311
pounded by cascading influences. A strong El Nino event finally broke the drought
in late 2015 and early 2016.
The severity of the drought peaked in 2014 and 2015, during which the California
Department of Resources reduced water use through a series of mandatory restrictions, impacting all users in all sectors. When state allocations of surface water were
reduced, farmers increased the pumping of groundwater increasing energy use and
groundwater depletion.
California’s 77,500 farms constitute about 1.2% of US farmlands, produce over
$50 billion/year of crops, including over a third of the vegetables and two-thirds of
the fruits and nuts grown in the USA (Pathak et al. 2018). About 90% of California’s
crops are irrigated. The agricultural sector had direct losses estimated at over $2
billion in 2014.
Approximately 21% of in-state electricity generation in California comes from
hydropower. In 2011 and 2017, the years before and after the drought, California
generated 43 TWh of net electric energy from hydropower. In 2014, the net generation was 16 TWh, a 62% decline. Net hydropower was just 14 TWh in 2015.
Increased soil aridity, tree death, and groundwater pumping created long-term
issues such as the increased risk of wildfires, reduced soil productivity, and mudslides associated with heavy rain.
11.4.4.2 Coastal Bangladesh
The low-lying coast of Bangladesh is subject to frequent flooding from annual monsoon rains, tropical cyclones, and tidal surges, often resulting in substantial population
displacements (Penning-Rowsell 2013). For example, in 2007, Cyclone Sidr killed
over 3400, and severely damaged coastal mangrove forests (the Sundarbans) and agriculture, exacerbating food insecurity. Anthropogenic climate change will intensify the
sources of flooding and damage, as well as the loss of land to sea level rise.
Pumping of groundwater, sea level rise, and shrimp farms on the coast (which
require brackish water) are causing salinity intrusion, which reduces drinking water
supplies, degrades agricultural soils, and damages other coastal fisheries
(Nuruzzaman et al. 2014). The importance of fisheries is reflected by the fact that
56% of the animal protein intake in Bangladesh comes from fish (FAO 2018).
Fifteen percent of the Bangladesh population were considered undernourished in
2016, approximately 24.5 million people (FAO).
A quarter of Bangladesh’s population did not have direct access to electricity in
2016 (World Bank 2017). A more substantial part of the population relies on traditional biomass for cooking (just 18% of the population had access to clean cooking
in 2016), heating or other energy services. Thirty-five percent of Bangladesh’s primary energy comes from renewable sources, nearly all of it traditional biomass.
Access to biomass is stressed by flooding, storms, salinity intrusion, and clearing of
additional land for agriculture (although agricultural wastes are a source of biomass
energy). Conversely, intensive use of biomass degrades food and water systems.
11 Climate Change
pounded by cascading influences. A strong El Nino event finally broke the drought
in late 2015 and early 2016.
The severity of the drought peaked in 2014 and 2015, during which the California
Department of Resources reduced water use through a series of mandatory restrictions, impacting all users in all sectors. When state allocations of surface water were
reduced, farmers increased the pumping of groundwater increasing energy use and
groundwater depletion.
California’s 77,500 farms constitute about 1.2% of US farmlands, produce over
$50 billion/year of crops, including over a third of the vegetables and two-thirds of
the fruits and nuts grown in the USA (Pathak et al. 2018). About 90% of California’s
crops are irrigated. The agricultural sector had direct losses estimated at over $2
billion in 2014.
Approximately 21% of in-state electricity generation in California comes from
hydropower. In 2011 and 2017, the years before and after the drought, California
generated 43 TWh of net electric energy from hydropower. In 2014, the net generation was 16 TWh, a 62% decline. Net hydropower was just 14 TWh in 2015.
Increased soil aridity, tree death, and groundwater pumping created long-term
issues such as the increased risk of wildfires, reduced soil productivity, and mudslides associated with heavy rain.
11.4.4.2 Coastal Bangladesh
The low-lying coast of Bangladesh is subject to frequent flooding from annual monsoon rains, tropical cyclones, and tidal surges, often resulting in substantial population
displacements (Penning-Rowsell 2013). For example, in 2007, Cyclone Sidr killed
over 3400, and severely damaged coastal mangrove forests (the Sundarbans) and agriculture, exacerbating food insecurity. Anthropogenic climate change will intensify the
sources of flooding and damage, as well as the loss of land to sea level rise.
Pumping of groundwater, sea level rise, and shrimp farms on the coast (which
require brackish water) are causing salinity intrusion, which reduces drinking water
supplies, degrades agricultural soils, and damages other coastal fisheries
(Nuruzzaman et al. 2014). The importance of fisheries is reflected by the fact that
56% of the animal protein intake in Bangladesh comes from fish (FAO 2018).
Fifteen percent of the Bangladesh population were considered undernourished in
2016, approximately 24.5 million people (FAO).
A quarter of Bangladesh’s population did not have direct access to electricity in
2016 (World Bank 2017). A more substantial part of the population relies on traditional biomass for cooking (just 18% of the population had access to clean cooking
in 2016), heating or other energy services. Thirty-five percent of Bangladesh’s primary energy comes from renewable sources, nearly all of it traditional biomass.
Access to biomass is stressed by flooding, storms, salinity intrusion, and clearing of
additional land for agriculture (although agricultural wastes are a source of biomass
energy). Conversely, intensive use of biomass degrades food and water systems.
11 Climate Change