I don’t know if any of you follow the news or if you’ve crawled out from under a rock in the last year, but there is a rather ominous event occurring on the west coast as we speak. Since the beginning of 2013, California has been in one of the most serious droughts in its history. Its dry seasons have been extra dry and its wet seasons have been not much more than a little damp at best. In fact, California governor Edmund Brown declared a State of Emergency in January of this year, marking every county in the state as a natural disaster area Link. The drought is expected to cost at least $2.2 billion in agricultural product and other damages, on top of thousands of seasonal and part time jobs. The worst part is, there are no signs of an end in the near future. Why is this drought so much worse than any other, and why is it happening now?

It’s quite obvious to me that the good state of California hasn’t made enough human sacrifices in the last few years and the rain gods are angry. If you prefer the scientific approach, however, the meteorologists have a solid explanation. About three years ago a massive high pressure system known as a blocking ridge formed over the Pacific, stretching from Hawaii to the Arctic Ocean at peak times. What this high pressure system does is force storms around it, often sending them quite bit further north than the American west coast would prefer. Usually, these ridges appear and then dissipate relatively quickly, leading to only minor droughts at best. This system has been around for years now though, earning itself the very scientific nickname of Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, or Triple R Link. It’s just that ridiculously resilient. Unfortunately, it looks like we did it to ourselves.

According to a team of Stanford researchers, Triple R is very likely a product of climate change. Statistical analyses have revealed that our current greenhouse gas level makes ridges three times as likely occur than a century ago link. The warm air apparently also made this particular ridge decide to cozy up and stay awhile off the coast. Californians are going to have to get used to a nearly 50% reduction in water usage to avoid catastrophe, and their current efforts to conserve water have been miserable at best. What this drought represents is a sobering warning. As Americans it seems like all of these nasty world disasters are always happening somewhere else, and they are therefore someone else’s problem. We simply can’t have that mindset anymore, and I hope this is jolting some people awake. Climate change is real and the extreme weather it is guaranteed to produce has found our shores. Whether it comes knocking down our doors as a mega-hurricane or it starves us out as a severe drought, this issue is here. And I don’t think it likes to be ignored.