soil, rain droplets directly contact soil particles and mobilize heavy metals that can contaminate water, Kuhn told Live Science. Loose soil can also increases the turbidity, or cloudiness, of water, forcing water-treatment facilities to work harder to supply clean water and potentially shut down for a period during particularly large fires. [ Yosemite Rim Fire Photos]

"Turbidity is a really big challenge because that's really fine sediment, and so it takes forever for that to settle out," Kuhn told Live Science. "It becomes a real treatment issue."

What to do

As both water stress and population s increase in the future, Californians will have no choice but to adapt and decrease their reliance on water, Oakley told Live Science. For the state's agriculture industry, this could mean cutting production of water-intensive crops, such as almonds and other tree nuts. For the public, this could mean installing water-saving appliances in homes, Oakley said.

Oakley pointed to the example of Brisbane, Australia - a drought-prone city where every private home now has low-flow toilets, and many water taps are automated to prevent unnecessary flow - as a good model of what Californians could strive for in adapting to drought.

"We have always had these drought cycles, and they are going to continue to happen," Oakley said. "And so what we really need to do with the increase in population is adapt."

Follow Laura Poppick on Twitter. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

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California Droughts Could Have Dangerous Ripple Effects

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Epic droughts like the one gripping California for three years now may become more frequent in the future due to climate change, according to new research. This will not only strain the drinking-water supplies for California's 38 million people, but will also induce a cascade of other hazards - including fires, floods and poor water quality - as populations continue to grow statewide, scientists say.

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What Is The California Drought?

The State of California has recorded some severe droughts throughout history. As California is a state with a vast array of agricultural regions, droughts can translate to adverse economic and environmental impacts. The causes of droughts vary from weather patterns, farming practices, political and economic actions, and population.

Weather Patterns

Temperature swings in the ocean were blamed for fueling the California drought. According to researchers, a region of high atmospheric pressure in the equatorial Pacific diverted winter storms preventing them from reaching California. The high-pressure ridge originally formed in the 2011 La Niña which disintegrated with the 2011-2012 winter. However, the western equatorial Pacific remained warmer, a situation that caused drought in the State of California. The high-pressure ridge was favored by the warm waters through the winter of 2013-2014. The State subsequently experienced a decrease in rainfall as well as snowfall which was detrimental as it relies on both of these elements for its annual water resources.

Climate Change

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Drought Task Force Report published in 2014 did not attribute the drought to long-term precipitation change but rather to natural variability. The report suggested that the extremely high temperatures recorded during the drought period may have been made worse by human-triggered global warming. Another study conducted in 2015 estimated an 8-27% contribution of global warming to the drought event. As global warming continues to unfold, its particular role in the California drought is yet to be determined as droughts in the state are a common phenomenon.

Water System In California

A network of water systems caters to more than 30 million people and a further 5,680,000 more acres of irrigation land. Water resources in the region are limited because of an unreliable rainy season. The state has not implemented much water infrastructure since 1979 even though the population has doubled since then. The state's reservoirs lack enough capacity to contain one year's worth of precipitation. In February 2017 for example, several reservoirs diverted water into the Pacific Ocean as a flood control measure. Leaky distribution systems further affect the amount of water available to consumers. It is estimated that it would take nearly six dry years to empty the water held in California's reservoirs at the current rate of water use. The state has large water consumers such as the estimated 2.7 trillion gallons it exports annually in cattle feed. In comparison, the state's urban water consumption per year is approximately 2.3 trillion gallons.

Effects Of The Drought

In April 2015, the state's governor Jerry Brown ordered reductions in water use across California. The order sought to reduce the consumption of water in urban regions by 25% from the levels consumed in 2013. Farmers were hugely impacted by the drought as water prices soared. While an acre-foot in 2013 cost $140, the price in 2014 was $1,100 per acre-foot. During the drought, water was extracted from reservoirs at a rate some reports have suggested was unsustainable. The drought was blamed for the death of millions of trees and also triggered wildfires. Heavy precipitation led to the end of the drought, declared officially on April 7, 2017.

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The State of California has recorded some severe droughts throughout history. As California is a state with a vast array of agricultural regions, droughts can translate to adverse economic and environmental impacts. The causes of droughts vary from weather patterns, farming practices, political and economic actions, and population.