Most New Mexicans know climate change is happening and understand it is human-caused. According to recently-released data, New Mexicans are also more likely than people in about half the country to talk not just about the weather, but climate. This week, The New York Times published six maps showing how adult Americans think about climate change and regulations on carbon emissions. The maps were based on data from researchers at Yale University. According to their nationwide survey, 70 percent of Americans think global warming is happening. More than half understand it is human-caused and 71 percent say they trust climate scientists. In their 2016 survey, the Yale researchers drilled down to the local level, allowing a glimpse into how both urban and rural New Mexicans think about climate change and carbon regulations. While more than half of New Mexicans say global warming is happening, and more than 44 percent know that it’s human-caused, opinions vary widely between counties. In San Juan County, only 58 percent say global warming is happening, whereas in Taos County, that number hits 79 percent. Again, in San Juan County, only 44 percent say it’s human-caused, while 63 percent say the same in Rio Arriba and San Miguel counties. When it comes to lightly-populated counties, it’s important to keep in mind the small sample sizes, said John Fleck, director of the University of New Mexico Water Resources Program. But, he said, it’s striking to see how many people across the country understand global warming is a problem. “It runs counter to this narrative that there’s a red-blue divide on this,” he said. “There is a little bit, I guess, but people in general think global warming is a problem and we ought to do something about it.” Fleck also noted that New Mexicans and other southwesterners are more concerned about climate change than people in many other parts of the country. “You’ve got to think that it has something to do with the tenuousness of our water supply in the rural parts of the arid West,” he said. He was also surprised that even in many conservative, coal-rich areas of the country, including Wyoming and West Virginia, people support restrictions on coal and carbon dioxide. Nationally, 75 percent of adults support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant. That number is slightly lower here in New Mexico, at 74 percent statewide — ranging from 64 percent in San Juan County to 80 percent in Santa Fe County. Among polled Americans, 69 percent favor strict carbon emissions on existing coal-fired power plants. In San Juan County, where power plants provide jobs, only 45 percent support those limits….

To mark World Water Day on March 22, WaterAid released its State of the World’s Water report, warning that because of climate change, the world’s poorest communities will face an even tougher struggle for access to clean water. Countries ranking highest in population without access to clean water also rank high in vulnerability to climate change and low in their ability to adapt to it. “Extreme weather events resulting from climate change can mean more storm surges, flooding, droughts and contaminated water sources. They can wipe out fragile infrastructure, dry up rivers, ponds and springs, and contribute to the spread of waterborne diseases making an already difficult situation worse for the 663 million people in the world without access to clean water. When climate disasters strike rural populations, the challenges are even greater,” CEO of WaterAid Canada, Nicole Hurtubise, told Lady Freethinker. Since 2010, the right to clean water has been recognized as a basic human right. It is the primary step in the struggle to overcome poverty and gain access to fundamental healthcare, education, and employment. Even so, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that by 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas. These are areas where the demand for clean water outweighs the supply. WOMEN AND CHILDREN HARDEST HIT Of the 663 million people without access to water, most are in rural communities, with women and children being disproportionately affected. A report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) notes that one in four—or 600 million—children will be living without basic access to water by 2040. With a 31.7 percent global gender gap, water is an essential component of achieving gender…

Wildfires fueled by gusting winds, hot, dry weather, and desiccated plant life have burned nearly 900,000 acres of Oklahoma so far this year, a record, as well as parts of Kansas and Texas. The blazes have destroyed dozens of buildings and killed seven people as well as hundreds of cattle. A chimney is all that stands in the footprint of a home destroyed by wildfires near Laverne, Okla., on March 12, 2017. Credit: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson Late winter and early spring are typically the peak wildfire season for the region, as dry, windy weather arrives before the spring green-up of crops and other plants. But this season has been particularly active because of drought conditions that have creeped up during the winter, driven by record warm temperatures and a lack of precipitation. Climate change is expected to impact many of the factors, such as precipitation, that can contribute to wildfires. But exactly how it might affect future wildfire risks in the central and southern Plains is an open question, and one that has seen relatively little attention to date. ‘A Lot of Bad Luck’ While this time of year is typically the main wildfire season for Oklahoma and surrounding areas, this season has seen a record-breaking amount of land scorched by 133 large wildfires ignited in the Panhandle and eastern Oklahoma, with conditions exacerbated by a perfect storm of ideal fire weather and a deepening drought. (Large wildfires are those covering 100 acres or more.) That drought has developed due to a combination of exceptionally warm fall and winter temperatures and a lack of precipitation. While total precipitation to date is actually close to average in the Panhandle, with a little more than 5 inches since Sept. 2 in the town of Buffalo, about 3 inches of that precipitation came during a single January ice storm, with almost nothing falling since. Temperatures, meanwhile, have been unusually warm. October through February was the warmest on record for Oklahoma; on Feb. 11, temperatures in Magnum, in the southwest of the state, hit 99°F (37°C), tying the highest winter temperature ever recorded in the state. The burn scar of the Starbuck fire around Ashland, Kan., which spread from Oklahoma to Kansas in early March. Credit: NASA/USGS Those continually warm temperatures increase evaporation during the winter season and exacerbate the drought. “That’s when we saw the large leap in drought conditions, when normally we wouldn’t see that,” state climatologist Gary McManus said. While warmer winter temperatures would normally lead to an early spring green-up, the lack of precipitation has stymied that development, leaving plenty of dead and dormant vegetation to fuel wildfires, McManus said. Winter wheat has also taken a hit…

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has warned that the lives of nearly 600 million children globally would be at risk in 2040 as a result of water stress. The Fund also noted that in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, the three states most directly affected by conflict, almost 4 million required water, sanitation and hygiene assistance. It lamented that 192 out of 450 health facilities, ranging from hospitals to basic public health care centres, had been completely destroyed in Borno, the hardest hit state. Speaking at a programme marking the World Water Day, Geoffrey Ijumba, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Nigeria, Maiduguri Field Office, in a goodwill message on the event, revealed that in the northeast of Nigeria, with funding support from donors, UNICEF was working with government and development partners to provide water and sanitation facilities in internally displaced persons’ camps and host communities to address the water needs of the people Borno. He said on this year’s world water day, UNICEF launched a report: Thirsting for a Future: Water and children in a changing climate. The report highlights the adverse effects of a changing climate on water sources and its impact on the lives of children. According to Ijumba, the report further elaborated that the lives of nearly 600 million children will be at risk in 2040 as a result of water…

Water is undoubtedly one of the most precious natural resources for life on earth. Without access to good quality freshwater, human, animal and plant survival is impossible, while many industries are also highly dependent on reliable sources of water for their day-to-day operations and long-term viability. However, factors such as climate variability, droughts, growing populations and economic expansion are all placing greater demand on the available water sources. The extent of the water problem is starkly illustrated by the data: only 2.5% of the world’s water is…

Drone footage released by ActionAid U.K. shows locals drawing water from a dried-up riverbed in Kenya. A drought in East Africa that has left more than 16 million people facing famine, according to ActionAid U.K. (ActionAid U.K.) Imagine walking three or four miles to get a drink. It’s hot, it’s dry — there’s no water where you live. You arrive at what used to be the nearest river but it’s now a beach-like strip of dirt. Yes, there is water, but it’s opaque with mud at the bottom of a small well dug in hopes of finding moisture beneath the former riverbed. The effects of climate change in the developing world is rarely illustrated in such a clear way; the water is gone, and people are enduring the fight of their lives for…

2016 has become the year for water. From the World Economic Forum, COP22, to the Budapest Water Summit, water has been widely acknowledged as a key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and essential to the climate change solution. Here are the defining moments of 2016 that put water security and sustainability on the global agenda like never before: January – At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2016, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced their intentions to form a High-Level Panel on Water to provide the leadership required to champion a comprehensive, inclusive and collaborative way of developing and managing water resources, and improving water and sanitation related services. Ban Ki-moon gathers heads of state for political response to water scarcity https://t.co/YWE5lrgoCd #wef2016 — Development Pros (@GuardianGDP) January 25, 2016 February – A new study found that the total cost of providing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services to meet the SDG water and sanitation targets is estimated at around $114 billion per year – three times the current investment levels. In addition to money, the study says strong institutions, accountability, and mechanisms that turn investment into effective services for people who need it, are also critical. — World Bank Water (@WorldBankWater) February 12, 2016 March – The Government of India and the World Bank signed a US$1.5 billion loan agreement for the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Support Operation Project to support the Government of India in its efforts to ensure that all citizens in the rural areas have access to improved sanitation, with a focus on changing behavior and eliminating the practice of open defecation by 2019. April – The UN Secretary-General and the World Bank Group President appointed members of the High-level Panel on Water….

Climate change to worsen drought, diminish corn yields in Africa.
Maize is the most widely harvested agricultural product in Africa and is grown by small farmers who rely heavily on rainwater rather than irrigation.
Now MIT scientists have found that climate change will likely further worsen drought conditions in parts of the continent, dramatically reshaping the production of maize throughout sub-Saharan Africa as global temperatures rise over the next century.
“If under climate change we have changes in temperature and precipitation, this is arguably one of the worst areas of the world where we’re going to see really negative impacts on crop production and malnourished populations.” The researchers’ analysis also shows that climate change’s impact is less certain for the most arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa including the semiarid regions that produce over 40 percent of sub-Saharan African maize.
Kenneth Strzepek, a co-author on the paper and research scientist in MIT’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, says the study’s results provide a map for how agricultural conditions will change in the next century, as well as where climate change’s impact is still less clear.
All this information, he says, is essential for government planners who aim to build up Africa’s economy and infrastructure.
Running the numbers To assess climate change’s impact on maize production, the researchers took a multimodel approach, working combinations of global climate model predictions into an open-source crop model that simulates crop yields over successive growing seasons.
An uncertain future By combining climate and crop models, the team simulated maize yields in Africa for the years 2030, 2050, and 2090, under two climate change scenarios in which global average annual temperatures would rise by 2 degrees or 4 degrees Celsius by 2100 under different greenhouse gas concentration trajectories.
Under the worst-case scenario, in which global temperatures will rise by 4 degrees Celsius, these models estimate the Sahel and southern Africa will experience widespread yield losses, with some grid cells showing losses of up to 50 percent.
Dale and her colleagues observed the climate models produced a much wider range of predictions — and therefore a higher degree of uncertainty — in the most arid regions of Africa.

Last Tuesday, the country’s government declared the current drought a national disaster.
Right now, the UN estimates nearly 3 million people in Somalia are in need of emergency assistance.
A drought turns into a famine when there is no safety net, and Somalia, battered by decades of war and drought, has none.
Last month, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a consortium of climate scientists and humanitarian groups, warned that if rain doesn’t come famine is expected.
“It’s a chronically food insecure region, so it doesn’t take much of a push for the climate to have a big impact,” says Bradfield Lyon, an associate professor at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute.
Chris Funk, research director for UC Santa Barbara’s Climate Hazards Group, says the recent increase in drought regularity in the region is “unprecedented” in his 20 years of work.
In November, he issued a forecast warning that the rainy season in Somalia would be grim.
Famine is officially declared when the United Nations determines that 20 percent of households can’t cope with food shortage, acute malnutrition exceeds 30 percent, and the death toll rises beyond two people per every 10,000.
“It’s caused when people can’t afford to buy food.” This latest drought is showing parallels in food prices and climate conditions.
Funk hopes that improved early tracking systems and humanitarian response will offset this.

State Water Board adopts climate change resolution.
From the State Water Resources Control Board: Today the State Water Resources Control Board adopted a resolution requiring a proactive approach to climate change in all Board actions, including drinking water regulation, water quality protection, and financial assistance.
We can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect our infrastructure and our ecosystems,” said Spivy-Weber.
Since that time, the Brown administration developed the California Water Action Plan, a blueprint for achieving more sustainable water management by improving water supply reliability, restoring important wildlife and habitat, and making the state’s water systems and environment more resilient.
Since 2007, the State and Regional Water Boards have taken a variety of actions to respond to climate change impacts.
The resolution also requires State Water Board staff to use current models and data to inform Board actions.
To increase regulatory consistency, the resolution also requires staff to use climate change policy guidance from other agencies.
Additional Climate Change and Drought Resources For more information on the state’s effort to combat and adapt to climate change, visit the climate change portal here.
To follow the state and regional water board efforts on this, visit the climate change page here.
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