bdmetronews Desk ॥ The statewide downpour brought chaos but also much relief to California’s 20 million residents.
A statewide downpour brought chaos to Californians this week, but it also provided some welcome relief to the state’s 20 million residents who have suffered from drought conditions for more than four years.
The record precipitation now has some experts declaring the drought over.
The beginning
The drought began in 2012, but California Gov. Jerry Brown did not declare a drought state of emergency until January 2014. A response team was later established, and state lawmakers have allocated over $3 billion for drought relief and water management improvements.
The U.S. Geological Survey said 2014 was the warmest year on record for California.
According to Park Williams, a climate scientist and an assistant professor at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, the drought was exacerbated by high temperatures.
“These last five years in California were much warmer than you’d expect just based on the drought alone, and the reason is because the globe’s overall temperature has been warming,” he told ABC News. “California’s relationship with water is one where they either have too much or too little. So California goes through swings very rapidly. That’s what made this drought in California so rare … [it’s] very rare to get five dry years in a row.”
He added, “Global warming did not cause this drought but nevertheless had a measuring amplifying effect.”
Record rain this week
Flooding warnings were in effect Tuesday in Northern and Central California after storms wreaked havoc on the Golden State last weekend.
In Modesto, police went door to door evacuating residents as floodwaters rose. In San Jose, firefighters jumped on inflatable rafts to rescue two people trapped by a roaring river.
