California drought: Sierra Nevada snowpack falls to 500-year low
The Sierra Nevada snowpack that is a critical water source for California fell to a 500-year low last winter – far worse than scientists had estimated and underlining the severity of the current drought, according to new research.
The snow accumulation in the mountains was just 5% of what is normal, inflating the risk of wildfires, drying up wells and orchards, and pushing communities into water rationing.
Scientists had earlier thought that the snow pack was the lowest in 100 years, after a winter that was the warmest on record. Now it turns out it was actually the lowest in five centuries, according to research published in Nature Climate Change on Monday.
“It was definitely a 500-year low. In the 500-year reconstruction, it was unprecedented,” said Valerie Trouet of the University of Arizona, who led the study. “When you are a climate scientist, first you get excited by the result. Then you realise the extreme level of the snowpack is not something to get excited about.”
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/14/california-drought-sierra-nevada-snowpack-500-year-record-low
Two untamed wildfires displace 23,000 people in northern California
Two explosive wildfires have displaced 23,000 people in northern California and threaten to wreak more devastation in rural communities, which have lost hundreds of homes.
The so-called Valley fire in Lake County raged untamed on Monday after incinerating 61,000 acres, or 95 square miles, in just two days.
The blaze has consumed 400 homes plus hundreds of other structures, and law enforcement is investigating a report of a civilian fatality, the agency said. Some 1,255 personnel were fighting the fire, it added.
Since erupting on Saturday the fire’s speed and ferocity has astonished experts, who said it moved faster than any other in California’s recent history. Sheriff Brian Martin called it the worst tragedy ever seen in Lake County, 20 miles north of Napa winelands.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/14/two-untamed-wildfires-northern-california-valley-butte