Scientists Warn Western U.S. Drought Could Be 'New Normal'

Though it may seem straightforward, it can be difficult to boil down to a simple definition — there's no magic number, be it inches of rainfall or water levels, that signals when a drought begins or ends.

“干旱在不同地方可能意味着不同的事情。”斯蒂芬妮·麦卡菲（Stephanie McAfee），里诺内华达大学的应用气候学家。“实际上，这甚至对在同一地方的不同人来说意味着不同的事情。”但是像她领域的许多人一样，麦卡菲归因于已故的定义气候研究员凯利·雷德蒙德（Kelly Redmond）: Drought is "水不足以满足需求。“

大多数情况下，自2000年代初以来，美国西部目前的干旱一直在进行。虽然这可能不是该地区有史以来最长的干旱（1200年代持续了一个多世纪），这是最严重的之一。水位科罗拉多盆地和米德湖击中了新的低点；拉斯维加斯没有看到纪录的雨水240天between April 20 and Dec. 17, 2020.

“It's really dry," says McAfee.

The drought has gone on long enough that climatologists are considering new terminology for it. Some have proposed labeling it a "巨型麦卡菲说：“传达情况的范围。其他人则认为，大型绰号仍然没有做这个事件。

干旱当区域变为永久干燥机时发生。换句话说，它标志着认为“正常”的水量的基线变化。作为climate changeplay out, it seems that less rainfall in the Western U.S. might become the standard.

“I think it's accurate to say that that area, at least statistically speaking, has been drying out," saysCurtis Riganti, an atmospheric scientist at the国家干旱中心at the University of Nebraska. "Connecting that to the dynamics of climate change I think makes sense."

随着它们变得越来越普遍，您可能会想知道：与严重干旱有关的危险是什么？

最明显的风险之一是野火。我们看到了一系列恐怖而毁灭性的大火2020年沿西海岸，特别是在加利福尼亚。今年，黄金州的某些地区收到的11percent of their typical rainfall迄今为止，随着夏天的发展，这可能会激起比去年更糟糕的燃烧。里奇蒂说：“我们已经开始在6月的某些地区看到这种情况。”

另一个问题是粮食生产。农业是兴发登录m xf839 com非常重要to the economies of many Western states, including California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona. Common crops in these states — like almonds, wheat, avocados and apples — require lots of water to grow well, which can lead to shortages of those crop in times of drought. That's devastating to those states' economies.

然后是牧场。新墨西哥州，内华达州和亚利桑那州等州的降雨量减少，通常郁郁葱葱的放牧土地遭受了损失。“牧场主必须将水和食物带入特定的牛区，”Erinanne Saffell，亚利桑那州的助理国家气候学家。它促成了全球牲畜饲料的赤字。

But it's important to remember that drought isn't just a West Coast thing, says Riganti. Other areas are in the midst of their own drought. "I've been getting reports of crops struggling in parts of the upper Midwest," he says, "Northern Iowa, Minnesota, parts of Michigan, and then even up into parts of New England are all experiencing various levels of drought right now."

这意味着美国各地的每个人都可以期望感受西方干旱的影响随着它继续遍及全国其他地区。例如，去年加利福尼亚野火的烟雾使其远至New York City and Boston，甚至可能影响荷兰的空气质量。在经济方面，较小的农作物产量可能会推动全国范围内的农产品价格上涨。

Despite our best efforts, human beings can't control the weather (yet). But is there anything we can do to help mitigate the effects of drought?

就在这里。首先，不要浪费水。

节水对于缓解干旱压力至关重要。如果您生活在容易干旱的地区，那么简单的事情，例如刷牙时关闭水，taking a shower instead of a bath, or watering your plants at night to reduce evaporation all help save precious H2O.

节省水的另一种最好的方法是节省电力 - 需要15 of gallons (56 liters) of water以冷却液或蒸汽的形式产生一个千瓦时的动力。

Second,注意消防安全。“If there's a campfire ban in national forests, don't light a campfire. And if you're not allowed to shoot off fireworks for the Fourth of July, don't," says Riganti. Stick to cake rather than smoke bombs for your性别揭示聚会。

第三，切换美化环境。种植芦荟，薰衣草，阿耳瑟或仙人掌等耐旱物种可以大大减少草坪的水需求。渴望的草坪不太渴，这意味着您的口渴者也会更少，而且看起来也很漂亮。另一个技巧？“覆盖和堆肥，”麦卡菲说。这些技术有助于将土壤湿持续更长的时间，甚至可以对周围环境产生冷却作用。

Finally, if you live outside of a drought zone, consider buying less水密集型食品。That could mean skipping out on almond milk, buying watermelon instead of apples, or opting for chicken instead of burgers at your next summer cookout.

None of these actions will fix the drought, but taken together they can reduce the risk that it poses to many people. "It's kind of like earthquakes," says Saffell, "We can't forecast an earthquake, but we can keep people safe from the impacts of that earth-shaking event."