California has been know a drouth since 2012 , which is the worst that has been recorded in the last one C . But how does it compare to droughts that occurred before human weather records ? Though drouth in California are n’t peculiarly rare , a recent field of study has find that this drought is the most intense that has occurred in the area over the last 1,200 years . The inquiry was performed by Daniel Griffin and Kevin Anchukaitis of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ( WHOI ) , and their paper was published inGeophysical Research Letters .
to get a historical record of precipitation in central and southern California , the WHOI squad fill core samples of gamey oak tree trees in monastic order to examine the tree rings . During time of plentiful pelting , the trees took up a capital deal of water , leading to wider closed chain . When drought conditions occurred , the rings were very minuscule and narrow . fortunately , the trees are sturdy enough to outlive very toughened shape for make this analysis possible .
“ California ’s old blue oak are as close to nature ’s rain gauges as we get , ” Griffin read in apress going . “ They flourish in some of the driest environment where trees can grow in California . ”
The team utilize a climate story released over the summer by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to create an index of wet and temperature levels to apply to the tree diagram rings . The data was also compared to several other drought records and tree ring studies pertaining to the region and the continent as a whole .
Griffin and Anchukaitis found that while the current drought is n’t needfully exceptional in the lack of hurriedness that has descend in the last two years , the effect of the arid conditions has been exacerbated by outstandingly high temperatures . While low hurriedness is certainly a factor in drought conditions , temperature can make or split up its hardship .
“ We were genuinely surprised at the solvent , ” continued Griffin . “ This is California — drouth happens . clock time and again , the most coarse result in tree diagram - hoop studies is that drouth episodes in the past were more utmost than those of more recent ERA . This time , however , the result was different . ”
The tree rings showed dry periods that would last for decades at a metre , with a few geezerhood in the middle that were evenhandedly lactating . Overall , this is the long , hottest , and driest catamenia of the last 1,200 year of California ’s story . The writer think that anthropogenetic climate change is a driving constituent behind the drouth and thisextreme weatheris likely to repeat in the future . drouth conditions can take to an increased risk of wildfire , and could also lead toincreased pricesor water rations as occupant of California and surrounding states confront a perpetual deficit of water .
" But there is no doubt that we are go into a new epoch where human - wrought changes to the mood system will become important for determining the rigorousness of droughts and their consequences for match human and instinctive organization , ” Anchukaitis reason .
