The horrible conditions in California
Hat tip to
Tim Blair for these links to two stories set four months apart:
Story one:
Here
Fire, Water, and Global Warming: It's All One Crisis
There were hurricanes before Katrina, and Southern California wildfires before Witch Creek, Santiago Canyon, and Running Springs. As those of us who have ever lived in SoCal know, the fall winds can easily turn the brown hillsides into menacing flame.
But like the hurricanes spawned by the Atlantic Ocean, the fires spawned by the Santa Ana winds are growing worse. Even though the current danger has not yet passed in SoCal, it is worth examining the links between global warming and wildfire. We've known for some time that the two were linked. Perhaps now it is time to finally get serious and do something about it.
And it goes on to say:
Republicans, insisting that new dams be part of any water solution, torpedoed Democratic plans to both restore the delta and provide funds to localities to develop sustainable water supplies and, more importantly, stronger conservation measures. The California Republican Party has now apparently decided that the concept of global warming and any effort to do anything about it are their primary targets, and they will do anything to prevent action on global warming or the water crisis. Nevermind the fact that dams are pointless if less rain and snow are falling. Republicans appear quite happy to leave Californians at further risk of catastrophic water shortfalls. In their inaction, California's future hangs in the balance.
And Story Two:
Here
Above-normal snowpack has officials optimistic about state water supply
We all know it's been wet this winter. But has it been wet enough?
As state snow surveyors measured the snowpack at a meadow along Highway 50 in the Sierra Nevada today, the answer - for the first time this year - was yes.
The snowfall season should end above-average - and that means Californians, warned to brace themselves after an exceptionally dry 2007, almost certainly won't face water shortages this summer.
That's right. No dirty cars. No brown lawns. And no saving the bath water.
"Fears should be put to rest," said snow surveyor Dave Hart of the state Department of Water Resources. "There's no way you could say we're in any kind of drought."
It's amazing what a little bit of Global Cooling can do...
Posted by DaveH at March 1, 2008 7:10 PM