California's San Joaquin Valley is Sinking

by Natalie Shoemaker

NASA has just released a report showing the San Joaquin Valley in California is sinking faster than ever before and scientists say climate change is to blame.

Images taken by NASA show evidence that the valley is sinking close to two inches each month in some locations. Land in the Tulare basin has sank 13 inches in a matter of eight months and a piece of the Sacramento Valley is going at a nice clip and sinking 1.5-inches each month. This downward shift in the surface of the earth is known as subsidence. It can take place for a number of reasons, which include things like mining, extracting natural gas, and pulling up groundwater.

Scientists believe the case of this subsidence of parts of California has to do with the amount of groundwater extraction in the region, due to the drought.

"Because of increased pumping, groundwater levels are reaching record lows--up to 100 feet (30 meters) lower than previous records," said Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin in a press release. "As extensive groundwater pumping continues, the land is sinking more rapidly and this puts nearby infrastructure at greater risk of costly damage."

Cowin added:

"Groundwater acts as a savings account to provide supplies during drought, but the NASA report shows the consequences of excessive withdrawals as we head into the fifth year of historic drought.”

Even when rain does come to the sate, scientists worry dried out aquifers may not be able to hold the same amount of water as they once did.

In other parts of the country the weather has had its ebbs and flows, but what people need to concentrate on is the average—what are the bigger trends we're seeing. I think Neil deGrasse Tyson may have explained it best in his video for National Geographic.

The trend scientists are seeing threatens to unbalance the way life on this planet operates. It already has caused Alaskans to reconsider the starting line of the sled dog races and cut the hibernation time of the Yellowstone grizzly bears short. The signs are there.

If that isn't enough, just look at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's land and ocean percentiles for July 2015—it was the warmest month ever on record across the globe since the practice began in 1880.

Photo Credit: MARK RALSTON / Getty Staff