California's Drought Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

California's Drought - Research Paper Example As indicated by the U.S. Drought Monitor report, in July of 2014 more than a half of California was in the state of "extraordinary" drought- the highest point on a five-level scale. The year 2014 was the first year when this territory has seen such extraordinary level of drought, as a larger part of a land undergone serious harm due to drought, and the indicators became more and more - "extreme" and "exceptional." Some meteorological stations, such as Central Valley, marked this period the driest in the history of observations. The drought in California resulted in serious changes of the water supply– the state has depleted its reservoirs in the quantity equal to the annual, and dampness in California`s topsoil and subsoil has about been exhausted. Nevertheless, scientists claim that for California climate this is not a complete novelty, and serious droughts have always been a part of the state history. Gradual climate changes on the planet, lack of precipitation, and the geog raphical position of the state have become the major causes of California`s droughts. That is why the government must get ready for the return of severe droughts and use new technologies to prevent such a serious harm to the territory. The effect of California`s drought was devastating for agriculture and resulted in serious economic and social problems. It is estimated that the net revenue loss connected with the drought for agriculture was about 3%, while the total cost in dollars equaled $2.2 billion. Moreover, the drought also had the effect on the level of unemployment in a state and resulted in the loss of more than 17.000 working places with significant part of them being in the farming sector. Agriculture was hit the most nevertheless: around 5% of the irrigated land was considered out of production at the same time with the loss of $800 million of crop revenue. The livestock losses were also impressive: more than $203 million was calculated in revenue loss. Thus, serious economic consequences have become the result of poor planning and the absence of preliminary measures despite the history of droughts (Drought Impact Study, 2014).