A scientific paper published last month in the journal Climate Dynamics by a scientist from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center and three universities found that the 1930s drought was exacerbated by an anomalous warm spots in the ocean:
Unusually hot summer conditions occurred during the 1930s over the central United States and undoubtedly contributed to the severity of the Dust Bowl drought. We investigate local and large-scale conditions in association with the extraordinary heat and drought events, making use of novel datasets of observed climate extremes and climate reanalysis covering the past century. We show that the unprecedented summer heat during the Dust Bowl years was likely exacerbated by land-surface feedbacks associated with springtime precipitation deficits. The reanalysis results indicate that these deficits were associated with the coincidence of anomalously warm North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific surface waters and a shift in atmospheric pressure patterns leading to reduced flow of moist air into the central US. Thus, the combination of springtime ocean temperatures and atmospheric flow anomalies, leading to reduced precipitation, also holds potential for enhanced predictability of summer heat events. The results suggest that hot drought, more severe than experienced during the most recent 2011 and 2012 heat waves, is to be expected when ocean temperature anomalies like those observed in the 1930s occur in a world that has seen significant mean warming.
Similarly, a warm “blob” of ocean water is currently floating off the West coast of the U.S. And – as reported by the Washington Post, NBC News, and CBS – scientists say that the warm anomaly may be causing the California drought.
Postscript: Scientists say that the warm seawater anomalies are associated with shifts in atmospheric pressure patterns, which may – in turn – be caused by periodic fluctuations in the “Pacific decadal oscillation” or the “North Pacific mode“. And see this.
Interestingly, these patterns may, in turn, be effected by fluctuations in the output from the sun. For example, National Geographic reported in 2008:
The sun’s fluctuations can help predict extreme climatic events on Earth decades ahead of time, new research suggests.
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The cycles, which are driven by the sun’s magnetic turbulence, may influence weather systems on Earth, particularly the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, a periodic climatic system associated with floods and droughts mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.
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The Southern Oscillation Index, which measures the El Niño-Southern Oscillation system, seems to correspond with a 90-year sun cycle, Baker found.
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Periods of greater solar disturbances are associated with rainy periods, whereas a calmer sun dovetailed with times of drought in Australia, Baker said.
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El Niño and La Niña, which creates opposite climatic effects from El Niño, also affect North America.
That means long-range forecasting is possible for water availability in Mexico and the western United States, where droughts are often severe, Baker said.
How solar cycles may influence Earth’s weather systems is not well understood, but Baker speculated that cosmic radiation is a factor.
For instance, Baker’s research shows that periods of high cosmic radiation coincide with particularly long La Niñas, Baker said.
NOAA is owned by the Rothschilds, need I say more?
Also the main reason for the dust bowl was the government encouraging farmers to destroy the priary grass.Grass that had held the top soil in place for hundreds of years. When the drought hit all that top soil was exposed to the wind.
I got a little taste of what it would have been like a couple weeks ago when the weather service closed I80 outside of Salt Lake City because of a sand storm .The wind was blowing about 40-50 miles per hour. At the time it was hard to see.Got real dark for about an hour.I was in my truck but sand still got in through and around my doors. It would have been miserable as hell for anyone who got caught in it.
Adding to the bb account: The gov’t gave free land to anyone willing to farm; most didn’t know how to farm; the Plains had tree lines acting as wind breakers – these new batch of farmers cut down the tree lines for their living quarters; also a specific commodity (don’t remember which one) was a high flyer on the stock market, so everyone planted the same crop – price for that commodity was dropping and kept dropping and the farmers just tilled more land to grow more of that crop to make the same amount of money; these new farmers knew nothing about crop rotation.
Add in the warm temps per the article above and it created a disaster.
But, it all started with the gov’t.
“also a specific commodity (don’t remember which one) was a high flyer on the stock market, so everyone planted the same crop – price for that commodity was dropping and kept dropping and the farmers just tilled more land to grow more of that crop to make the same amount of money; these new farmers knew nothing about crop rotation.”
Sounds 80% parallel to shale oil.
Here in AZ They are talking about a wet summer with a possible early monsoon season. California sure looks bad though,To me.
Well, we may not know what the cause is, but these asshole politicians had better step up to this disaster and soon. My local lake has banned boats from launching because the water level is too low. Meantime the golf course at my development is nicely green. They need to stop that shit, along with car washes (unless the water is recycled), stop Nestle from bottling our water & making a profit, and start developing wave-power energized desalination plants along the coast.
There’s also the prospect of deep, deep water from the magma. After the Napa quake, new springs started flowing from some of this water, but it’s down there; bubbles up under pressure from the natural fractures in the rock. It’s possible to find other areas than Napa where the water is closer to the surface, then drill wells and pipe it into the water system.
My point it, time’s a wastin’.
bb says: I was in my truck but sand still got in through and around my doors. It would have been miserable as hell for anyone who got caught in it.
Lived in N.Edwards for a few months, wind drove fine dust through the tiniest of apertures.
Clowns have taken to buying fancy houses on the Sierra Pelona, idiots do not realize that AV is windier than the Windy City and the wind does not die down up on the hills, ever.
We have wind right now, it will drive people crazy until they get used to it in a couple of months. When it shifts direction from the prevailing SW, we get hot air in the summer or cold air in winter. Hot air results in wildfires.
The wind is coming from Santa Monica up through Acton and over the AV, it has no moisture but it dropped the temp to a bracing 87 degrees.
Once it heats up again, we have been encouraged to let the lawn die. Ha, my idiot neighbors put their confidence in a green lawn. I have cactus and oleander, I might plant more oleander. Yeah, baby!
It’s the sun, stupid. The trend is your friend & history repeats itself (at least climate patterns do). The old timers (and I’m 70) tell me the SE was very hot and dry during the 30’s too. There could be a lot of hungry Blue Bellys soon and a real Bad Moon rising over the urban jungles; but maybe the South and Friends will get more than just a fleeting taste of freedom this time; maybe we can slip the Evil NYC & WDC Communist chains for good because the sides are real clear thanks to Obama and his like, God is in this fight.
Robert h siddell Jr
OK if I just call you RHS? A son of the south and anti-commy to boot…..glad to meet ya.You may know that I too am from the south.
Large populations centers are not sustainable, sooner or later disaster strikes and a die off occurs, history is full of examples. The problem with California, and the whole southwest for that matter is Millions of people live in desert locations not intended to grow grass and they pour the water to the sand to make it so.
A couple of ideas for California.
1. 6.8% of your population are illegal Aliens by organizing a mass deportation back to countries of origin massive amounts of water would be saved.
2. You have a thousand plus golf course’s shut them all down. But I bet you won’t, I would be willing to bet the fairways @ Pebble Beach Golf Course will be bright green in July. If there’s one green golf course in California this summer you are not serious about water conservation, go suck on a dry straw.