14 DAY TRIAL // It's no longer a secret to anyone that one of the primary effects of global warming is drought. In addition to increased temperatures and less water, the phenomenon also causes a shift in precipitation patterns. This causes additional distress to various ecosystems and regions, but can also have devastating effects on areas that have thus far eluded significant influence from climate change. According to a new report, such is the case with about 33 percent of all counties in the United States.
The investigation shows that a third of all US counties are in danger of experiencing global warming-related water shortages by no later than 2050. The investigation, which was ordered and backed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), is meant to give Congress an “incentive” for passing on climate legislation. The process of adopting new measures in this field is being constantly hampered by adverse political and economical interests, but the long-term consequences of ignoring this issue will be devastating for the people living in areas already affected by a lack of water. With the new data in mind, congressmen will perhaps be more opened to change.
Lafayette, California-based Tetra Tech Inc. was commissioned to carry out the study. The work was conducted by environmental engineer Sujoy Roy, who led a team of analysts in combining data from no less than 16 climate models. While the conclusions are not necessarily new and groundbreaking, they do make up an interesting read, providing a very clear overview of the situation. The team resorted to using so many models in order to avoid critics that they view of the future is to narrow. County-level data on how much water cities, farmers and other sources consume were also gathered and centralized, ScienceNow reports.
The researchers found that no less than 400 counties in the southwestern regions of the US, and in the Great Plains, will face “extremely high risks” of experiencing water shortages. Overall, no less than 1,100 counties will face a higher-than normal risk of experiencing the same thing. “The particular novelty is the spatial resolution and the ability to zoom in at a more detailed level than before,” Roy says of the new model. “You have to get [the analysis] at a level at which people will take the message to heart,” Jerry Hatfield says. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) expert is the author of a 2008 climate change impacts report, which arrived at similar conclusions.