Drought

QUARTZ  by Grace Dobush                                         March 13, 2015

AUSTIN, Texas—Perhaps the most surprising and important product debuting at SXSW Interactive this year is a personal protective equipment (PPE) prototype for health care workers dealing with Ebola, a tangible result of the U.S. government adapting the culture of innovation and design thinking so key in the startup world.

A team from the U.S. Agency for International Development demonstrated the traditional Ebola suit and the new suit in a preview for Quartz....

submitted by Albert Gomez

The long and severe drought in the U.S. Southwest pales in comparison with what’s coming: a “megadrought” that will grip that region and the central Plains later this century and probably stay there for decades, a new study says.

Thirty-five years from now, if the current pace of climate change continues unabated, those areas of the country will experience a weather shift that will linger for as long as three decades, according to the study, released Thursday.

Researchers from NASA and Cornell and Columbia universities warned of major water shortages and conditions that dry out vegetation, which can lead to monster wildfires in southern Arizona and parts of California.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - NASA - Study Finds Carbon Emissions Could Dramatically Increase Risk of U.S. Megadroughts

environmentalleader.com - October 7th, 2014 - Ilissa Ocko

California has officially entered its fourth consecutive year of drought, and is trapped in its worst water shortage situation ever.

Because we know that human-caused climate change can trigger and exacerbate drought conditions, media, public officials, California residents and scientists have all been wondering for years if rising global temperatures likely caused or contributed to the current drought in California.

The short answer: Yes, they did.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 ajc.com - August 23rd, 2014 - Ben Lawsom

A crippling drought in the western United States has lifted the Earth's crust by nearly a sixth of an inch in that region and just over half an inch in California's mountains.

The loss of 63 trillion gallons of groundwater—enough to cover the United States, west of the Rocky Mountains, in four inches of water—caused the shift.

In addition to this information, a study published in the journal Science on Thursday also shows that the soil is rising due to a lack of groundwater to weigh it down.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)