Our planet is changing at a rapid pace.
Over the past few decades, climate change has been simply a worry for the future. However, recent weather events in California have forced us to reevaluate this truth. Some of the most iconic natural beauties in the nation are changing, and we only have ourselves to blame.
How has climate change affected you in your everyday life?
How climate change is making everyday life almost intolerable
Climate change has been affecting almost every aspect of our lives in recent years.
For example, we know that rising temperatures during evenings have led many of us to struggle to cool down and sleep properly. Scientists estimate that this leads to a global average of sleep loss for each person, accumulating to around 44 hours of sleep per person per year.
It’s even affecting our roads and other infrastructure.
We now understand how global warming causes asphalt and roads to soften and railroads to buckle under the heat. It also affects the food we eat as crops grow with far less concentrations of protein, zinc, and iron.
Many note that global warming is the issue of our generation, and probably the next one too
In the 80s, the issue of global warming was merely just another concern raised by science. However, in recent years, the impact of climate change has become much greater.
Recent weather events around the nation have raised serious worries over the health of our planet and our collective future.
A few weeks ago, the NOAA issued several warnings for a number of states over potential supercells forming and devastating parts of the country. And even more recently, the California snowpack melted away much earlier than expected.
Many nations have implemented measures to address climate change in their industries, but most of this has been reactionary and not proactive enough.
The reality is that the weather events that are a normal occurrence are happening much sooner than normal. Such as America’s tornado season, which kicked off way earlier than normal this year.
One iconic regional newspaper, Calmatters, has reported that this year, California’s snowpack has melted away months before expected.
That has forced state officials into a corner as they deal with a mountain of water that they were not prepared for, at this time at least. Several states have started seeing exceedingly high temperatures much earlier than normal, raising alarm bells over the weather crisis at hand.
California is awash in water, but it’s not necessarily a good thing
The iconic state has faced many issues relating to water in recent years.
Drought brought the issue of water conservation to the surface. Water scarcity can devastate millions, which recently became evident in another iconic state in the nation, Texas.
But in the Golden State, officials have been tracking California’s snowpack and found that it was melting rapidly.
The recent heat wave forced millions in the emblematic state to face remarkably high temperatures. But the unforeseen effect of this momentous heatwave has seen Cali’s snowpack melt months ahead of schedule.
State officials have opted to let the water flow instead of storing it
Analysis from Calmatters has noted that as the snowpack melted away, flooding became a major and real concern.
The solution? To begrudgingly release the water to flow instead of storing it. This has alleviated concerns over localised flooding in the region as state officials weigh up what the long-term implications might be.
Many around the West Coast remember the clouds of smoke that enveloped the region due to wildfires in Canada, and with this year’s weather issues coming full circle, Californians will need to prepare for change.