California has experienced extreme droughts and variations in weather and water supplies throughout its history. However, over the past century anthropogenic activities have increased the stress placed on the state’s water budget exacerbating the impact of drought events.
Researchers from OAR and the University of California system, including Amir AghaKouchak, David Feldman, and Travis Huxman (University of California, Irvine) as well as Martin Hoerling (NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory) and Jay Lund (University of California, Davis), recently published an essay in Nature discussing the future implications for California and other regions with growing populations and industries of the growing demand humans are placing on water.
The authors ask for more research and legislative consideration of the role of humans in drought in order to better manage California’s scarce water resources and to find a balance between human and environmental needs. More studies and a better understanding of anthropogenic impacts on water will help decision makers assess current and develop new policies to better address this issue and ensure a reliable future water source. One of the paper’s authors is a PI funded by CPO’s MAPP program.
To view current drought conditions in your state, visit the the U.S. Drought Monitor. For more about how research improves understanding, monitoring, and prediction of California’s drought, visit the NOAA Drought Task Force website.
To view the OAR news story, visit: research.noaa.gov/News/NewsArchive/LatestNews/TabId/684/ArtMID/1768/ArticleID/11332/Drought-researchers-explore-future-challenges-in-managing-water.aspx
To read the commentary in Nature, visit: www.nature.com/news/water-and-climate-recognize-anthropogenic-drought-1.18220
Researchers call for greater consideration of the human impacts on water stress in Nature commentary
