America needs to plan for global warming-induced droughts
America needs to plan for global warming-induced droughts
mongabay.com
February 16, 2007
Models suggest that climate change is likely to produce increased incidence of summer droughts in the western United States. Researchers from Oregon State University say that now is the time to prepare for potential catastrophe.
Speaking Friday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco, Jim Coakley, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Oregon State University, said that the United States is currently doing little to prepare for forecast drought. He argued that the U.S. “should consider a national drought policy to help achieve sustainable water for drinking, agriculture and fisheries.”
Coakley said that the west is already seeing evidence of drier summers due to a 1-2 degree Fahrenheit rise in temperatures.
“We’re already seeing snow packs dwindle and spring runoffs coming earlier and earlier,” Coakley said. “The dry summers that we’ve experienced recently may pale in comparison to what could happen in the near future. There is a kind of domino effect as temperatures warm. Precipitation that would have fallen as snow will come as rain and run off more quickly. Spring runoffs begin earlier. Summers lengthen and evaporation increases.”
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“Providing adequate supplies of clean water is a challenge when there is normal precipitation and extended times of drought and water shortages create further stresses for our water systems” said Shaun McGrath of the Western Governors’ Association and a member of the AAAS symposium. “Yet in marked contrast to the myriad federal programs that report, prevent and mitigate the damage of other extreme events — like floods, hurricanes and tornadoes — we accept drought’s effects as an unavoidable natural hardship.”
The researchers argued that science can help water managers better predict stream flow and forecast the impact of climate change.
“Many of the issues posed by water scarcity and water demand are not scientific in nature and have roots in water law, economics and marketability, but science can play a more central role in western water management.” said Dennis Lettenmaier of the University of Washington.
“Climate change is a reality and we must begin planning for those impacts that will be unavoidable,” remarked Peter Gleick, a MacArthur Fellow and president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development. “Environment and Security We must do a better job of evaluating the potential for water efficiency and conservation in planning for future needs. And new ways of thinking about supply are needed, including water reuse, conjunctive groundwater and surface water management, and smart desalination.”
“To achieve sustainable water supplies, we’ll need a combination of sound science, new technologies, creative management and a coherent policy that weaves all the elements together,” Coakley concluded. “And it won’t come without a price — both economic and social. But given our future, it is a must.”
This article is based on a news release from Oregon State University .