Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Controversy of global warming
Controversy of global warming
Climate change in tourism
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Controversy of global warming
As the temperature rises, global warming causes droughts. In Lake Tahoe, California, the drought has caused Tahoe’s water level to drop. “ Chaol Blanchard predicted earlier this year that by fall of 2014 , Tahoe would drop below it’s natural rim.’’ , writes Scott Sonner from Associated Press. It actually did, in October 2014, the lake went down from 6,223ft to 6,222.9ft. With hot weather, there’s no snow to even out the water that flows out the Truckee river. If we don’t get snow we will eventually have to close the truckee river, either to save water of because the water won't reach the dam in Tahoe City. Another drastic drought happening now is the drought in Southern California. In the small town of East Porterville, the drought is so bad
The California water drought has been declared a crisis by the governor of California. 2013 was the driest year on record, and California could be running out of water. Californians should be water wise, and their use, or no use, of water will have an enormous impact on this drought. They can use the techniques published in a recent Time article called, 5 Ways to Bust California’s Drought, to reduce their water use. Landscape techniques, alternate water sources, and the personal conservation of water can reduce the use of water, and can have a positive change on this water crisis.
Desert Solitaire aims to draw attention to the activities of a man voluntarily isolated in nature. It seeks to identify the strife that Abbey faces with modern day human’s treatment of his nature. As such, the argument that Abbey poses in one his earlier chapters Rocks is, that the Modern Day man is destructive and cannot be trusted to preserve nature as is.
Early this February the states surrounding the great lakes in the northeast were pounded by lake-effect snow storms. Some areas saw more than four feet of snow. These states are accustomed to lake-effect snow storms, but it has been some time since they last saw one of this magnitude. Some areas saw up to 140 inches in less than twelve days. The storm was accountable for 35 deaths. (msn.com 2007)
Once More to the Lake and The Pond. White and Thoreau, two diverse minds. When you look into their writings you seem to find something that rises to your attention, some of what you see seems to fit into the others writing. Yet taking a closer look you see that they are not particularly saying the same thing. Is it because they felt like writing or did something cause these writers to exploit there minds and make something out of their thoughts? Every sentence and every word say something much deeper. When reading these writings you have to look deep within the writing. You begin to notice you are reading something quite fascinating.
The Great Basin of North America and Wyoming specifically, is known for its arid and semi-arid environment, as well as prolonged and sometimes severe droughts. Drought is the prolonged and abnormal deficiency of moisture with the concomitant decline in runoff to a level significantly lower than usual (Guldin 1989). The history of droughts in Wyoming has been uncertain in the past, but recent studies of tree rings in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming have given insight to droughts as far back as 1260A.D. (Gray et al. 2004). Looking at tree ring records in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) trees, Stephen Gray and his colleagues discovered that droughts which have been experienced in Wyoming since the 1750's, are weak in severity and length when compared to those since. The most severe drought period in Wyoming’s history occurred from 1262 to 1281. The droughts of the 1930’s and 1950’s, which have been used as benchmarks for all other droughts in the United States in recent times (Woodhouse et al. 2002), are ranked 149th and 28th respectively in comparison (Gray et al. 2004). The five top ranking droughts for 10, 15, and 20 year periods are all prior to the 1800’s, with the four driest single years being 1263, 1274, 1278, and 1280 (Gray et al. 2004). This indicates a change in precipitation patterns in the Big Horn Basin area of Wyoming since the 18th century, as all recent droughts have been mild when compared to those of Wyoming’s past.
On the heart (center) of California is a flat area with miles and miles of farms and up to 230 different crops. The central valley agriculture is essential to the United States; it not only delivers almost half of the produce but also helps the economy by also giving more job opportunities (California Department of food and agriculture, 2014). Many families depend on the central valley agriculture to survive economically in the United States. It is a well-known fact that rain and snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are a very important element in the central valley. No rain in the central valley can cause many devastating issues to occur quickly. Recently in the year of 2013 California received less rainfall than years before. The small amount of water the central valley is receiving is harming not only to the land but humans and animals as well. It’s destroying the habitats of animals with forest fires caused from the dry spells occurring. The central valley is going through a drought, so much that around this time of year the central valley usually accumulates enough rain for the necessities in the valley, agriculture for example. This year, however, has been different, the central valley hasn’t received enough water and this has caused a drought in the valley. Water is an important element in this world for not only human life, but for the environment in general, a shortage of water supply can bring issues to the environment and those living in it. The central valley holds the largest percent of class one soil, not only that, the valley grows a third of all the produce being grown in the United States, that’s more than 230 crops that are being grown in the central valley. However, this drought isn’t only affecting the resident...
As global temperatures and ocean levels rise, the water levels of the Great Lakes continues to fall. As the lakes hit their all time lowest level in global history in 2012, society remains ignorant to the imposing doom that lurks ahead. Since the Great Lakes make up the largest group of fresh water lakes on Earth and are responsible for approximately 21% of the Earth’s fresh water supply, this issue is becoming one of the largest environmental and economical issues our modern world faces. The effects of this issue include destroying animal habitats and a major economic market; shipping. Water levels in the Great Lakes have been dropping for the past fourteen years, but it wasn’t until boats were scraping the bottom of Lake Huron that people began to take notice. This terrible environmental issue has been dubbed a long term cycle of over evaporation and not enough precipitation to replenish the Lakes. Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology for the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit has been monitoring this issue for a decade and has made startling discoveries, such as in 2012, he discovered Lake Michigan and Lake Huron’s water levels only rose four inches after winter, whereas the Lakes have been regularly recorded as gaining a foot of water after the winter season had ended. This amount of water added is not enough to maintain a proper water level during the dry, hot summer seasons that evaporate much water from the Great Lakes. While some scientists say that this is just a cycle that will adjust itself naturally, most experts that have been studying this phenomenon, such as Kompoltwicz, would agree that the issue has gone to far
With the changes coming from global warming and increased greenhouse gasses, there will be many impacts to Texas over the coming decades. One of these impacts is the effect on our water resources. Texas’ main source of fresh water is precipitation, coming almost completely from rainfall. With temperatures rising and with an expectation that precipitation levels will most likely drop in coming years, this combination will put great stress on our water reservoirs. If we continue our current usage rates of water and if recent climate changes continue to persist then we will see a huge decrease in our water reservoirs. Also, given that we are in a drought, it appears that conditions are getting worse every year, posing a serious problem for the future if this issue is not addressed now.
Also, the definition of global warming emphasizes a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere. Consequently, when it comes to the topic of the Colorado river drought a record of American citizens neglect to consider the effects of global warming related to the issue. Moreover, the Department of the Interior reports global warming, the Colorado snow melt factor, and natural population increase as the three leaders of the drought epidemic. Basically, the Department of the Interior relates global warming, and the snow melt factor as a hand in hand coordination of disaster. Naturally, as the earth’s internal temperature grows, it causes the snow from the Rocky Mountains to melt too rapidly causing the majority of snow to evaporate instead of melt gradually and stream into the Colorado river to aid in the flow of water. In fact, many are unaware of the utmost importance of the snow pack every year, also a desperate synchronization of snow melting slowly and turning into a surplus of water for all to appreciate. In addition, the natural population increase in an area causes normal resources to be taken away and creates the natural flow of water to decrease due to supply and demand. However, does the evidence I’ve cited prove conclusively who or what is at fault for the Colorado drought epidemic? Despite, the expanse of claims and statistics Americans can be
Lake Tahoe, an enormous expanse of clear, blue, fresh water surrounded by meadows and dense forests and rimmed by snow-capped peaks, is one of the world's great scenic and ecological wonders. Tahoe's water is world famous for its amazing clarity. Even today, one can see objects 70 feet below the surface, a clarity matched almost nowhere in the world. The Tahoe Basin had a slowly evolving and essentially balanced environment for thousands of years, with surrounding forests, meadows and marshlands helping to maintain the clarity and purity of the lake.
Zara Beadle METR 113 16 December 2015 Final paper California Drought The California drought has been extremely harmful to the states’ air quality. Since 2012, California has seen the worst drought conditions in 1,200 years and it is severely affecting air quality (California’s drought, 2015). As of 2015, the cities of Hanford, Merced, Modesto, Fresno, Yuba City, Lancaster-Palmdale, Chico, Sacramento, and Bakersfield have experienced exceptional drought coverage (Pestano, 2015).
Lake Tahoe is a popular vacation destination. The lake is two million years old. South Lake Tahoe is a populous city near Lake Tahoe. The city is on the border of California and Nevada. In 2013, the population of South Lake Tahoe was 21,387.
... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved May 22, 2014 from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/toxic-waste-overview/ Onishi, N. & Wollan, M. (2014, January 17). Severe drought grows worse in California. The New York Times.
Many scientific studies also show increases in the intensity, duration, and extent of droughts, higher atmospheric temperatures, warmer sea surface temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, and diminishing glaciers and snowpack. The bottom line is that causes of climate change, such as greenhouse gas emissions, will have to be minimized if people want to do as much as possible to solve the water crisis. Works Cited Water demand management: the case of Zaragoza, Spain Web 25 Nov. 2014. http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/swm_cities_zaragoza_2010/pdf/final_report_swm_cities.pdf.
Drought is a hazard of nature that resembles a “creeping phenomenon”, and has impacts that vary by region. Drought can be difficult to define since different regions experience more rainfall than others, but a general definition to help people understand the concept of drought can be defined as a period of deficient precipitation that results in extensive damage to crops and a loss of yield. A more specific way to identify the beginning of drought is by comparing the current situation to the historical average, which is typically a 30-year period. California has been experiencing an extreme drought since the winter season of 2011/12, which has caused many negative socioeconomic and environmental impacts and is considered to be the worst drought