It is the harshest drought in at least 1,000 years, afterall — and it’s spreading east. It’s not going away and people should expect to see mass migration in the near future.
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A fourth summer of drought and one that’s been described as exceptional severity is putting California through the harshest drought anyone can remember and raising fears that the state’s ancient aquifers could disappear for good.
Transcript
LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Like Australia, California’s no stranger to drought. It’s in the middle of one right now that’s as harsh as anyone can remember.
Yet unlike here, California’s government has been slow to take action. Water restrictions were only announced last month, for example. That doesn’t apply, though, to underground aquifers and they’re being emptied at an alarming rate, as North America correspondent Ben Knight reports.
BEN KNIGHT, REPORTER: In the richest state in the richest country in the world, East Porterville, California, is a town without water.
DONNA JOHNSON, VOLUNTEER: It’s like having a slow-growing cancer. It’s very, very stressful.
This house right here: she had some rentals. One of them is over there and she doesn’t have any water either and her rental doesn’t have any water. Continue reading
Global Geopolitics 