Sunday 23 August 2015

California's drought

Parts Of California Have Sunk Over A Foot In Eight Months Due To Drought

22 August, 2015

California Dreamin’ this is not.

Sounds pretty freakin’ terrifying actually. From Bloomberg:







Land in California’s central valley agricultural region sank more than a foot in just eight months in some places as residents and farmers pump more and more groundwater amid a record drought.
The ground near Corcoran, 173 miles (278 kilometers) north of Los Angeles, dropped about 1.6 inches every 30 days. One area in the Sacramento Valley was descending about half-an-inch per month, faster than previous measurements, according to a report released Wednesday by the Department of Water Resources. NASA completed the study by comparing satellite images of Earth’s surface over time.
 
Groundwater levels are reaching record lows — up to 100 feet lower than previous records,” Mark Cowin, the department’s director, said in a statement. “As extensive groundwater pumping continues, the land is sinking more rapidly and this puts nearby infrastructure at greater risk of costly damage.”
 
Areas along the California Aqueduct — a system of canals and tunnels that ships water from the north to the south –– sank as much as 12.5 inches, with eight inches of that occurring in just four months of 2014, researchers found.
 

Get to work Mrs Yellen... print some more water...

Bernanke 'fixed' the world before!!

Screen Shot 2015-08-20 at 3.21.02 PM



California Sinking Faster Than Thought, Aquifers Could Permanently Shrink


22 August, 2015

California is sinking even faster than scientists had thought, new NASA satellite imagery shows.

Some areas of the Golden State are sinking more than 2 inches (5.1 centimeters) per month, the imagery reveals. Though the sinking, called subsidence, has long been a problem in California, the rate is accelerating because the state's extreme drought is fueling voracious groundwater pumping.

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