The 'climate of drought' is an important aspect to understand because it occurs over long periods of time. At least ten years for drought to be realized as profoundly measurable. Annual records can indicate a burgeoning drought, but, for the most part human beings don't pay attention to drought until it is too late. When they are 'uncomfortable.' When it comes to climate, human beings are 'here and now' entities. They don't 'invest' in the climate the way they might the stock markets. As long as the climate is providing for their needs 'here and now,' damn tomorrow. "We'll figure something out."
The really interesting aspect of a drought is not only that there is a lot of water missing from the biotic content of the land, but, the damage it does including turning areas into 'heat sinks.' Right now the drought over Texas is profound. The word on the U.S. Drought Monitor is 'exceptional.' The area is mostly unretrievable at this point. The land is so dry and parched that the temperature being experienced today in Texas and the southeastern USA is a direct result of the land absorbing the heat rather than deflecting it or 'dealing' with it. How does land 'deal' with heat? What suffers the most in a drought? Plants. Not just plants but sustainable plants like trees and crop lands that are tended. Grasslands are really interesting in their ability to sustain heat while 'causing' a cooler climate. The praries of the USA. Ever stop to wonder how that grassland significantly effects climate? Besides holding the soil that suffers so much in a drought, the grasslands, when they are thick and flourishing, provide valuable shadow to the ground and preserve its moisture. These are areas of 'micromanagement of water.' Shadow and root moisture sustained for photosynthesis 'when the sun shinres' and 'evaportranspiration (water evaporating into the climate and creating that 'coolness' to the degree it does. Ask prairie birds and prairier dogs about that when one gets a chance.) When drought becomes as profound as it is in Texas, there is not just heat and discomfort now a part of the climate, but, soil erosion and loss of biotic content as well. So the recovery that is needed to restore that land and its ability to stay cool and provide a cool climate has to be returned all over again. The other extreme whereby there is plenty of coolness, but, suffer in different ways.
This is "Flathead River" in Montana. On the temperature map above it is easily discerned to the 'coolness' this flooded body of water is creating. The river has its headwaters in Canada, but, the majority of its basin runs between the very northeast tip of Washington State, through northern Idaho and into Montana.June 9, 2011
Columbus Falls, Montana
Photographer states:
Near Columbia Falls, MT, the Flathead River flows out of Glacier National Park, on its way to Flathead Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake W. of the Mississippi.
The headwaters after leaving Canada actually divert and the other branch of this great river is named the Columbia River. To the right is a map of the rivers for easy reference. I really want this illustration of climate in relation to water and moisture to be clear and today is a wonderful example of exactly that. This region comprising the climate of the northwest USA is impacted by opposing 'temperature dynamics.' Heat, large glacier runoff this time of year besides the rainfall. The color of the water today in Flathead indicates a lot of soil erosion, sediment churned up and over all 'rearrangement' of biotic content. Different than drought, this area is far more sustainable than Texas is and far more recoverable with less cost.This area today is the coolest place in the USA besides the northeast USA for primarily two reason. Not so much latitude although that plays into some of it, but in a minor way. Not altitude because we are seeing the coolness along the course of this river. But, in the air mass effecting this region which is arctic and different from the air mass effecting Texas and the southeastern USA which is tropical and subtropical but void of the moisture one would NORMALLY affiliate with tropical and subtropical air masses. But, also WATER. The entire area impacted by the Flathead River is cool because of that river. The northeast is cool because of the 'lake effect' on temperature of the Great Lakes. Every stream, every river, every lake and its sustainability in relation to its 'surface area' directly provides for a cooler climate and sustainable biotic content which protects from soil erosion and costly loss of protections to human life.
As these areas of water, including the Great Lakes, evaporate under a hotter and hotter climate which 'builds over time,' just as the profound drought over Texas and the southeastern USA, the land everywhere will become drought stricken. The drought as seen moving from Texas eastward following nearly a decade of air masses dominated by high tropospheric vortexes with winds that have dried the land and resulted in higher temperatures have the potential to do the same to higher latitudes. The temperatures dynamics will change annually to increase to record setting standards realized while the rainfall never makes it to the ground. The seasons will rearrange, as noted by bird activity in Britain for a decade or longer, but won't rearrange on the calender. The truth is bird watchers organized by Audobon and other agencies both in the USA and internationally are seeing sweeping changes in activity and sustainability. As they go as insectivores and otherwise, will we see an Earth where humans cannot sustain?
Earth is a water planet. Unique. Everyone seems to ignore that.
Earth is a water planet. Unique. Everyone seems to ignore that.
