The California Drought

There are currently at least 663 million people in the world who do not have access to safe drinking water (Deen). Water is a vital resource that everyone depends on in order to carry out activities and simply to survive. Without water, life on Earth would not exist because in order for life to grow and thrive, including humans, depend on water. Unfortunately with increasing population, altered and changing weather patterns and the pumping of groundwater are factors that have contributed to the issue of water depletion. These issues have caused conflict over water transportation, usage and the potential of water weaponry. Water depletion is an issue that is very difficult to fix because it would take an extensive amount of time and resources

Changes in weather patterns can produce an increase of precipitation, but it can also be reduced in other regions (Keske). An important event is the California drought, which has been speculated to be one of the first warning signs that one must take care of water. It is stated that this drought is only a preview of what is to come in the future. The California drought will eventually end, but in the future it will become the reality of most people (Famiglietti). California is running out of water, this statement alone is intimidating to declare. California’s drought emphasizes the need to conserve water because currently and in the future, California will not be the only place in the world to have water issues. California is not the only place suffering a water crisis. Droughts have already started in other parts of the world as well, for example, in Syria. The drought from 2006 to 2009 has been credited from being one of the key contributors for social unrest and ultimately it lead to its Civil War (famiglietti). The Syrian drought brought with it so much instability but it is also another place among many that are suffering the consequences of the changing climate and the lack of water and precipitation. The altered and changing weather patterns have made it difficult for the restoration of water because it is extremely unpredictable and changing all the time. According to NASA, it will take two to three more winters of at least average precipitation to bring an end to the current drought (Famiglietti). Considering that the average precipitation is 63.7 inches (Osborn). There would need to be over 100 inches of precipitation in those two years to reach that goal, however, it cannot be predicted if this will be possible. One will simply have to wait and see. The drought has been a wake up call for everyone because it shows that water is a limited resource that will not be around