We are obviously going to need more water, and the prognosis for flooding will be increasing, both of which point to the obvious solution for our region, the Auburn Dam.
Editorial: As climate changes, water policies must as well
You don't need a weather man to know which way that hot, dry wind's blowing
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, April 8, 2007
In the Sierra Nevada, the snowpack that feeds much of California's water supply is less than half of normal for this time of year. What little white stuff has accumulated in the mountains is melting faster and earlier than usual.
At Lake Mead, which supplies water to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and other cities, this massive reservoir is 80 feet lower than its historic average. Across the Southwest, farmers and cities are scrambling to drill wells, build pipelines and take other measures to cope with a seeming drought.
Scientists can't say with certainty that such dry spells are the result of global warming, but the reports create a worrisome backdrop on which to consider the second report this year of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Released Friday, this report concluded, with 90 percent confidence, that human activity is causing global warming and that this greenhouse effect is already causing impacts across the planet.
In general, the climatic shift is causing more rain to fall and growing seasons to lengthen in areas closer to the world's poles. It is also contributing to longer dry spells and hotter temperatures in the middle latitudes, the IPCC concluded.
