Food bowl feels the effects of climate induced water shortages

C

alifornia is known as one of the food bowls of the world.

However, life for primary producers (well, in fact everyone) in the American state is becoming increasingly difficult as the realities of climate change have altered all that is normal.

“California is faced with a double whammy of high temperatures — the state just had its warmest winter on record — and low rainfall that is exacerbated by an atmospheric pattern that for three years straight has diverted winter storms away from the state, depriving it of crucial precipitation. The outlook, if global greenhouse gas emissions are not decreased, is a megadrought lasting 30 years for California and several Southwestern states, a NASA study said.” The Washington Post writes.

The story - “As water runs dry, Californians brace for a new way of life” – says a divide has been created by targeting urban residents but not farmers, who use 80 percent of the state’s water and grow crops such as rice and almonds that require prodigious amounts of water.