INDEX
Boldface page numbers indicate figures.
Abernathy, George, 38
Agassiz, Lake, 89
Agassiz, Louis, 89
age resolution, 79–80
agriculture: Central Valley as bread basket of the world, 25, 45, 180, 193; of early Native populations, 122–23, 135–36; fresh water resources consumed by, 24; groundwater tapped for, 21–22, 45; practices contributing to Dust Bowl, 41–42; “rain follows plow” theory and, 4–5; water conservation practices for, 24, 220; water diverted for, 45–46, 103. See also cattle
albedo, 169
Aleutian Low, 50
Altithermal, 104
Anasazi. See Ancestral Pueblo
Ancestral Pueblo, 122–23, 135–36, 206
Antevs, Ernst, 104
Arizona, floods of 1861–62 in, 38
Atmospheric River 1000 Storm (ARkStorm) scenario, 210–11
atmospheric river storms: description of, 58; flooding caused by, 30, 38–39, 59, 207; impact of future climate change on, 199–200; risk of future, 210–11; water resources supplied by, 58–59, 221
bark beetle disease, 22, 46, 194
Barnosky, Anthony, 190
Benson, Larry: on failure of summer monsoons, 135–36; on Great Basin lake levels, 86–87; on Mono Lake, 150, 153; on Owens Lake, 103; on Pyramid Lake, 100, 102
Biondi, Franco, 152
Bjerknes, Jacob, 51–52
Bonneville, Lake, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 101
Brady, Christina, 73
Bretz, J. Harlan, 169–70
Brewer, William, 27, 28–29, 31, 33–34, 39–40
bristlecone pine, 64–66, 65, 95, 104–5, 132, 162
Brooks, J., 37
Brooks Island shell mound, 119
Buena Vista Lake, 186
Byrne, Roger, 92–94, 126, 146–48, 151
Cadillac Desert (Reisner), 214
California: climate pattern blocking summer rain for, 50; drought of 1987–92 in, 46–47; Dust Bowl years in, 44–46; hydraulic era projects bringing water to population centers of, 177–80, 177, 180; impact of drought of 1976–77 on, 21–24; Mediterranean climate of, 16–17; variability in year-to-year precipitation, 17. See also Central Valley; Northern California; Southern California
California Aqueduct: building of, 45–46, 177, 179; proposed canal linking Sacramento River directly to, 188–89; Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta currents reversed by, 188; Santa Barbara connected to, 46
Canyon de Chelly, 122
Caprio, Joe, 190
carbon dioxide: in ice cores, 70, 82, 167–68; increased atmospheric levels of, 82, 163, 191, 206; radiocarbon combining with oxygen to form, 162, 178
Carson Sink lakes, 132
cattle: dust increase with, 198; killed in floods of 1861–62, 31; water footprint of beef, 213–14; water required for, 214
Cayan, Daniel (Dan), 190–91, 195, 199
Central Valley: as bread basket of the world, 25, 45, 180, 193; drought of 1976–77 in, 22, 23; flood risk in future, 7, 207–8; floods of 1861–62 in, 27, 30–35, 30, 33, 38; groundwater tapped during Dust Bowl, 45; megafloods in, 146–48; Neoglacial floods in, 113–14; transformed by water development, 180, 185–87, 208. See also Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta
Central Valley Project, 179, 186
charcoal: dry-wet knockout pattern evident in, 151; fire frequency and intensity revealed by, 76–77, 94–95, 113, 134, 134; washed downhill by floods, 152
chinook (king) salmon, 46, 118, 176, 181–85, 186, 188, 219
Chumash Indians, 136–37
clams, 75, 90, 115, 116; Colorado delta clam, 188
Cleland, R.G., 37
climate: “dry-wet knockout” pattern of, 24–25, 151–52; extreme events, 20, 58; of Great Basin, 84, 86; human migration into West and, 88; importance to humans, 11; late Holocene variability, 119–20; link between sunspot cycles and, 67, 160–61; Little Ice Age variability, 150–51; Mediterranean, 16–17; tragic consequences of, 2–3; ways human societies respond to stresses of, 97; weather vs., 2. See also drought; floods
climate, future: atmospheric river “superstorms” risk, 210–11; current pattern of water use unsustainable in, 204; drought risk, 205–6; flood risk, 207–10; lessons from Australian drought on, 213; “no regrets” approach to, 212–13; predicted for West, 4; preparation for, 213–14, 218–22
climate, “normal”: broad range of, 8, 204; extreme events as part of, 47–48; lack of preparedness for new, 8; past, as harsh, 2, 82
Climate and Time in Their Geological Relations (Croll), 165
climate change, 155–71; carbon dioxide in ice cores and, 167–68; causes of, 154, 155, 202; Croll’s ice age theory on, 164–66; early Holocene cycles of, 95–96; evidence from sea sediments and corals, 156–59, 156, 166–67; factors contributing to, since Last Glacial Maximum, 168–69; human adaptation to, 61; lessons from Little Ice Age on, 141; Milankovitch Cycles and, 92, 166; natural archives of, 67–69; Pacific Decadal Oscillation variability and, 158–59; sunspot cycles and, 159–62; volcanic eruptions and, 162–63. See also warmer temperatures
climate history, 63–80; age information to reconstruct, 77–80; archives in Western landscape, 67–69; clues in sediments, 70–77, 72, 73; glacial-interglacial cycles of Pleistocene, 69–70; proxy evidence of, 63–64; revealed by trees, 64–67, 65
climate patterns of West: El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and, 51–56; origins of, 49–51; overview of topography influencing, 13–17, 16; Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and, 56–58
Clovis people, 88
Cobb, Kim, 157–58
Colorado River: climate change’s impact on, 195–96, 197; Dust Bowl flow level, 44; hydraulic era water development diverting water of, 177, 178–80, 180; impact of water development on water and delta of, 187–88; Little Ice Age fluctuations of, 151; Medieval drought level, 133, 151; restoring delta of, 217
Colorado River Aqueduct, 177, 179–80
Cook, Edward, 131–32
coral, reconstructing past seawater conditions from, 156–58, 156
cordgrass, 127
Cordilleran ice sheet, 82, 101
Croll, James, 164–66
cyanobacteria, 198
dams: built by early Native cultures, 123, 124, 136; built during hydraulic era, 175, 176–80; glacial, in Sierras, 87, 92; ice dams, 89, 142, 169–70; impact on Colorado River and delta, 187–88; impact on salmon population, 184; log, and floods of 1861–62, 36; population expansion accompanying building of, 6–7; removal of, 217–18; risk of failure of, 200–202. See also hydraulic era
Das, Tapash, 199
Dead Pool (Powell), 201
Death Valley, 5–6
deglaciation, 84
Delta. See Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta
Delta Reform Act, 219
delta smelt, 188
dendrochronology, 66–67
desert crust, 198
Dettinger, Michael (Mike), 59, 190, 199–200, 221
diatoms: in coastal waters during mid-Holocene, 105–6; defined, 71, 105, 127; information about coastal water conditions from, 105–6, 153; in layered sediments of Santa Barbara Basin, 71–72, 72, 90; in Pyramid Lake sediments, 120; in San Francisco Bay marsh sediments, 127, 128
Diaz, Henry, 138
Distichlis spicata, 127
Doten, Alfred, 32
Douglass, A.E., 66
drought: climate pattern associated with, 50; defined, 20–21; “dry-wet knockout” pattern of, 24–25, 151–52; lack of awareness of potential for, 7; lessons from Australian, 213; risk of future, 8, 205–6; summer, not evident in Sierras of Holocene, 93–94. See also drought, Medieval; drought, mid-Holocene; drought of 1976–77; drought of 1987–1992; Dust Bowl; megadroughts
drought, Medieval, 121–40; climate extremes of, 121, 132–33; clues from Pacific Ocean about cause of, 139–40; collapse of civilizations of Southwest during, 122–25, 135–36; La Niña conditions coinciding with, 157–58; Pacific Decadal Oscillation and, 159; regional variation in California’s experience of, 138–39; San Francisco Bay evidence of, 125–29, 128, 129, 138–39; shrinking lakes as evidence of, 130–31, 131; tree-ring evidence of, 131–33, 135; wildfires during, 133–34, 133, 134. See also Medieval Climate Anomaly
drought, mid-Holocene, 97–110; coastal conditions during, 105–6; evidence of warm temperatures during, 104–5; expansion of coastal habitats during, 104, 108–9; expansion of coastal redwoods during, 106–7; human migrations during, 107–8, 109–10, 109, 205; Lake Tahoe’s submerged trees as evidence of, 97–100, 98; Owens Lake evidence of, 103; Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and, 159; Pyramid Lake evidence of, 100, 102; Tulare Lake evidence of, 103–4
drought of 1987–1992, 46–47, 99–100, 152
“dry-wet knockout” pattern, 24–25, 151–52
Dust Bowl, 41–46; agricultural practices contributing to, 41–42; in California and neighboring states, 44–46; as climate catastrophe, 3, 41; dust storms of, 41, 42–43, 42; floods following, 24–25; impact on Great Plains residents, 43–44; mid-Holocene drought evidence revealed by, 98; precipitation during, 22
Earth’s orbit: Croll’s theory on link between climate and changes in, 164–66; Milankovitch Cycles theory on changes in, 91–92, 166
Edlund, Eric, 93–94
Egan, Timothy, 41
El Chichon, 163
Ellis Landing shell mound, 118–19
El Niño: of 1982–83, 55, 56; of 1997–98, 55–56; increased frequency of, during Little Ice Age, 153; lessons from, 49, 55–56; ocean-atmosphere conditions during, 52–53; precipitation in West during, 54, 55
El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), 51–56; described, 51; evidence of, in coral, 157–58; increased frequency of, 158; interaction between Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and, 58; lessons about, from El Niño events, 49, 55–56; ocean-atmosphere conditions and, 51–53; precipitation in West and, 53–55, 54; Southern Oscillation described, 51
Elphidium excavatum, 129
Emeryville shell mound, 118
Emiliana huxleyii, 106
Emiliani, Cesare, 167
ENSO. See El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
environmental flows, 180–81
estuaries, climatic history clues in sediments of, 68, 75
Europe: Dust Bowl dust reaching, 42; during Last Glacial Maximum, 70, 168; Little Ice Age in, 111, 142, 163; Medieval Climate Anomaly in, 121, 137–38; Younger Dryas event in, 89
Fagan, Brian, 61, 81, 83–84, 97, 121, 141
Fallen Leaf Lake, 100
Feynman, Richard, 63
fires. See wildfires
firs, 87; Douglas fir, 67; red fir, 22; white fir, 22
fish: of Colorado River, 179, 187, 188; hydraulic era’s impact on, 176, 181, 188, 219; impact of 1976–77 drought on, 21, 23; impact of 1987–92 drought on, 46. See also salmon
Fladmark, Knut, 110
flood insurance rates, 212
floodplains: evidence of floods in sediments of, 146; fertility of, 25; impact of water development on, 186; Native American activities in, 7, 123, 207; risk accompanying living in, 25–26, 39, 208; subsidence of, due to groundwater extraction, 7, 208; wetlands of, as flood protection, 211, 217, 221
floods: in Central Valley during Neoglacial, 113–14; as common climate event in West, 24–26; “dry-wet knockout” pattern of, 24–25, 151–52; lack of awareness of likelihood of, 40, 60; Little Ice Age, 142–43; during Medieval drought period, 132–33; risk of future, 7, 8, 199–202, 207–8. See also floods of 1861–62; megafloods
floods of 1861–62, 27–40; atmospheric river storms likely responsible for, 38–39, 59, 207; beyond California, 37–38; in Central Valley, 27, 30–35, 30, 33, 38; drought preceding, 152; freezing conditions following, 38; Gold Rush damage contributing to, 35–36; lack of awareness of, 3, 40, 60; lessons from, 38–40; Native Americans’ recognizing weather pattern causing, 38–39, 207; in Northern California, 28–29, 29, 35–36; in Southern California, 27–28
foraminifera: ice age information from, 166–67; salinity of San Francisco Bay estuary impacting, 75, 116, 129, 129; seawater conditions in Santa Barbara Basin revealed by, 90–91, 96, 119, 140
Francis, Robert, 56
Franklin, Benjamin, 163
Fremont people, 136
Frost, Robert, 1
Galilei, Galileo, 159–60
geochemists, 74–75, 100, 106, 116, 143, 157, 167
glacials: Fagan on, 81; oscillations between interglacials and, 82, 83, 84, 167, 190; of Pleistocene era, 69, 70. See also ice ages
glaciers: advance in Little Ice Age, 142, 149; advance in Neoglacial, 111; advance in Younger Dryas, 89; cycles of, correlated with sunspot cycles, 162; landscapes formed by, 69, 87, 92; moraines of, 69; retreat in mid-Holocene, 105, 109. See also glacials
Glantz, Michael, 49
Glen Canyon Dam, 201
Glenn, Ed, 217
Globigerina bulloides, 96, 140
Gold Rush, 5, 31, 35–36, 209, 211
Goose Lake, 44
Grand Canyon, 5
Graumlich, Lisa, 132
Great Basin: ice age lakes of, 82, 85–87, 88, 89, 96, 101; topography and climate of, 84–85, 86
Great Depression, population expansion accompanying dam building during, 6–7
Great Flood of 1861–62. See floods of 1861–62
groundwater: extracted during drought of 1987–92, 47; ground subsidence due to extracting, 7, 208; increasing salinity of, 200; proposed storage of, 220–21; tapped during Dust Bowl, 3, 45; used during drought of 1976–77, 21–22; water table decline due to pumping of, 22, 45, 47, 179
Harding, Samuel, 44, 98–99, 100
Hare, Steven, 56
Harte, John, 196–97
Heberger, Matthew, 213
Herbert, Timothy, 106
Hetch Hetchy Valley, 179
Hidalgo, Hugo, 199
Hohokam, 123
Holocene period: changed conditions due to warming of, 83, 84, 87–88, 91–94; climate cycles of early, 95–96; defined, 70; Earth currently in, 81–82; Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and, 159; variability of climate of late, 119–20. See also drought, mid-Holocene; Neoglacial
Hughes, Malcolm, 138
human migrations: across land bridge between Siberia and Alaska, 83–84, 87, 88; during Dust Bowl, 43–44; during Medieval drought, 125, 135, 136, 137; during mid-Holocene, 107–8, 109–10, 109; of pioneers into West, 4–6; in response to mid-Holocene drought, 97; seasonal, by San Francisco Bay mound builders, 118–19
human populations: forced to move by Dust Bowl, 43–44, 45; future, of California, 207; growth made possible by water development, 6–7, 8, 44–45, 175, 179; pioneer, moving into West, 4–6; predicted future growth of, in California, 47; ways to deal with climate stresses, 97. See also Native Americans
hydraulic era, 175–89; dam and aqueduct building of, 176–80, 177, 180; declining fish populations as result of, 181–85; impact on Central Valley wetlands and lakes, 185–87; impact on Colorado River water and delta, 187–88; impact on Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, 188–89; pros and cons of, 175–76. See also water development
ice ages: Croll’s theory on, 164–66; Great Basin lakes during, 85–87, 88, 89, 96, 101; overview of, in West, 81–84, 83. See also Last Glacial Maximum (LGM); Little Ice Age; Younger Dryas event
ice cores: climate clues in, 70; information about glacial/interglacial cycles from, 82, 83, 89, 91, 96; past carbon dioxide levels revealed in, 167–68; volcanic eruption evidence in, 149
ice sheets: Cordilleran, 82, 101; human migration through corridor between, 83–84, 87; Laurentide, 82, 170; of Quaternary Period, 81, 82
Independence Lake, 100
interglacials: Earth currently in, 1, 81–82; Fagan on, 81; oscillations between glacials and, 82, 83, 84, 167, 190; of Pleistocene era, 69–70. See also Holocene period
jet stream: Dust Bowl dust carried by, 42; El Niño/La Niña position of, 53, 54–55; February 1998 shift of, 56; late Pleistocene position of, 86, 87
Johnson, Lyndon B., 204
junipers, 68, 194; western juniper, 132
Kammerdiener, Susan, 190
Kennett, Douglas, 107–8, 109–10, 109
Kennett, James, 90–91, 96, 109
Kern Lake, 186
King of Fish (Montgomery), 182
Klamath River, 218
Lahontan, Lake, 85, 87, 88, 100, 101
lakes: climate history clues from, 69, 72–75, 73; closed basin, 73–74, 94, 112; disappearance of Central Valley, 186; evidence of early Holocene warming from sediments in, 92–94; formed by melting glaciers, 87, 92; ice age, of Great Basin, 82, 85–87, 88, 89, 96, 101; measuring past levels of, from oxygen isotopes in sediments, 100, 102, 103; modern vs. Pleistocene, 101; in Mojave Desert, 111, 145–46; Neoglacial, 111–13, 112, 145; shrinking, as evidence of Medieval drought, 130–31, 131. See also specific lakes
Laki eruption, 163
Lambert, Patricia, 137
La Niña: extended, coinciding with Medieval drought, 157–58; location of precipitation during, 54, 55; mid-Holocene drought and, 110; ocean-atmosphere conditions during, 53
Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), 81, 83, 168
Lee, John D., 37
levees: Central Valley Project construction of, 186; failed during floods of 1861–62, 32; potential failure of, 189, 200, 207, 208, 209–10, 210
lichen, 198
lilac plants, 190–91
Lindstrom, Susan, 99–100
Little Ice Age, 141–54; AD 1605 megaflood, 145, 148–49, 207; climate variability, 150–51; El Niño events, 158; lessons on climate change from, 141; Mojave Desert lakes formed during, 145–46; Northern California megafloods during, 142–43, 146–48; Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and, 159; salmon population decline during, 183; sea surface temperature, 153; Southern California megafloods, 143–45, 144; sunspot record coinciding with, 160; volcanic eruptions, 163; wetter climate throughout West during, 149–50; wildfire frequency, 149
Little Packer Lake, 146–47, 148
“Long Drought,” 104. See also drought, mid-Holocene
Los Angeles, 28, 44–45, 180, 194, 196, 215
Los Angeles Aqueduct, 44–45, 103, 177–78, 177, 180
Manly, William, 5–6
Matthes, Francois, 111
Maunder, Edward Walter, 160
Maunder Minimum, 160
Mayan empire, 160
Medieval Climate Anomaly: absence of California megafloods during, 144–45, 144; cooler sea surface temperatures during, 157; “dry-wet knockout” climate pattern during, 152; as global phenomenon, 137–38; impact on native peoples, 205–6; increase in salmon populations during, 183. See also drought, Medieval
Medieval drought. See drought, Medieval
Medieval Warm Period, 138. See also Medieval Climate Anomaly
Mediterranean climate, 16–17
Meehl, Gerald, 161
megadroughts: of Holocene, 3; of Medieval period, 121–22, 132, 139; Pacific Decadal Oscillation and, 159; potential future, 212
megafauna, 88
megaflood of AD 1605, 145, 148–49, 152, 207
megafloods: caused by atmospheric river storms, 30, 38–39, 59, 207; caused by bursting Pacific Northwest ice dams, 169–70; estimated frequency of, 144, 147, 148; of Holocene, 3; Northern California evidence of, 146–48; potential future, 153; Santa Barbara Basin sediment evidence of, 143–45, 144, 148; volcanic eruptions and, 149. See also floods of 1861–62
Meko, David, 132
Mensing, Scott, 151
Merced River, 193–94
Michaelsen, Joel, 151
Milankovitch, Mulatin, 166
Millar, Connie, 132
Mojave Desert, 24, 28, 30, 111, 145–46
Mojave River, 145
Mono Lake: as closed basin lake, 73, 112; history of level of, 73, 112, 216; impact of diverting water to LA, 45, 73; Little Ice Age levels, 149, 150, 153; Medieval drought level, 130, 131; Neoglacial level, 112, 112; restoration of, 215–17, 216
Montezuma’s Castle (cliff dwelling), 124, 124
Montgomery, David, 182
Monument Valley, 15
moraines, 69
mountain ranges, influence on precipitation levels in West, 15–16, 16, 17
Mulinia coloradoensis, 188
National Research Council (NRC), report on water in Delta, 219–20
Native Americans: impact of Medieval drought on, 122–25, 124, 135–37; mid-Holocene settlements of, 100, 110; mound builders, 110, 114–15, 118–19; recognized weather pattern causing floods of 1861–62, 38–39, 207; salmon as food for, 88, 97, 183–84; strategies for coping with climate extremes, 7, 206. See also human migrations
Nelson, Nels, 114
Neodenticula seminae, 106
Neoglacial, 111–20; Central Valley flooding during, 113–14; climate variability of, 119–20; defined, 104, 111; lake levels, 111–13, 112; mound builders of San Francisco Bay during, 110, 114–15, 118–19; river flows into and salinity of San Francisco Bay during, 116, 117, 118; wildfire frequency during, 113
Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, 96
Nevada, floods of 1861–62 in, 37
Northern California: drought of 1976–77 in, 21; evidence of megafloods in, 146–48; floods of 1861–62 in, 28–29, 29, 35–36; hydraulic era water development bringing water to, 179; as southern extension of temperate rainforests, 16. See also San Francisco Bay
Olivella biplicata, 108
Oncorhynchus tschawytscha, 176
Oregon, floods of 1861–62 in, 37–38
Osgood Swamp, 130
Overpeck, Jonathan, 212
Owens Lake: as closed basin lake in Great Basin, 85, 101, 102; disappearance of, due to Los Angeles Aqueduct, 102–3, 178; early Holocene level, 88, 94; Little Ice Age levels, 149, 150; mid-Holocene drought evidence in sediments of, 103; Neoglacial level, 113
Owens River, 102, 103, 177, 178, 217
Owens Valley, 17; aqueduct diverting waters of, to Los Angeles, 44–45, 103, 177–78, 177, 180. See also Mono Lake; Owens Lake
oxygen isotope measurements: to assess past lake levels, 74–75, 100, 102, 103; to assess salinity of San Francisco Bay waters, 116, 118, 129, 129, 150; of coral, revealing past El Niño events, 157–58; revealing climate change pattern, 166–67; of Santa Barbara Basin sediments, 91
Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO): interaction between El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and, 58; Little Ice Age droughts and, 153; overview of, 51, 56–58; precipitation in West and, 54, 55; salmon productivity influenced by, 182–83; variability in, and climate change, 158–59
Pacific Ocean: changes in, during Younger Dryas event, 90–91; climate history clues in sediments of, 68, 71–72, 72; clues about cause of Medieval drought from, 139–40; as influence on Western climate patterns, 49. See also sea level; sea-surface temperatures
Pacific warm pool, 52
paleoclimatology, 1, 3–4, 63–64
Pallcacocha, Lake, 158
Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), 131, 134, 149
Palmyra Atoll coral reefs, 157–58
Pardee, Joseph Thomas, 170
Parrish, Otis, 95
PDO. See Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)
Peripheral Canal, 188–89
Peterson, Dave, 190
Philander, S. George, 173
phytoplankton: influence of salinity of San Francisco Bay on, 23, 127; information about coastal water conditions from fossils of, 72, 105–6; salmon population linked to, 56–57, 182
Pierce, David, 196
Pinchot, Gifford, 179
“Pineapple Expresses,” 59. See also atmospheric river storms
pines: bristlecone pine, 64–66, 65, 95, 104–5, 132, 162; foxtail pine, 132; Jeffrey pine, 22, 130–31, 131; piñon pine, 135; ponderosa pine, 22, 92, 194; sugar pine, 92, 93
plant communities: California’s wide spectrum of, 16; diversity of, in tidal marshlands, 125–26; fire used to manage, 95; impact of wildfires of late Pleistocene and early Holocene on, 94–95; past climate conditions and, 93–94
plants. See vegetation
playas, 111
Pleistocene era: glacial/interglacial cycles of, 69–70; lakes of Great Basin during, 85–87, 101; megafauna of, 88
pollen: age resolution for studies of, 79; climate history clues from, 72, 76; evidence of Medieval drought from, 126–28, 135; evidence of warming of early Holocene in, 92, 94
populations. See human populations
Porites, 157
portfolio effect, 185
Powell, Douglas, 18–19, 64–65, 66
Powell, James, 201–2
Powell, John Wesley, 4
precipitation: from atmospheric river storms, 58–59, 221; California’s variability in annual, 17; causing floods of 1861–62, 28, 29, 29, 30, 37; changing storm track altering patterns of, 191–92; during drought of 1976–77, 21, 22; El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and, 53–55, 54; falling as snow, 18–19, 19; in Great Basin, 84, 86; influence of West’s topography on levels of, 14–16, 16, 17; location of, during La Niña, 53, 54; Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and, 54, 57; pressure cells influencing, 50; “rain follows plow” theory of, 4–5
Pseudoeunotia doliolus, 106
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), report on water in Delta, 220–21
Pyramid Lake: drought of 1976–77 level, 21; early Holocene level, 94; evidence of late Holocene climate variability in, 120; history of, 85, 100, 101; Little Ice Age level, 149; mid-Holocene drought evidence in, 100, 102; Neoglacial level, 113
radiocarbon, solar activity and, 162
radiocarbon/radiometric dating methods, 78–80, 99
redwoods: coast redwoods, 106–7; Giant Sequoia, 133–34, 133, 134
Reisner, Marc, 214
Rodbell, Donald, 158
Russell Lake, 87
Sacramento: floods of 1861–62 in, 29, 29, 31–35, 33; lack of adequate flood protection for, 209–10
Sacramento River: evidence of Medieval Climate Anomaly in sediments of, 139; levees along, 186, 208; megaflood evidence in floodplains of, 146–47, 148; proposed canal linking California Aqueduct directly to, 188–89; sediments from mining in, 36; subsidence of floodplain of, 7, 208
Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta: environmental impact of hydraulic era water development on, 184, 188; policies on sustainable water and environmental management of, 219–21; risk of levee failure in, 200, 209–10, 210; saltwater intrusions into, 23, 44; vegetation changes in, 104
salmon: chinook salmon, 46, 118, 176, 181–85, 186, 188, 219; coho salmon, 110; as food for Native Americans, 88, 97, 183–84; impact of water development on, 184–85; during mid-Holocene drought, 97, 110; natural range of, 181–82, 186; sea-surface temperatures and, 56–57, 182–83; sockeye salmon, 110; as survivors, 175
Salmon Without Rivers (Lichatowich), 185
San Diego, 24, 28, 30, 177, 180, 196
San Francisco Bay: as estuary, 68, 75, 109; evidence of Medieval drought from, 125–29, 128, 129, 138–39; floods of 1861–62 throughout area, 35, 36, 38; information about Little Ice Age climate from, 142–43, 150; mound builders of, 110, 114–15, 118–19; Neoglacial river flows into and salinity of, 116, 117, 118
San Gabriel River, 44
San Joaquin River: evidence of Medieval Climate Anomaly in sediments of, 139; levees along, 186, 208; subsidence of floodplain of, 7, 208. See also Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta
San Joaquin Valley: groundwater tapped in, 22, 45, 47; water diverted to, 46, 177, 179, 184, 188, 219. See also Tulare Lake
Santa Ana winds, 151
Santa Barbara Basin: evidence of “dry-wet knockout” pattern in sediments of, 151; evidence of megafloods in sediments of, 143–45, 144; sediment layers of, 71–72, 72, 78, 90–91, 96; variability of late Holocene climate of, 120
Santa Barbara Channel Islands, 97, 104, 108, 109, 136
Schimmelmann, Arndt, 72, 143–45, 148–49
sea level: changes recorded in shells of marine organisms, 167; during El Niño episodes, 52; during glacial/interglacial cycles, 70, 82, 83, 84, 168; in late Pleistocene and early Holocene, 88; in mid-Holocene, 97, 109, 110, 183; predicted rise of, 200; San Francisco Bay tidal marshlands and, 125
Searles Basin, lakes of, 87, 111
sea-surface temperatures: impact on salmon population, 56–57, 182–83; as influence on Western climate patterns, 49; information about, in shells of marine organisms, 140; during La Niña, 48, 157; during mid-Holocene, 106, 108; Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and, 153, 158–59; sunspot cycles and, 161; during Younger Dryas event, 91
seawater conditions, reconstructed from coral cores, 156–58, 156
sediments: as archives of climate change, 67–69; assessing past lake levels by measuring oxygen isotopes in, 100, 102, 103; clues about Neoglacial San Francisco Bay in, 116, 117, 118; clues to climate history in, 70–77, 72, 73, 90–91; determining age information about, 77–80; evidence of California megafloods in Santa Barbara Basin, 143–45, 144; evidence of coastal conditions during mid-Holocene in, 105–6; evidence of Little Ice Age flooding in San Francisco Bay, 142–43; evidence of Medieval drought in Suisun Marsh, 126–27, 128; Northern California megafloods evident in, 146–48; varves in, 71
Seltzer, Geoffrey, 158
Sequoia, giant, 133–34, 133, 134
Sequoiandendron giganteum, 133–34, 133
Sierra Nevada mountain range: cloud-seeding in, 24, 47; influence on precipitation levels, 14, 15–16, 16, 17; snow measurements in, 18–19, 19
Sinagua culture, 124, 124, 136
Sloan, Doris, 129
snow: earlier melting of, 191, 193, 194; precipitation falling as, 18–19, 19
snowpack, decreasing, 19, 193–94, 195–96
Southern California: as desert, 16; evidence of megafloods in, 143–45, 144, 148; floods of 1861–62 in, 27–28; hydraulic era water development bringing water to, 44–46, 103, 177–80, 177, 180; impact of drought of 1987–92 on, 46; increased wildfires in, 194–95; twentieth-century flood disasters in, 24–25. See also Santa Barbara Basin; Santa Barbara Channel Islands
Southern Oscillation, 51. See also El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), 54
Southwest: climate variability during Little Ice Age, 150–51; hydraulic era water development diverting water of, 177, 178–80, 180; impacts of Medieval drought on inhabitants of, 122–25, 135–36; monsoonal rain in, 50; potential dust bowl in, 198
Spartina foliosa, 127
Starratt, Scott, 127
Stegner, Wallace, 214
Steinbeck, John, 13
St. Francis Dam, 200
Stine, Scott, 130–31
Suisun Marsh, 126–27, 128, 138–39
Sullivan, Don, 146–48
Summer Lake, 104
sunspot cycles, 159–62; link between climate and, 67, 160–61; radiocarbon evidence of, 161–62
Syringa vulgaris, 190–91
Tahoe, Lake: drought of 1976–77 level, 21; Dust Bowl level, 44; Native Americans living around, 100; Neoglacial level, 113; Pyramid Lake linked to, 100; submerged trees, 97–100, 98
Tambora, Mt., 163
Taylor Grazing Act, 198
Tenaya Lake, 130
Thalassionema nitzschioides, 106
“Thirst” (film), 178–79
tree-ring studies: age resolution and, 79; climate history clues from, 64–67, 68–69, 77; evidence of Colorado River flow fluctuations from, 67, 150–51; evidence of Medieval drought climate extremes from, 131–33, 135; evidence of Medieval drought wildfires from, 133–34, 133, 134; solar cycles and, 162
trees: dying during drought of 1976–77, 22–23; killed by bark-beetle disease, 22, 46, 194; submerged in lakes/rivers, 74, 97–100, 98, 130–31, 131. See also specific trees
Truckee River, 21, 44, 100, 113
Tulare Lake: as candidate for restoration, 217; early Holocene level, 88; history of, 119, 186–87; Little Ice Age level, 150; mid-Holocene level, 103–4; Neoglacial level, 113; Younger Dryas level, 91
Twain, Mark, 2
Udall, Bradley, 212
upwelling: defined, 52; during La Niña, 53; during Medieval drought, 137; during mid-Holocene, 105–7; salmon populations and, 56–57, 182; solar cycles and, 161
Urey, Harold, 167
U.S. Geological Survey, Atmospheric River 1000 Storm scenario of, 210–11
U.S. Southwest. See Southwest
Utah, floods of 1861–62 in, 37
Uto-Aztecan people, 108, 109–10
varves, defined, 71
vegetation: altered by mid-Holocene drought, 104; at beginning of Holocene, 92–94; flowering earlier, 190–91, 197; salt-tolerant, 104, 125–27, 128. See also plant communities; trees
volcanic eruptions: climate change and, 162–63; determining age of sediments containing ash from, 78–79, 93; during Medieval period, 132; megafloods and, 149
Walker, Gilbert, 51
Walker, Phillip, 137
Walker Circulation, 51
Walker Lake, 85
warmer temperatures, 190–203; causes of, 202; coastal impacts of, 200; Colorado River basin and, 195–96; ecosystem impacts of, 196–98; increased flood risk, 199–200; increased risk of dam failures, 200–202; indicators of, 190–91, 193–95, 195; precipitation patterns altered by, 191–92; records of, 191, 192; risk of Southwest dust bowl, 198. See also climate change
water conservation: difficulty of getting people to adopt, 212; drought of 1976–77 as inspiring interest in, 24; importance of, in future, 189, 203; lessons from Australian drought on, 213; standards and pricing encouraging, 220
water development: bringing water to Southern California, 44–46, 103, 177–80, 177, 180; dam removal to reverse ecosystem damage from, 217–18; by early Native populations, 123–24, 136; population growth made possible by, 8; potential for drought obscured by, 7; reversing environmental damage from, 215–17, 216; transformation of Central Valley by, 180, 185–87, 208
water footprint, 213–14
water use policies, 218–21
weather, 2, 13. See also atmospheric river storms; climate
West Berkeley shell mound, 110, 115, 118
wetlands: of Central Valley, 88, 113, 185–87; of Colorado River delta, 188; ecological role of, 181; rising sea level’s impact on, 200; of Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, 209; of San Francisco Bay, 211; of Suisun Marsh, 126
White Mountains, bristlecone pines of, 64–66, 65, 95, 104–5, 132, 162
Whitney, Josiah, 28
Wilber, Charles Dana, 4–5
wildfires: clues in sediments about, 76–77, 94–95; during drought of 1976–77, 22–23; following wet periods, 151; as indicator of climate change, 194–95, 195; in late Pleistocene and early Holocene, 94–95; Little Ice Age frequency of, 149; Medieval drought frequency of, 133–34, 133, 134; Neoglacial frequency of, 113
wildlife: of Central Valley wetlands and lakes, 186, 187; as food for first humans in West, 88, 95; impact of warming temperatures on, 197–98; Pleistocene megafauna, 88
Winnemucca Lake, 85
Woodhouse, Connie, 132
Yellowstone National Park, 152
Yosemite National Park, 87, 130, 133, 179
Young, Brigham, 37
Younger Dryas event, 83, 84, 89–91
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