this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2024
270 points (99.3% liked)

News

23397 readers
3621 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Summary

Almost the entire United States is experiencing drought conditions, with only Alaska and Kentucky unaffected, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Over the past four months, unusually high temperatures and infrequent rainfall have led to dry conditions across 87% of the country. New York City, facing its driest October since 1869, has issued a drought watch and is urging residents to conserve water.

Climate experts highlight that climate change is intensifying droughts, making them more frequent and severe, with La Niña potentially worsening conditions in the coming months.

While personal actions can help conserve water, larger-scale adaptations in infrastructure, agriculture, and water policy are more effective in addressing water scarcity.

all 27 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] ironchico@lemmy.world 67 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

This is how it starts. Begun, the water wars have

[–] Intergalactic@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago

Alrighty Yoda, calm down

[–] Dagnet@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It seriously worries me since my country has the largest fresh water reserves in the world, it would become a battleground

[–] kcuf@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

What country? Asking for a friend...

[–] Hideakikarate@sh.itjust.works 35 points 3 weeks ago

I'm in Washington state. Before spring, we were told that we were in a drought due to low snow accumulation. Entire summer had fewer than 5 decent rain falls. I live in a rural area, and the risk of fire terrifies me.

[–] Wogi@lemmy.world 22 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Alaska and Kentucky are the two.

[–] pwalshj@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago
[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm surprised cause Arizona has been getting small bits of rain here and there almost every week, and it literally never rains here ever.

[–] Scubus@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Thats really surprising. Here in central oklahoma, weve had i think 5 tornadoes in 2 weeks. Each one has been accompanied by massive rainfalls, i nearly crashed my car about a week ago because the rain got so bad while i was driving.

[–] OptimusPrimeDownfall@discuss.tchncs.de 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Super quick rains wash away very quickly. Not enough time to soak into the soil so they don't lessen a drought very much. Need snow accumulating in high country, too, which isn't happening.

[–] Scubus@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It soaks into my serpentine belt just fine :(

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

The solution is of course more oil drilling and burning more coal.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Think we can get all 50 next year?

[–] CkrnkFrnchMn@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 weeks ago

Blame the immigrants...blame the immigrants

[–] Aeao@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago
[–] FollyDolly@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Been in a drought here since June. Terrified my well is going to run dry, terrified that we are going to have a forest fire.

[–] ATDA@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago
[–] humble_pete_digger@lemm.ee 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I kinda like that. My house is in the flood prone area

[–] DerArzt@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Drought makes floods worse. When the rain does come the dry land can't absorb as much of the water so it has nowhere to go but into the lakes and rivers.

[–] treadful@lemmy.zip -5 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

So... where's it all going? Water doesn't just disappear.

[–] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Other parts of the planet. One area that’s received a disproportionate amount of precipitation this year is the Sahara. In Morocco, “two days of rainfall in September exceeded yearly averages in several areas that see less than 250 millimeters (10 inches) annually.”

[–] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 12 points 2 weeks ago

thats the thing. less light rain and more severe storms. made to obliterate topsoil. im talking overall not just morrocco.

[–] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 16 points 3 weeks ago

Alaska and Kentucky apparently

[–] akincisor@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

There's these large bodies of water called oceans. I believe it goes there (what with always going downhill and stuff).

More and more rain water runs off into streams, rivers and eventually the ocean because there isn't enough foliage to slow the water till it is absorbed by the soil. The foliage is typically replaced by concrete and asphalt (urban) or fields (rural).

Also the increased average temperature of the planet is causing changes in weather patterns and reducing rainfall (in many areas) and increasing the variance of rainfall causing cycles of drought and flood.

Hang on to your hats folks, it's gonna get worse before it gets better (if it will get better at all).