Dry Country

So I was in Arizona (on business) the last few days, but I did have a little time to get away and do some hiking/jogging/driving around/sightseeing. (I will post some pictures later.) Now, many of you will know that I am a big fan of the desert Southwest. But my impression every visit is that . . . there's no water there. This time I went hiking in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which covers part of the driest desert in the U.S. Not only is that area dry, all the time, but the region as a whole is in a ten-year drought. Now, if you're like me, you think, you can have a drought in a desert? But looking at the plants, mostly succulents, even they looked dessicated. Withered.

Then in yesterday's Arizona Republic, there was a front-page article on the lack of snowfall at Flagstaff; this year, there's been no measurable snowfall in Flagstaff, yet, the latest that that has ever happened there. And it was sixty and sunny there yesterday. Now the article focused on the business implications of this story (for the ski industry), but clearly a combination of drought conditions (no precipitation at all in Flagstaff for more than two month) and warmer conditions (record high temperatures for January in Arizona this week) is a major story for people living in a frackin' desert. Because there's no water there, and now there's even less.

More thoughts on climate change to come.