4 ms·
Where is all the water going, if it's simply not precipitation enough in these areas?
by 35bge57dtjku 10y ago
Where is all the water going, if it's simply not precipitation enough in these areas?
- handedness 10y agoIt's a combination of factors. Some's being exported as food (nuts, beef). Some isn't being recaptured, as aquifers are being depleted to the point of collapsed. Etc.
- 35bge57dtjku 10y agoBut where does it all end up? In the ocean? In the atmosphere? Frozen in glaciers? Is it that global warming is making it rain in other areas instead?
- teach 10y agoWith climate change we've had a noticeable increase in coastal flooding. So maybe that's where.
- the8472 10y agoDoes it really matter for that particular region? Evaporation increases, weather patterns shift. And even when the rain falls somewhere else it might just cause a flood and run off into the ocean.
- Finnucane 10y agoSome combination of those things--warmer air holds more moisture, which leads to more rainfall in some places. Rain patterns shift. Some places will get more, other places less.
- tzs 10y agoI doubt that the amount exported as nuts is significant. A rough back of the envelope calculation for almonds (I picked almonds because people complain about almonds a lot whenever water is discussed) indicates that California's annual exported almonds contain about as much water as 14 Olympic swimming pools. That doesn't seem too bad considering how large the almond crop is. Almonds use a lot of water to grow, but most of that water doesn't actually end up in the almond, and so doesn't go with the almond if the almond is exported. The numbers I used were 10^12 grams of almonds produced per year, 5% water content per almond, 3785 grams per gallon of water, 660000 gallons per Olympic swimming pool, and 70% of California's almond crop exported.