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Sigmetnow

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Drought 2019
« on: February 21, 2019, 08:15:59 PM »
“We’ve decoupled growth from water.  We use the same amount of water that we did 20 years ago, but have added 400,000 more people.” In 2000, some 80 percent of Phoenix had lush green lawns; now only 14 percent does. The city has done this by charging more for water in the summer. Per capita usage has declined 30 percent over the last 20 years. “That’s a huge culture change.”

In Era of Drought, Phoenix, Arizona Prepares for a Future Without Colorado River Water
https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-phoenix-is-preparing-for-a-future-without-colorado-river-water
« Last Edit: February 22, 2019, 01:12:20 PM by Sigmetnow »
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rboyd

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2019, 09:25:30 PM »
Next on the list should be those very green golf courses around Phoenix.

Klondike Kat

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2019, 10:05:31 PM »
What do you expect when you build in a desert?

vox_mundi

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2019, 02:28:58 PM »
Millions Hit in Manila's 'Worst' Water Shortage   
https://phys.org/news/2019-03-millions-manila-worst-shortage.html

Manila has been hit by its worst water shortage in years

Taps are dry from four to 20 hours per day in the homes of about half of the Philippine capital's roughly 12 million people due to rolling outages driven by a dearth of rain and inadequate infrastructure.

The shortages started hitting late last week, with some areas in eastern Manila seeing the supplies of water into their homes being completely cut off.

... The disruption could last until July when monsoon rains are typically in full swing and would replenish regional reservoirs, one of which is at a two-decade low.

.. The government has admitted that the problem of growing demand for water has long been forecast but they failed to address it due to delays in projects that would expand capacity.

-------------------------------

Philippine Water Shortage Forces Cuts for 6.8 Million People
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/philippine-water-shortage-forces-cuts-for-68-million-people/2019/03/14/e3734b34-46bb-11e9-94ab-d2dda3c0df52_story.html

... Water supplies will be cut for at least six hours a day for more than a million households until the rainy season fills dams and reservoirs in May or June, a spokesman for Manila Water Co. Inc., Jeric Sevilla, said Thursday.

The company, one of two government-authorized water suppliers in the densely populated Manila metropolis and nearby Rizal province, said a spike in demand and reduced water levels in a dam and smaller reservoirs in the sweltering summer are the culprit, exacerbated by El Nino weather conditions.

A company advisory said residents in more than a dozen cities and towns would lose their water supply from six to 21 hours a day through the summer months and appealed for public understanding.

... “El Nino is not really the culprit,” Sevilla said. “It’s actually supply and demand.”

-------------------------------

The US Is Only Decades Away From Widespread Water Shortages, Scientists Warn
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-us-is-only-decades-away-from-widespread-water-shortages-scientists-warn

Much of the United States could be gripped by significant water shortages in just five decades' time, according to predictions made in a new study.

From the year 2071 on, scientists say the combined effects of climate change and population increases are projected to present "serious challenges" in close to half of the 204 watersheds covering the contiguous US.

Open Access: Brown, Thomas, et.al., Adaptation to Future Water Shortages in the United States Caused by Population Growth and Climate Change
« Last Edit: March 15, 2019, 05:03:53 PM by vox_mundi »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2019, 09:21:27 PM »
Quote
MacGyver (@MacGyver_BE) 4/25/19, 3:29 PM
It's April and we're already instructed to conserve water. In Belgium. Crazy.
Water levels haven't recovered from the record drought last year.

https://twitter.com/macgyver_be/status/1121496587983781888
The fact we're even instructed to conserve water is rare. But now in April...

Quote
Johan Andersson (@johaan) 4/25/19, 4:18 PM
Same here in Sweden. We haven´t had rain for 3-4 weeks which is highly unusual and worrying.
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Klondike Kat

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #5 on: April 28, 2019, 12:13:09 AM »
Interesting.  Here in the U.S., drought is the lowest since measurements began.

Sleepy

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #6 on: April 28, 2019, 09:04:10 AM »
Thought everyone was aware of the drought last year in Europe and Sweden. Unprecedented in some of our southern parts with huge impacts on farming. Some farmers had to slaugther animals as well.

April has been much the same so far, rain forecasts dry out, the same today. Just a tiny bit last night and nothing today. Adding a recent reply, (in response to planting trees) it's a cherry pick but it certainly is dry here. Groundwater levels are falling and with last year in fresh memory, I do hope we get some rain soon. A recent study showed that our crop production would be cut in half with further droughts.
Start here? Crappy photo taken yesterday passing a huge crop field.

Hmm, on a second thought that would be a bad idea. We can only feed half of our population here, the rest is imported.


Adding daily precipitation for April below. No need to make it larger, there's not much to see...
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Pmt111500

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2019, 09:37:06 AM »
Thought everyone was aware of the drought last year in Europe and Sweden. Unprecedented in some of our southern parts with huge impacts on farming. Some farmers had to slaugther animals as well.

April has been much the same so far, rain forecasts dry out, the same today. Just a tiny bit last night and nothing today. Adding a recent reply, (in response to planting trees) it's a cherry pick but it certainly is dry here. Groundwater levels are falling and with last year in fresh memory, I do hope we get some rain soon. A recent study showed that our crop production would be cut in half with further droughts.

<><> Clip <><>

Adding daily precipitation for April below. No need to make it larger, there's not much to see...
As happened here on the other side of Baltic. Too hot later in summer 2018 so some livestock had to be slaughtered prematurely.
This is looking like a pattern emerging. If it goes on for several more years it might force the farmers to wait for rains to sow the fields. This could of course be changed with the general change in the Arctic. I'd rather have cold fronts from Kara and Barents to hit moist warm airs from eastern Atlantic or Black Sea than the heat of last July/beginning of August. Seriously considered letting the grass on yard die. Most here agree, but they also agree on combustion engine powered long-range mobility enhancers, so I don't know what the people here want. Mainly hunkering down with these anomalies

Sleepy

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2019, 10:12:12 AM »
Warmer wetter winters and warmer drier summers, might very well be a pattern Pmt.
Reminded me of this one:
https://www.clim-past.net/10/1925/2014/cp-10-1925-2014.pdf
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El Cid

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #9 on: April 28, 2019, 10:35:10 AM »
Yes, I also quoted that article on some other threads. I believe that it is a likely outcome for N.Europe: much warmer all year, and little rain during summer. Mediterranization...

(hint: grow figs :)

Pmt111500

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #10 on: April 28, 2019, 10:46:28 AM »
Yes, I also quoted that article on some other threads. I believe that it is a likely outcome for N.Europe: much warmer all year, and little rain during summer. Mediterranization...

(hint: grow figs :)
Thank you Cid for the hint, I do have some aloes on the windowsill, but I don't think they'll manage the winters yet outside. Considering  recommending peach-trees and central europe pear cultivars for people with better local conditions than mine...

Sleepy

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2019, 10:58:08 AM »
Walpurgis night here in two days, let's see how that goes first. A night of song and fire...
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Alexander555

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #12 on: April 28, 2019, 01:22:07 PM »
And Mumbai is not even 1 of the 21 big indian cities that will run out of groundwater next year. https://m.mid-day.com/articles/mumbais-water-stock-lowest-in-three-years/20755190

El Cid

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #13 on: April 28, 2019, 01:45:07 PM »
Yes, I also quoted that article on some other threads. I believe that it is a likely outcome for N.Europe: much warmer all year, and little rain during summer. Mediterranization...

(hint: grow figs :)
Thank you Cid for the hint, I do have some aloes on the windowsill, but I don't think they'll manage the winters yet outside. Considering  recommending peach-trees and central europe pear cultivars for people with better local conditions than mine...

Actually, I am from C.Europe and as temperatures have risen 1,5-2 C in the past 30-40 yrs, people have started to grow figs, kiwis, persimmons with success. With some winter protection these are now totally viable here on warmer S-facing hillsides.

As for pears, we have some old cultivars that grew well in the Middle Ages (Little Ice Age), and I am sure those should be OK up north as well. Peaches: If your winter temps don't go below 20-22C, they survive quite well. The real problems come during springtime, because these flower quite early and late frosts can and do kill the fruits/flowers time and again even here...same for apricots.

Klondike Kat

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #14 on: April 28, 2019, 02:47:04 PM »
Yes, I also quoted that article on some other threads. I believe that it is a likely outcome for N.Europe: much warmer all year, and little rain during summer. Mediterranization...

(hint: grow figs :)
Thank you Cid for the hint, I do have some aloes on the windowsill, but I don't think they'll manage the winters yet outside. Considering  recommending peach-trees and central europe pear cultivars for people with better local conditions than mine...

Actually, I am from C.Europe and as temperatures have risen 1,5-2 C in the past 30-40 yrs, people have started to grow figs, kiwis, persimmons with success. With some winter protection these are now totally viable here on warmer S-facing hillsides.

As for pears, we have some old cultivars that grew well in the Middle Ages (Little Ice Age), and I am sure those should be OK up north as well. Peaches: If your winter temps don't go below 20-22C, they survive quite well. The real problems come during springtime, because these flower quite early and late frosts can and do kill the fruits/flowers time and again even here...same for apricots.

The warmer winters, especially when combined with longer frost-free days, will allow for the expansion of growing these and other foods.

Pmt111500

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #15 on: April 28, 2019, 04:33:13 PM »
<cut>

As for pears, we have some old cultivars that grew well in the Middle Ages (Little Ice Age), and I am sure those should be OK up north as well. Peaches: If your winter temps don't go below 20-22C, they survive quite well. The real problems come during springtime, because these flower quite early and late frosts can and do kill the fruits/flowers time and again even here...same for apricots.

Thanks again, we do have at least one cultivar of pear that can manage on sheltered locations in the south. Peaches and apricots might then start to manage on the Baltic islands sheltered. People with big porches are growing some in pots, taking them in for the coldest months. Cherries are nowadays spreading northwards on the mainland. But this is OT. Could use some rain here.

Archimid

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #16 on: April 28, 2019, 04:48:28 PM »
 If the environment is more favorable for some southern products, is the environment more unfavorable for the crops that have been optimized for centuries?

Can the fellows down south growth the same crops with the same effectiveness?
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Pmt111500

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #17 on: April 29, 2019, 10:44:09 AM »
If the environment is more favorable for some southern products, is the environment more unfavorable for the crops that have been optimized for centuries?

Can the fellows down south growth the same crops with the same effectiveness?
That's a good question, last year was one of the first years of poorer yield by drought in Finland, but I've not heard of other special troubles for the northernmost cultivars.

Klondike Kat

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #18 on: April 29, 2019, 02:36:31 PM »
If the environment is more favorable for some southern products, is the environment more unfavorable for the crops that have been optimized for centuries?

Can the fellows down south growth the same crops with the same effectiveness?
That's a good question, last year was one of the first years of poorer yield by drought in Finland, but I've not heard of other special troubles for the northernmost cultivars.

Currently, the answer is yes.  Southern areas have been less affected by climate change than the northern ones.  As long as summer temperatures and precipitation remain in the same general range, this will be the case.  Any significant changes may affect the effectiveness.

El Cid

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #19 on: April 29, 2019, 03:34:05 PM »
I think the major question is the distribution of the rains. Temperature growth in itself does not mean problems, on the contrary, cold places becoming warmer can produce more. we also know, that global warming brings more rains.

However, the distribution of those (future) rains is not very well understood as I see it (models do not replicate neither European nor N.African precipitation patterns even for the Holocene Optimum!). Problems will arise when precipitation patterns change, eg. instead of previously evenly distributed rains a dry/wet season climate arrives. It is essential to prepare for that first by saving water and second by increasing irrigation infrastructure. Even so, disruptions will emerge for sure as change is always hard.

Klondike Kat

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #20 on: April 29, 2019, 03:59:51 PM »
I think the major question is the distribution of the rains. Temperature growth in itself does not mean problems, on the contrary, cold places becoming warmer can produce more. we also know, that global warming brings more rains.

However, the distribution of those (future) rains is not very well understood as I see it (models do not replicate neither European nor N.African precipitation patterns even for the Holocene Optimum!). Problems will arise when precipitation patterns change, eg. instead of previously evenly distributed rains a dry/wet season climate arrives. It is essential to prepare for that first by saving water and second by increasing irrigation infrastructure. Even so, disruptions will emerge for sure as change is always hard.

I would agree that the rains are a bigger issue than temperature.  Temperature is really only an issue when it exceeds either a maximum or minimum growth limit. 

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #21 on: April 29, 2019, 06:05:26 PM »
I've seen several maps showing the future boding ill for the Mediterranean Sea area, temperature-wise.  I cannot imagine this will be anything but disastrous for agriculture in the region.  I do not recall 'timing' of these changes, however, a quick internet search reveals this 2019 paper, although the abstract appears to focus on how absolutely horrible things will get under a RCP8.5 scenario.
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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #22 on: June 02, 2019, 03:14:01 PM »
Chennai's Population: 11,133,854 


-----------------------

Chennai's Largest Source Of Drinking Water Dries Up, Residents Hit Hard   
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ndtv.com/chennai-news/chennais-largest-source-of-drinking-water-dries-up-residents-hit-hard-2045155%3famp=1&akamai-rum=off

Chennai: Chennai's largest source of drinking water, Chembarambakkam lake, is bone dry with parched and cracked bed all over. The 3,500 million cubic feet capacity reservoir is left just with storage of silt and slush in the middle largely due to deficit monsoon last year. It was this very lake that overflowed and flooded Chennai in December 2015.

Chennai Metro Water, which supplies drinking water, has cut piped supply by 40 per cent.

Quote
... "Before elections we were getting water regularly. Now we don't get regular supply. We get water just for one hour and half the time it's like toilet water. Tankers come only around 10 or 11 am. It's so difficult."

-----------------

Drought-Hit Chennai Has 1.3% of Water in Its Reservoirs, One of the Lowest in 70 yrs 
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thenewsminute.com/article/drought-hit-chennai-has-13-water-its-reservoirs-one-lowest-70-yrs-102038%3famp

... According to data from the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), as of Sunday, Chembarambakkam Lake has only 1mcft of water compared to its capacity of 3645 mcft, Redhills has 28 mcft compared to 3300 mcft of storage, Poondi contains 118 mcft of water as opposed to its storage of 3231 mcft and Cholavaram has 4 mcft compared to a total capacity of 1081 mcft.

... Chennai had received only 390 mm of rainfall in 2018 as against the normal of 850mm during the Northeast monsoon, when it gets a bulk of its annual rainfall.

 "At this rate these four reservoirs will be empty by July.


Chennai is already battling an acute water crisis despite CMWSSB rationing supplies from January. From the total daily supply of about 880 million litres a day, it has been brought down to 550 million litres a day. On May 15, CMWSSB stopped drawing water from the Redhills lake, which supplies the city 90 million litres-120 million litres a day.
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Shared Humanity

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #23 on: June 02, 2019, 04:36:33 PM »
A human being can survive at most a week without water. If Chennai were to run out of water entirely, large portions of the population would die quickly unless sufficient water was transported to meet minimum requirements or if the population was transported to where water supplies still existed.

The minimum requirement for daily water intake is 3 liters per day. Supporting the population of Chennai would require transporting, at a minimum, 33 million liters of water daily. The largest tanker trucks can hold 44K liters, about 800 tanker truck deliveries per day. Not an impossible task but a logistical nightmare.

There will come a point in time in the not too distant future when we will have an incident in a major urban area where hundreds of thousands of people die of thirst. This will occur in a 3rd world nation or in an underdeveloped region in a developing nation. The western world will blame it on the misuse of water and go about their BAU.

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #24 on: June 02, 2019, 05:48:54 PM »
The minimum requirement for daily water intake is 3 liters per day.
A long time ago when I did a few water projects we reckoned an absolute minimum of 15 liters per capita per day for the very poorest of the poor to keep the soul attached to the body.

This was for
- drinking,
- cooking,
- personal hygiene (washing one's body and clothes occasionally)
- keeping the dust down on the dirt or concrete floor.

25 to 30 liters per day would be better, but depended on how far to walk to the standpipe or tankers (which can't get into the alleyways of the katchi abadis / barrios / favelas). Water is heavy to carry.
« Last Edit: June 02, 2019, 07:32:48 PM by gerontocrat »
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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #25 on: June 02, 2019, 06:36:58 PM »
The minimum requirement for daily water intake is 3 liters per day.
[/quote
A long time ago when I did a few water projects we reckoned an absolute minimum of 15 liters per capita per day for the very poorest of the poor to keep the soul attached to the body.

This was for
- drinking,
- cooking,
- personal hygiene (washing one's body and clothes occasionally)
- keeping the dust down on the dirt or concrete floor.

25 to 30 liters per day would be better, but depended on how far to walk to the standpipe or tankers (which can't get into the alleyways of the katchi abadis / barrios / favelas). Water is heavy to carry.

Of course your number is more accurate but 3.2 liters was the number I found for staying alive while remaining completely at rest.

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #26 on: June 02, 2019, 07:57:31 PM »
What would be the result of that, in the long run ? Because many of these countries that have water troubles, are big water exporters. India is one of the biggest water exporters in the world. And we import it, like rice, coffee ,cotton.... It takes like 140 liters of water for 1 cup of coffee, or a few 1000 liters for a t-shirt.

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #27 on: June 12, 2019, 05:48:58 PM »

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #28 on: June 13, 2019, 01:27:14 PM »
And further south it's not much better. I think one more bad monsoon and things run out of control. All moving in to these already heavely populated cities. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/crisis-in-full-flow-1900-villages-rely-on-tankers-in-karnataka/articleshow/69763924.cms

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #30 on: June 18, 2019, 01:32:41 PM »
Canada

‘That water is going to be gone later in the summer,’ says Dave Campbell of the River Forecast Centre

B.C. drought fears surge as rivers dry up across the province
Quote
Extreme hot dry weather has left streams and rivers across the province running low and that's creating drought conditions more commonly seen in late July.

On June 12, temperature records for many places in B.C. were broken — with highs not seen in some spots in a century. Provincial drought monitors say this kind of weather is leaving many waterways at record-low flows, fuelling fears over everything from fire risks to salmon survival.
...
Campbell says this is the fifth year of a pattern of drought that used to be something seen every 10 or 20 years. ...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/drought-bc-rivers-creeks-running-low-summer-heat-in-spring-temperature-records-1.5174220
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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #31 on: June 20, 2019, 09:42:37 PM »
India is Running Out of Water, Fast
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/india-running-water-fast-190620085139572.html

The city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state is now virtually out of water, while it has been hitting temperatures over 41C for nine of the last 10 days; on June 10, it was 43C. The average for June in the city is 37C and the record 43.3C.

Millions of people have been forced to rely on water from tank trucks in the southern Tamil Nadu, which had a 62 percent shortfall in monsoon rains last year.

... Deficient rainfall during the 2017 northeast monsoon and a failed monsoon in 2018 have resulted in the depletion of groundwater levels and the near drying-up of major water bodies. Four major lakes around Chennai - Chembarambakkam, Poondi, Red Hills and Cholavaram - are almost dry.

While 70 percent of India’s population depends on agriculture, 75 percent of water required for the fields comes from the southwest monsoon. Water storage in reservoirs appears insufficient for irrigation and drinking supplies and boreholes down to the groundwater are commonplace.

The increasing population, increase in irrigation requirements, the need for drinking water and deficient monsoon rains have obvious consequences. Boreholes are drawn on for greater supply and the groundwater level consequently drops even further.
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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #32 on: June 20, 2019, 09:50:39 PM »
India's ongoing drought affecting many states of this huge country

Quote
The drought, which officials say is worse than the 1972 famine [..] The village of Hatkarwadi, about 20 miles from Beed in Maharashtra state, is almost completely deserted.
[..] Groundwater, the source of 40% of India’s water needs, is depleting at an unsustainable rate, Niti Aayog, a governmental thinktank, said in a 2018 report. Twenty-one Indian cities – including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad – are expected to run out of groundwater by 2020, and 40% of India’s population will have no access to drinking water by 2030, the report said.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/12/indian-villages-lie-empty-as-drought-forces-thousands-to-flee

From a 2017 news article..
Quote
Chennai's Drinking Water Cut By Half Amid Worst Drought In 140 Years
https://www.ndtv.com/chennai-news/chennai-turns-dry-as-worst-drought-in-140-years-hits-tamil-nadu-1717014

bbr2314

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #33 on: June 20, 2019, 09:50:43 PM »
There is gonna be nuclear war on the Indian subcontinent IMO... maybe within the next five years?

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #34 on: June 20, 2019, 10:09:51 PM »
Hindu nationalists are in power. The population keeps growing. The need for more energy will only get bigger, a lot bigger. But i think they are to late. And that's the moment the scenario of a nuclear war steps in.

prokaryotes

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #35 on: June 20, 2019, 10:14:45 PM »
Re NW: While this is an interesting topic can we have this in a dedicated thread. Would be more interested in learning how India is addressing the drought, what the results are and so on.

bbr2314

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #36 on: June 20, 2019, 10:23:56 PM »
Hindu nationalists are in power. The population keeps growing. The need for more energy will only get bigger, a lot bigger. But i think they are to late. And that's the moment the scenario of a nuclear war steps in.
It's way too late.. Chennai is already dry, major city after major city could also run dry this year + next.

RE: prokaryotes -- nothing can be done. I guess they could do desal but they have no $. The "day zero" is already here.

The biggest point of tension between India and Pakistan is the waters flowing from the Himalayas... the new Indian dam on the Indus (I think) is in violation of a long-established treaty re: water rights.

What can be done? At this point the only solution is mass depopulation. At first I guess it will happen through "natural" means but as desperation increases, the nukes will fly.

vox_mundi

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #37 on: June 20, 2019, 10:38:21 PM »
Satellite Images of Parched Water Bodies Highlight Chennai Drought: Before & After
https://www.news18.com/photogallery/india/tamil-nadu-water-woes-before-after-satellite-photos-of-chennais-dry-lakes-2195293.html

https://www.9news.com.au/world/drought-chennai-indias-sixth-biggest-city-is-almost-entirely-out-of-water/fc504a1b-9da7-4508-a353-4c03089d07d2


Chembarambakkam Lake in Chennai before the drought. 2018

Chembarambakkam Lake in Chennai after the drought. 2019


Puzhal reservoir in Chennai before the drought 2018

Puzhal reservoir in Chennai after the drought 2019
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

ivica

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #38 on: June 20, 2019, 11:40:27 PM »
Quote
Revitalizing #rivers, lakes and ponds is not for knee jerk actions during summer crisis but a long term commitment. Let us understand this is Generational work. -Sg #WaterCrisis

Chennai water crisis: City's reservoirs run dry
https://twitter.com/SadhguruJV/status/1141625581236174848


vox_mundi

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #39 on: June 20, 2019, 11:50:50 PM »
From the BBC article

... The situation has prompted clashes to break out between residents. Last week, police arrested a man for stabbing his neighbour during a fight over water-sharing in the neighbourhood.

... "The destruction has just begun," an official said. "If the rain fails us this year too, we are totally destroyed." 
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

prokaryotes

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #40 on: June 21, 2019, 12:51:01 AM »
More than 500 arrested after protests and clashes as India water crisis worsens https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/20/india/chennai-water-crisis-intl-hnk/index.html

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #41 on: June 21, 2019, 06:24:02 PM »
https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,2352.150.html

Check out post 173 and the indian temperature graphic in there...quite insane. 
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

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Sigmetnow

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #43 on: June 23, 2019, 03:54:11 PM »
"Each year, India’s June-to-September monsoon season is the most important weather event in the world. Hundreds of millions of people directly depend on the rains. This year, the rains are weeks behind schedule and 39% below normal. It’s a disaster in the making.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/ericholthaus/status/1142511152758493185
Image below.
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #44 on: June 24, 2019, 06:22:03 PM »
Will better forecasting help future Chennais?https://www.circleofblue.org/2019/world/reservoirs-in-parched-chennai-city-of-millions-are-dry-can-better-forecasting-avert-future-crises/
More on Chennai:
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/22/india/chennai-india-water-crisis-intl/index.html
« Last Edit: June 24, 2019, 06:49:49 PM by Tom_Mazanec »

vox_mundi

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #45 on: June 29, 2019, 06:49:50 PM »
U.S. Corn Crop Could Be Smallest Since 2012 Drought
https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/us-corn-crop-could-be-smallest-since-2012-drought

Based on surveys conducted ahead of USDA reports due for release today, analysts say corn plantings will total 86.7 to 87 million acres after a rainy and cold spring. That would be well below the 92.8 million acres that farmers had planned to seed. The 6% downturn in plantings could mean the smallest harvest since drought shriveled fields in 2012, assuming normal weather and yields.

The International Grains Council lowered its forecast for the global corn crop by 2% on Thursday, noting “a difficult start to the growing season for U.S. maize.” Indigo Ag, based in Memphis, Tennessee, said its crop health index for corn, based on satellite imagery, “is significantly below 2018 levels and is ranking below 2012’s historically poor corn harvest.”

Analysts have said there could be a spike in prevented-planting land measuring in the millions of acres. The USDA’s annual Acreage Report, due for release today at noon (EDT), is expected to provide clarity. The USDA surveys tens of thousands of growers during the first two weeks of June for the report.

In a normal year, harvested corn acreage is roughly 8% smaller than planted acreage. The USDA has projected a corn yield of 166 bushels an acre. When those factors are combined with analysts’ estimates of corn plantings, they suggest a harvest of 13.2 to 13.3 billion bushels, which would be the smallest total since 2012’s 10.78 billion bushels.

-----------------------------------

Droughts May Behave Like Dominos: Stanford Study
http://waterinthewest.stanford.edu/news-events/news-insights/domino-droughts

As the United States moves into the summer months, a recent study examines whether a drought in California can be linked to one in the Midwest. The Stanford-led study published in Geophysical Research Letters finds that regions may fall victim to water scarcity like dominos across the nation, the university news service reported.

"We know droughts can travel thousands of miles across continents, but it has not been clear exactly how," said lead author Julio E. Herrera Estrada, a postdoctoral scholar with the Stanford Water in the West program and the Stanford Department of Earth System Science.

In this study, researchers looked at how decreased moisture from this process amplified the 2012 drought in the Midwest, which resulted in losses of over $33 billion.

Like most of the nation, the Midwest relies on moisture imported from other regions. When a drought occurred in the western United States that same year, it resulted in less evaporation and drier air.

The study found that the Midwest eventually recovered from drought when more moisture was imported directly from the ocean. The cycle restarts the process in the region.

"We show that multiple droughts over a continent may not necessarily be a coincidence," Herrera Estrada said.



Julio E. Herrera‐Estrada, et.al., Reduced Moisture Transport Linked to Drought Propagation Across North America, Geophysical Research Letters, 24 April 2019

----------------------------------------

Drought in Marathwada, India has Pushed Poor into Penury
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/drought-in-marathwada-has-pushed-poor-into-penury/article28214105.ece

In the last few months severe drought has deprived people of their livelihoods and pushed them into penury. Thousands migrated in search of work while hundreds ended their lives in drought hit region of Marathwada.

But for the tanker lobby money flowed in like water, sand mafia extracted tonnes of sand and gravel from dry rivers, contractors minted money in government’s water conservation works and fodder camp owners earned bumper cash.


“Drought brings death for the poor, but it is an opportunity to multiply money for politicians and the rich... All these years we have witnessed massive corruption in drought relief works, but no effort has been made to stop it”

--------------------------------------

'Our Whole Life is Disrupted': Hope Dries Up as Chennai Battles Historic Drought
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/28/our-whole-life-is-disrupted-hope-dries-up-as-chennai-battles-historic-drought

India is facing the worst water crisis in its history. A government report estimates that 21 cities will run out of groundwater by 2020. ... Political parties are cashing in – the ruling AIADMK government dismisses the crisis as a media creation – while the opposition DMK party has taken to the streets to protest about the government’s inaction.

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Iraq's Drought Unveils 3,400-Year-Old Palace of Mysterious Empire
https://www.dw.com/en/iraqs-drought-unveils-3400-year-old-palace-of-mysterious-empire/a-49384876



A team of German and Kurdish archaeologists have discovered a 3,400-year-old palace that belonged to the mysterious Mittani Empire, the University of Tübingen announced on Thursday.

The discovery was only made possible by a drought that significantly reduced water levels in the Mosul Dam reservoir.


"The find is one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the region in recent decades and illustrates the success of the Kurdish-German cooperation," said Hasan Ahmed Qasim, a Kurdish archaeologist of the Duhok Directorate of Antiquites who worked on the site.

---------------------------------------

No System of Government Designed by Human Beings Can Survive What the Climate Crisis Will Bring
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a28102591/india-drought-chennai-climate-change-five-years-transform/
« Last Edit: June 29, 2019, 06:55:37 PM by vox_mundi »
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Alexander555

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #46 on: July 01, 2019, 02:28:47 PM »
And in the south of the country it's the opposite. I never payed much attention to what kind of rainfall is normal in the area. But it's already raining a lot for a long time. https://watchers.news/2019/07/01/severe-drought-leaves-1-2-million-ha-2-9-million-acres-of-crops-damaged-shandong-china/

vox_mundi

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #47 on: July 02, 2019, 06:19:46 PM »
Why India's Chennai Has Run Out of Water
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-48797399

Chennai (formerly Madras), the capital of India's southern Tamil Nadu state, is gaining notoriety as the disaster capital of the world - floods one year, cyclone the next, and drought the year after. ... The irony is that Chennai's vulnerability to floods and its water scarcity have common roots. Blinded by a hurry to grow, the city has paved over the very infrastructures that nurtured water.

Between 1980 and 2010, heavy construction in the city meant its area under buildings increased from 47 sq km to 402 sq km. Meanwhile, areas under wetlands declined from 186 to 71.5 sq km.

Early agrarian settlements in Chennai respected the unpredictable weather with growth limited not by availability of land but of water.

This agrarian logic valourised open spaces. Each village had vast tracts of land, including water bodies, grazing grounds and wood lots, demarcated as Poromboke or commons. Construction was outlawed in the commons. The three districts of Chennai, Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram alone had more than 6000 reservoirs (erys) - some as old as 1,500 years.

So rather than transport water over long distances against gravity, early settlers had the technology and good sense to harvest water where it fell.

But this faded with the advent of modern technology.

... As urban logic took root, built-up spaces began to be seen as more valuable than open earth. In fact, one could argue that Chennai's date with "zero water" was made in the 17th Century when it was incorporated as a city by Royal Charter. Born a colony of the British, the city rapidly became a coloniser of the countryside.

Reliance on a distant water source disconnected residents of the fast urbanising settlement from local water and landscapes. For the urban agenda, this was great as it freed up inner-city water bodies for real estate development.

In the 1920s for instance, the ancient 70 acre Mylapore reservoir (tank) was filled up to create what is now a bustling residential and commercial area called T Nagar.


India received 24 percent less rainfall than the 50-year average in the week ending on June 26, data from the India Meteorological Department showed, with scant rains over central and western regions of the country. ... The spectre of a crisis this year comes after drought in some parts of India in 2018 destroyed crops, ravaged livestock and exhausted reservoirs, leaving some cities and industries with little water.

... Land-use planning today is a far cry from the simple principles that prevailed in medieval Tamil Nadu.

Wetlands were off-limits for construction, and only low-density buildings were permitted on lands immediately upstream of tanks. The reason: These lands have to soak up the rainwater before letting it to run to the reservoir.

It is this sub-surface water that will flow to the lake as the levels go down with use and time. Unmindful of such common sense, the IT Corridor (a road which houses a large number of IT companies in the city) was built almost entirely on Chennai's precious Pallikaranai marshlands.

And the area immediately upstream of Chembarambakkam - the city's largest drinking water reservoir - has now been converted into an automotive special economic zone (SEZ).

Other water bodies have been treated with similar disdain.

The Perungudi garbage dump spreads out through the middle of the Pallikaranai marshlands.

The Manali marshlands were drained in the 1960s for Tamil Nadu's largest petrochemical refinery. Electricity for the city comes from a cluster of power plants built on the Ennore Creek, a tidal wetland that has been converted into a dump for coal-ash.

The Pallavaram Big Tank, which is perhaps more than 1,000 years old, has over the last two decades been bisected by a high-speed road with the remainder serving as a garbage dump for the locality.

... Along the periphery of Chennai, and far into the hinterland, the land is dotted with communities whose water and livelihoods have been forcibly taken to feed the city. The water crises in these localities desiccated by the city never make it to the news.

-------------------------------

Villagers Accuse City of Seizing Water as Drought Parches 'India's Detroit'
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-water-chennai/villagers-accuse-city-of-seizing-water-as-drought-parches-indias-detroit-idUSKCN1TX1BF

Local tensions have been inflamed by the Tamil Nadu state government tapping wells normally used for agriculture and villagers’ daily needs.

... People living on the outskirts of Chennai, this southern Indian metropolis are blocking roads and laying siege to tanker lorries because they fear their water reserves are being sacrificed so city dwellers, businesses and luxury hotels don’t run out.


Private tankers have fitted more than eight bore wells in our village and are indiscriminately extracting thousands of liters of water every day,” the Bangarampettai villagers wrote in a letter to a government official in the region a day after they stopped the tanker.



... We don’t have water in one of the two water tanks in the village now because the private tankers have been extracting water day and night.”

------------------------------

India’s Deadly Drought: Villagers in Mokhada Battle Sleepless Nights, Snakes in Search of Water
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3016818/indias-deadly-drought-villagers-mokhada-battle

... This region is facing a crushing water scarcity. Dominated mostly by tribal hamlets, Mokhada is underdeveloped – it has a literacy rate that is two-thirds lower than the national rate of 74 per cent; it sees hundreds of children dying each year due to poor nourishment and health care facilities.



... Mokhada’s drought carries a heavy and almost tragic sense of irony. It is not a dry region; five rivers originate here. The region generally sees over 2,400 millimetres of rainfall a year. But instead of providing for the locals, much of the water is diverted to Mumbai – which gets a major chunk of its water from here – along with other cities and industrial corridors.

The scarcity can turn fatal. In April 2012, a woman died from the exertion of trying to fetch water. In addition, the hilly terrain in the region means the rainwater does not percolate but instead, slides off down the valley into the rivers.

Locals are left with the hard choice of staring at rivers flowing past, even as they struggle for each drop. ... The village’s only source of water, a common well, ran out of water in January this year.

---------------------------

Drought-Hit Kenya Sees 2 Million People Needing Food Aid in July
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-27/drought-hit-kenya-sees-2-million-people-needing-food-aid-in-july

The number of people facing a food crisis in Kenya could reach 2 million in July as the effects of a drought that hit food production and caused prices to soar continue to bite.

People needing food assistance will increase from 1.6 million in May, the National Drought Management Authority said in a report.

... “The food security situation has worsened,” the state’s drought-management agency said. “Crop across the country was affected by the delayed, poorly distributed and cumulatively below-average March-to-May long rains.”
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #48 on: July 09, 2019, 02:52:06 PM »

vox_mundi

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Re: Drought 2019
« Reply #49 on: July 09, 2019, 07:48:42 PM »
Semi-Arid Land in China expanded in Recent Decades; Will Continue to Expand
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-semi-arid-china-decades.html

Drylands cover approximately 50% of the land surface in China, among which semi-arid regions are the main dryland type. However, these semi-arid regions have undergone continuous expansion and a significant drying trend in recent decades, which increases the risk of land degradation and deterioration in China.

Studies have shown that semi-arid regions dominate the coverage of drylands in northern China, which have experienced the largest warming and significant expansion during the last 60 years. The climate in expanded semi-arid regions has become drier and warmer, particularly in the newly formed semi-arid areas, and the drying trend is strongly associated with the weakened East Asian summer monsoon. The intensity of the regional temperature response over these regions has been amplified by land-atmosphere interactions and human activities, and the decadal to interdecadal climate variation in semi-arid regions is regulated by oceanic oscillations. Dust-cloud-precipitation interactions may have altered semi-arid precipitation by affecting the local energy and hydrological cycles.

"In the 21st century, semi-arid regions in China are projected to continuously expand. It will increase the challenges in dealing with desertification, food security and water supply."

Jianping Huang et al, Progress in Semi-arid Climate Change Studies in China, Advances in Atmospheric Sciences (2019)

-------------------------

Before and After Photos: Drought Wipes Chilean Lake From the Map
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/144836/lake-aculeo-dries-up
https://www.geek.com/news/before-and-after-photos-drought-wipes-chilean-lake-from-the-map-1779472/


2014

2019: In the 2019 image, the green within the lake is vegetation, not water.

There’s no single explanation, but climate change is considered a key factor — locals and experts point to a drastic decrease in rainfall. Average annual rainfall in central Chile during the 1980s was nearly 14 inches, AFP reported. By 2018, that had fallen by half, and scientists predict it will continue to fall because of global warming.

But agricultural practices requiring vast amounts of water and lakeside development have also contributed to the depletion of water sources.

-------------------------------

Chile Suffers the Worst Drought in 60 Years
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/chile-suffers-worst-drought-60-years-190708191849467.html

Central Chile is suffering the worst drought in 60 years. That includes the capital Santiago, home to nearly half the country's population of 18 million.

Experts predict climate change, over-exploitation by agriculture and other factors means the shortage of water will be permanent.

Chile's populated capital Santiago, as well as the Valparaiso region, could be left without drinking water by 2030.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late