As climate change makes droughts more frequent and severe, major population centers around the world are experiencing droughts this summer.
According to the National Weather Service, 36% of the New York City metropolitan area—the most populous metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of more than 20 million—is In “extreme” or “extreme” dehydration.
Thursday , United States Drought Monitor, – A joint project between two federal agencies and the University of Nebraska – Its latest report has been released That listed the southern shore of Long Island and much of north-central New Jersey as experiencing a “severe drought”. The New York City neighborhood of Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn are also experiencing severe drought. For Brooklyn, which has a population of 2.5 million, this is the first severe drought in 20 years. Central Park in Manhattan averages 10.7 inches of rainfall from June 1 to August 11, but this year it’s Just over 8 inches In that period, which resulted in many plants wilting and the color of the meadows turning brown.
A local television channel, WNBC Channel 4, reported last week that local farms have been affected.
“The crops in New Jersey are noticeably smaller than before, or the plants themselves simply do not grow at nearly the same height, due to the dry conditions,” She mentioned the port on her website. “Cornfields wither on their stalks, and the corn cobs are hardly fit for consumption. The apples are much smaller than usual by this time of year.”
Some local governments have placed restrictions on water use. The eastern end of Long Island, home to the famous beachfront mansions of the Hamptons and the vineyards of the North Fork, is in “Phase one of the water emergency.” Residents of irrigated lawns and gardens were asked to stop watering between midnight and 7 a.m., to maintain water pressure in order to fight the fires. An area resident told Yahoo News that unirrigated lawns have visibly turned brown due to the hot weather and lack of rain.
The New York City area is only one of many areas of the United States experiencing drought. Parts of eastern Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island are experiencing severe drought. Connecticut State Ned Lamont on Thursday Declare dehydration level in stage 3which corresponds to a moderate drought, for Middlesex, New London and Windham counties, each of which has received roughly 60% to 65% of its normal rainfall so far this year.
Local government officials say climate change is the culprit, because warmer air causes more water evaporation and makes the water cycle more vulnerable to extreme fluctuations.
Drought is cyclical, and typically occurs in New England every 10 years. Providence magazine reported last Thursday. “what or what [Ken Ayars, an official with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management] He notes, however, that droughts come every two years.”
“The intervals between droughts are shorter,” Ayars told the newspaper. “Compared to 2020, this is more important because it follows the previous drought.”
The drought in the northeast is relatively slight, though, for a Two decades of massive drought Throughout the western United States, severe drought conditions are currently present in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, Nevada, California, New Mexico and Oregon, among other states. Water use restrictions are already in place in a number of jurisdictions, Including parts of California. earlier this month, The United Nations warned That the two largest reservoirs in the United States – Lake Mead and Lake Powell, both created by dams on the Colorado River – are at “dangerously low levels”.
Summer droughts are not limited to the United States. In China, a nationwide drought warning was issued on Friday. Record droughts in the country have caused some rivers to dry up, causing significant economic damage. The Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world, reached a record low water level this summer.
As a result, hydropower plants operate at reduced capacity and stop charging. Sichuan Province has suspended or limited power supply for factories, prompting companies such as Toyota and Tesla to suspend production. Last Saturday, the provincial disaster commission said 116,000 acres of crops have lost And 1.1 million acres have been affected by the drought and heat wave that has raged in southwest China.
Rivers are also drying up in Europe, where record-breaking summers of climatic turbulence heat waves across the continent, leading to Thousands of deaths and number Forest fires at their pace To be the worst year ever. The Loire River in France is currently unnavigable due to drought.
The tributaries of the Loire have completely dried up. Eric Suquet, head of the hydrology department at France’s National Institute of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, told Reuters last Wednesday.
Bernice Lee, Chair of the Advisory Board of London-based London-based Sustainability Accelerator Chatham House The Guardian newspaper on Monday.
In addition to the fact that warmer temperatures increase evaporation and dry out soil and vegetation, climate change increases the risk and severity of drought. in other ways. For example, many places rely on water from melting winter snowpacks to help maintain plant and animal life. However, the average global temperature has increased by 1.1°C (2°F) since the mid-1800s. This means that there will be less precipitation in the form of snow and more rain in the winter, and the rain will be gone for a long time by summer. Warmer temperatures in spring also mean the mass of snow will melt earlier and more quickly.
Attributing specific droughts to climate change is complex, but scientists are developing the tools to do so. a Study 2020 In the journal Science I looked at changes in temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation between 1901 and 2018 in the western United States and found that climate change is responsible for 46% of the severity of the current drought.
Global warming also exacerbates droughts by increasing water demand, as animals and plants require more water in hot weather.
“Water loss from our reservoirs that evaporates is higher,” said Peter Gleick, co-founder of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California. In an interview with Yahoo News last year. “The demand for water from agricultural crops is greater. So the warnings that the climate and water cycles are changing, and that these impacts will be increasingly severe, are now a reality.”
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