‘Snow Drought’ Darkening California’s Water Outlook
Despite a spate of recent storms, scientists say California needs more winterlike weather to bolster its water supply and avoid another drought.
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Skies Are Sucking More Water from the Land
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Scientific Americanby Ula ChrobakDrought is typically thought of as a simple lack of rain and snow. But evaporative demand—a term describing the atmosphere’s capacity to pull moisture from the ground—is also a major factor. And the atmosphere over much of the U.S. has grown a lot thirstier over the past 40 years, a new study in the Journal of Hydrometeorology found.
Evaporative demand can be thought of as a “laundry-drying quotient,” says Nevada state climatologist Stephanie McAfee, who was not involved in the study.
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