Drip Dry - What is a Desert?

Walking around Pasadena, most people probably don't think of the city as part of a desert - a place of vast sands, mouth-drying winds and devastating heat. But perhaps we would all be better off if they did.

With the so-called "perfect drought" of last summer and the autumn firestorms that followed, fears of global warming have hit Southern California hard, including Pasadena, which isn't yet a desert, but is well on its way to becoming one.

According to Tapio Schneider, an assistant professor of environmental science and engineering at Caltech, just what a desert actually is isn't easily defined.

"Desert has many different and quite vague meanings. The meaning you are probably thinking about is a very arid region [little rainfall, evaporation exceeds precipitation] with a barren landscape and sparse vegetation," Schneider explained recently via email. "Climatologically, deserts can be defined and sub-classified in several ways, but usually the term desert is applied if annual rainfall is less than about 10 inches," Schneider explained. "We receive about twice that amount on average, so according to that definition, Pasadena is not a desert. But in other classifications, the term ‘desert climate' refers to any climate in which evaporation exceeds precipitation, and this is the case in Pasadena."

If you look at a map drawn Sept 25 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Drought Monitor, you'll see that most of California was under a moderate to extreme drought, with almost all Southern California under extreme drought conditions. Yet, there were no statewide mandatory water conservation measures taken.

Nationwide, California wasn't the hardest hit area last year. A large portion of the Southeast United States suffered from extreme to exceptional drought conditions during that time.

Certainly things have improved this year and the current drought map shows Southern California as being abnormally dry to under severe drought conditions. Northern California also appears to be sitting pretty. But does this mean water usage is now only a Southern California issue?

Schneider explained in a phone interview that while many regions across the US are now suffering from drought and "we [scientists] see pretty clear changes," some people will argue that "the drought we are seeing here is a sign of climate change." But, he cautioned, it is too early to come to that conclusion.

After all, he continued, "A few years ago was one of the most humid years on record. And three years later, it was the driest year on record." He does still feel that "on average, it will get drier here," yet we must also consider that during a period of time there will be "variability" in weather patterns.

However, he was sure that "it is very likely it will get drier in the coming decades," but "whether that is due to human activity that is too early to tell. We'll know in a decade or two."

While scientists can wait that long to figure out whether last year's perfect drought was a sign of things to come or just a normal variation in the weather, he also acknowledged that, as a community, we can't wait much longer.

"We have to do two things: Find ways of producing energy with lower emission of greenhouse gases," he said. "At the same time, climate change will happen, part of it is inevitable, yet we do have a choice in it. We can adapt and conserve water as a resource by using energy technologies on an individual level and by being more aware in order to put pressure on our institutions to change on larger scale."

As the current drought monitor maps show, despite the rain, Southern California is still under drought conditions.

And "Water policies need to adapt now," Schneider said, "Climate will change in the next 50 years" and the reality is we will have to "use less water to adapt."

--Originally published in the Pasadena Weekly

Water Wars - Films for Thought

If you are a green-conscious filmmaker but don't have the big bucks of Leonardo DiCaprio or the political clout of Al Gore to get your project green-lighted, why not enter the Intelligent Use of Water short film competition?

Last year's jury award winner, Sergio Cannella, was from Italy, but the competition's sponsor and the awards ceremony are both located in Southern California?

Following a special Oct. 11 screening at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia, winners will be announced immediately and cash prizes of $6,000 for the Jury Award and $3,000 for the Audience Choice Award will be given by the event's sponsor, Rain Bird of Azusa.

Rain Bird, the leading manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services for lawns, gardens, agriculture, golf courses and commercial developments, is giving amateur and experienced filmmakers a chance to showcase their talents and use the power of film to highlight the need for responsible water use with this contest, now in its second year.

Shalini Kantayya, director of the 2007 Audience Choice Award winner, "A Drop of Life," will serve as master of ceremonies. "I got the idea while in India making a documentary," Brooklyn-based Kantayya commented via email. "The more I researched and read about water, the more I became convinced of Vice President of the World Bank Ismail Serageldin's statement on the future of war: ‘If the wars of the 20th century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water.' I found the statistics alarming; between one-half and two-thirds of the world's population will not have access to drinking water by the year 2027.

"The water meter in ‘A Drop of Life' was originally created to illustrate a frightening future where water is the planet's most scarce natural resource. But then I learned that this frightening future, a world in which water is reserved for only those who can afford it, exists today. The science-fiction water meters I had imagined already exist in 10 countries including South Africa, Brazil and impoverished areas of the United States. This ‘coincidence' has affirmed my belief that this story has the power to move, inspire, and mobilize people to act on this vital issue," Kantayya said.

A filmmaker for her 7th Empire Media who has done commercial work for Sting, Mariah Carey, and Phil Collins, as well as interviewed and filmed people such as the Dalai Lama and Gloria Steinem, Kantayya also considers herself an activist and educator.

"My interest in conservation is about survival of every species on the planet," she explained. "Everyone should be aware that water is a precious limited resource and we must conserve, avoid bottled water, and convince our leaders to keep our water clean, safe and as our shared human right."

Kantayya's film, as well as Cannella's "Carpa Diem" - the tale of a fish and water, can be viewed on the Rain Bird IUOW Web site, www.IUOWFILM.com.

Entries may include narrative, documentary, animated, experimental and/or student-made short films that run one to 10 minutes in actual or excerpted run time and the subject matter should explore methods and ideas to responsibly manage and utilize earth's most precious resource.

The competition's 2008 judges are Robert Glennon, a professor at the University of Arizona's Rogers College of Law, Gary McVey of the American Cinema Foundation, and Amanda Pope, a professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

All entries must be submitted electronically as an .mov, .wmv or .mpg file no later than 11:59 p.m. (PDT) Sept. 1.
For more information about the competition and entry requirements, visit www.IUOWFILM.com.