California's alarming drought is the result of a historic weather pattern — not global warming, as some scientists insist, says Joe Bastardi, chief forecaster for WeatherBell Analytics.
That pattern occurs when the Pacific Ocean cools, bringing drier air to the mainland.
"This happened back in 2005-2006 after the hurricane season," Bastardi on Friday told Rick Ungar and Betsy McCaughey, guest hosts of "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"The southern part of the United States and in California was going to start getting dry because the Pacific … [triggers] this cycle, well known to a lot of us in the field — what we call a pacific decay.
"[It switches] from its warm phase to its cold phase and … the amount of water vapor over the deep tropics in the Pacific … decreases and that rich moisture gets cut off."
On Wednesday, for the first time in the history of the Golden State, Gov. Jerry Brown
ordered mandatory water reduction for residents, businesses and farms.
"We're in a new era. The idea of your nice little green grass getting lots of water every day, that's going to be a thing of the past," Brown said in announcing the 25 percent cut in usage.
Making the California drought particularly tough this time around is the exploding population increase, Bastardi said.
"There are a lot more people living in California now, and the southern part of the United States, than we had before," he said.
"[It will] have more impact now because there are more people golfing, more people using water for their gardens and things like that.
"It's a prudent thing that the governor is doing … we are in this cycle for quite a time."
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