California drought Rain finally arrived in California this past December with a series of storms dumping deluges across the state. So much rain fell that localised flooding and landslides were a concern. Whether this means that the three-year drought, which stands to be the driest “ in over a millennium ” is breaking, however, is far from certain. The drought has devastated California’s agriculture and driven LA residents to rip out their lush green lawns . There has been something apocalyptic in the air as farmers drained the state’s aquifers last year, and vast reservoirs were sucked dry, sparking water wars . As 2015 begins, 99% of the state is rated ‘ abnormally dry ’. It has been much debated whether climate change has been at work across California – and the western United States more generally. At a global level, 2014 is now confirmed as the warmest year […]