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Is Climate Change Causing Our Drought in California

California over the past few years has gotten very little rainfall. Wildfires are occurring more often, lawns changing colors, and more air pollution has entered the atmosphere. Scientists at the university of Stanford think they know what the issue is climate change. The main issue that is causing this drought is global warming. Global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants. As the temperatures are rising, more moisture is evaporating from land and water. Due to this, some places are getting more rain or snow, but other places are getting a lot less.
California faced its driest four year period in history from 2011-2015, and 2016 isn’t looking to get out of it. A study from EarthSky suggests that California's drought was caused by natural forces, but that global warming has contributed to at least 8-27%, which is a lot. As stated by Park Williams of Columbia University, “we cannot be positive what portion of the long-term warming trend in California is related to human-caused global warming versus natural climate variability, so there is a fairly wide range of uncertainty surrounding the 15%-20% estimate.”
To help lower our impact in California’s drought, we need to lower the amount of carbon we are releasing into the atmosphere which is helping out global warming. An example to help lower our carbon footprint is getting solar panels to create energy and electricity, instead of burning fossil fuels for houses, restaurants, and schools is one such example. There are lots of small things we can do together to help lower our carbon footprint, weather it’s turning off the water when brushing teeth or walking to a friend’s house that lives close, our carbon footprint needs to be reduced!