Wrong, Washington Post, Climate change is not the cause of ‘Arizona’s water troubles’ • Are you interested in that?

news7g06/11/2023

0 3 minutes read

On June 4, 2023, washington articles (WaPo) published a story titled “Arizona’s water troubles show how climate change is reshaping the West” The claim that climate change is the cause behind water problems in the Western United States is false. It ignores the historical context of water problems decades ago, the impact of population growth and development, and the current state of drought in the region.

In the article, WaPo makes the following claims:

Arizona’s decision this past week to restrict housing construction in several rapidly growing Phoenix suburbs is another big warning of how climate change is disrupting lifestyles and economies in the West. Across the region, glaciers have receded, wildfires have spread, rivers and lakes have shrunk. It was a wet winter, but the deeper trends brought on by the warming atmosphere persisted.

…

In one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country, it’s a boom time — water-intensive microchip companies and data centers move in; Thousands of houses are deeply embedded in the desert. But it’s also a time of crisis: Climate change is drying up the American West and put fundamental resources at greater risk than ever before.

Drought has been common in Arizona throughout history, located in one of the driest regions of North America. Now there is almost no drought. Apparently, WaPo was unable to check the latest drought data for the region. According to the US Drought Monitor, most of Arizona is currently drought freeas seen in the screenshot below:

WaPo also downplayed the biggest cause of water shortages in Arizona — population growth. First, population growth produces warmer temperatures (due to Urban heat island effect) is often blamed on climate change. For example, Figure 1 compares the Average July temperature in Phoenix ARRIVE Phoenix’s population growth for the same amount of time. Note that the purple 1960 marker shows when growth really boomed in Phoenix, and at the same time, that’s when temperatures really started to rise.

Even more important than the effect of Phoenix’s growing population on temperature is its direct impact on water use. More people need more water for all uses. Phoenix and Arizona as a whole are located in one of the most naturally arid regions on the North American continent. Water was scarce before Phoenix became one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States. In addition to pumping groundwater, Phoenix also uses a lot of Colorado River water through the Lake Mead reservoir. Just last year, got this title: Phoenix agreed to leave additional water in Lake Mead in an effort to slow the decline of the reservoir. IN A Glimpse of Climate: Water Levels – Lake MeadRoot cause of water supply problem revealed:

[D]Over the past century, much of the continental United States has experienced more abundant rainfall as the planet has warmed. Furthermore, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has confirmed that since 1951, precipitation in mid-latitude regions around the globe has increased, including including the United States, without detecting a global decline in precipitation. It is important to note that the Lake Mead reservoir supplies water to Arizona, California, and Nevada.

Each of those states has experienced significant population growth and greater water needs since the reservoir was filled in 1935, an important factor considering Lake Mead’s water levels.

In fact, as shown in Figure 2, population drawdowns have actually exceeded available supplies on a steady basis over the past 30 years.

Figure 2: Water Availability and Use in the Colorado River Basin Over the past century, water use in the basin has steadily increased, to the point that annual water consumption exceeds total river discharge for 75 years. % of years from 2000–2015. This over-consumption has depleted the river in its lowlands in Mexico and gradually depleted the major reservoirs in the basin, including Lake Mead, posing a serious risk of water shortages. All variables are described as three-year running averages. Data source: United States Bureau of Reclamation adopted Research portal.

Population growth in an arid region, not climate change, is responsible for the current water shortage in Arizona. WaPo completely ignores this fact, instead exploiting Arizona’s water problems to advance the story of the climate crisis, in which every bad thing in the world is blamed on climate change. after all, even if the truth says otherwise. This dishonesty of investigative journalism has become pervasive at WaPo, where, apparently, “Science Dies in the Dark.”

Anthony Watts

Anthony Watts is a senior fellow for environment and climate at the Heartland Institute. Watts has been in the weather business both in front and behind the camera as an online broadcast meteorologist since 1978 and now does daily radio forecasts. He has created graphical weather display systems for television, specialized weather instruments, as well as co-authored articles on climate issues. He runs the world’s most viewed website on climate, the award-winning website wattsupwiththat.com.