Green Daily

The next big trend to come out of California may be water rationing. Scientists are predicting that the current drought in the western US not only isn't going away, but is about to turn into into a major water supply crisis. What's more, the researchers place the blame for the problem directly at the doorstep of you and me and our SUVs, calculating that 60% of the climate change that's melting snowpacks and drying up rivers can be attributed to man-made greenhouse gases.

The study from researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography comes as farmers, businesses and homeowners in many places in the west and southwest are already facing water shortages and usage restrictions. As snowpacks in the mountains grow smaller and melt earlier, the steady supply of water that once raced down the Colorado and other western rivers in the summer is less reliable, and the problem is exacerberated by rapid growth in desert cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas that are getting thirstier by the day.

Of course, widespread drought is destined to have what you might call a ripple effect going way beyond a few brown lawns. including skyrocketing food prices and hydroelectricity shortages. And since climate change isn't going away anytime soon, we'd better get used to it.