Half the country is facing an apocalyptic summer space.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from space.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Drought and early heatwaves are laying the stage for a dry, hot summer in the western part of the United States. As of June 22, almost 91 percent of the West was under drought, with 55 percent suffering extreme or exceptional dryness, while two back-to-back heatwaves worsened soil and vegetation drying, raising the risk of wildfires.
(Photo : Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, water supplies are dwindling: according to the Associated Press, Lake Mead, the reservoir built by the Hoover Dam, is at its lowest level since it was initially filled in the 1930s, while California s reservoirs are 50 percent lower than typical for this time of year.
Half the country is facing an apocalyptic summer livescience.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from livescience.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Southwest has grown hotter and drier during the past decade, and new climate data from the federal government shows these changes have been dramatic, shifting the long-term averages that represent the region’s “normal.”
The country’s updated climate “normals” were released Tuesday by the National Centers for Environmental Information, encompassing weather data for the 30-year period from 1991 through 2020. The federal government releases these long-term averages every 10 years as an up-to-date benchmark for comparing with the weather on a daily basis.
Compared with the 30 years that ended in 2010, the new averages show temperatures have gotten warmer nearly everywhere in the country. But the warming has been most pronounced in the Southwest, with average temperatures generally rising between 0.5 degrees F and 1 degree F, an increase that federal meteorologists said clearly reflects the influence of global warming.
Every Thursday this April, the University of Arizona s College of Science will present a new topic relating to the science of water, as part of their 16th annual lecture series. The free, online lectures will range from the water on Earth s cosmic origins to the challenges of conservation to the Colorado River. The lectures will premiere on the Collegeâs YouTube channel, hosted by various local experts and faculty. Given that water is the lifeblood of humankind and recognizing how critical water is to our region, it s both a timely and important topic in our community, said Michael Luria, assistant dean for corporate and community engagement at the College of Science, and co-organizer of the lecture series. While the effects of the ongoing pandemic have necessitated a virtual format for the 2021 series, it also provides the opportunity to expand our reach to those outside of Southern Arizona, which we are very excited about.