Posted on Mar 17, 2022
Oregon and the West may be stuck in perpetual drought, study says
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Many parts of the American West, including Oregon, have entered or will enter a state of “perpetual drought” if global warming, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, continues unabated.
That’s according to a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week.
“We’re not coming back to any kind of normal by today’s standards,” said Samantha Stevenson, the paper’s lead author and an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Normal refers to the amount of water expected to be available for people, plants and animals at any given time. When the actual amount of water available falls short of that norm, experts call it a drought.
The researchers used climate models to predict future precipitation and soil moisture levels, assuming that greenhouse gas emissions stay high. They found that what’s now considered a long-lasting and intense drought in parts of the American West is becoming the norm over time.
That’s the case in Oregon, which is gradually drying out.
That’s according to a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week.
“We’re not coming back to any kind of normal by today’s standards,” said Samantha Stevenson, the paper’s lead author and an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Normal refers to the amount of water expected to be available for people, plants and animals at any given time. When the actual amount of water available falls short of that norm, experts call it a drought.
The researchers used climate models to predict future precipitation and soil moisture levels, assuming that greenhouse gas emissions stay high. They found that what’s now considered a long-lasting and intense drought in parts of the American West is becoming the norm over time.
That’s the case in Oregon, which is gradually drying out.
Oregon and the West may be stuck in perpetual drought, study says
Posted from opb.orgPosted in these groups: State of Oregon
Water
Science
Climate Change
University of California – Santa Barbara
Water Science Climate Change University of California – Santa Barbara
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel global warming is a serious subject heading into the future.
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Lt Col Charlie Brown SSG Michael Noll Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Cpl Vic Burk MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SGT Charlie Lee PO2 Marco Monsalve SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth ] SSG William Jones ~1607400:Sgt Kerry Harkins] LTC David Brown 1SG Dan Capri CDR Andrew McMenamin, PhD MAJ Bob Miyagishima SrA John Monette SPC Nancy Greene
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Lt Col Charlie Brown SSG Michael Noll Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Cpl Vic Burk MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SGT Charlie Lee PO2 Marco Monsalve SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth ] SSG William Jones ~1607400:Sgt Kerry Harkins] LTC David Brown 1SG Dan Capri CDR Andrew McMenamin, PhD MAJ Bob Miyagishima SrA John Monette SPC Nancy Greene
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SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth
Saw something about this a short time back brother SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
It is, yet we can't even get people to combat the effects, let alone the cause.
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MSG Stan Hutchison
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen - We cannot even get some people to admit there is a problem.
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I'm still waiting for the folks who claim this is just a normal cycle of the earth to show us when the earth went through a massive drought.
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MAJ Glenn Lasater
For sake of conversation: No continent, except Antarctica, has been spared, according to the SPEI Global Drought Monitor.
• The longest drought identified began in 1276 and lasted 38 years. The tree ring method identified 21 droughts lasting five or more years during the period from 1210 to 1958.
• The worst famine caused by drought was in northern China in 1876-79, when between 9 and 13 million people are estimated to have died after the rains failed for three consecutive years.
• The 1930s “Dust Bowl” drought remains the most significant drought—meteorological and agricultural—in the United States' historical record.
• From 1950 to 1957, Texas experienced the most severe drought in recorded history. By the time the drought ended, 244 of Texas's 254 counties had been declared federal disaster areas. Drought became particularly severe in California, with some natural lakes drying up completely in 1953.
Nothing new about droughts on planet Earth.
• The longest drought identified began in 1276 and lasted 38 years. The tree ring method identified 21 droughts lasting five or more years during the period from 1210 to 1958.
• The worst famine caused by drought was in northern China in 1876-79, when between 9 and 13 million people are estimated to have died after the rains failed for three consecutive years.
• The 1930s “Dust Bowl” drought remains the most significant drought—meteorological and agricultural—in the United States' historical record.
• From 1950 to 1957, Texas experienced the most severe drought in recorded history. By the time the drought ended, 244 of Texas's 254 counties had been declared federal disaster areas. Drought became particularly severe in California, with some natural lakes drying up completely in 1953.
Nothing new about droughts on planet Earth.
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
MAJ Glenn Lasater Sure there have been droughts but all localized, not entire planet like were starting to see.
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This really needs to be addressed rationally. Leave out the politics and the hype (e.g.COVID). We are destroying our planet.
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Cpl Vic Burk
CDR Andrew McMenamin, PhD Man has caused more destruction to the planet in the last one-hundred-fifty years that all of human history in my opinion
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