As Climate Catastrophe Looms, New York City Declares Drought Warning

We’re in trouble.

The Sky Is Falling

New York City has declared its first drought warning since 2002, adding to the long list of portentous climate-related events afflicting the US and world more frequently, and forcefully, than ever before in recorded history.

Floridians recently endured Hurricane Milton, which one meteorologist described initially as reaching the “mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce.” On the West side of the US, at least 28 people were killed this summer in a lethal heatwave, a byproduct of what could become the hottest year ever recorded. The last “hottest year,” unsettlingly, was 2023.

All that — not to mention the Big Apple’s new drought warning — melt into a flashing sign as world leaders at the COP29 climate summit: that absent an implausibly radical reshaping of humankind’s activities on Earth, things are only going to get worse.

Rain or Shine

New York City’s drought advisory — which also impacts several New York State counties — doesn’t come with any mandatory restrictions, though residents are urged to conserve water.

That said, a drought advisory is no small thing. It’s the final step before a drought emergency, which New York last experienced in 2002. And if the weather doesn’t relent, an emergency could be inevitable. 

“The ongoing and historic lack of rainfall, both in the city and in the upstate watershed where our reservoirs are located, has become more critical,” said New York City chief climate officer Rohit T. Aggarwala in a press release

“Climate change caused an exceptionally warm fall, leading to our reservoir system being at only 63% capacity,” added New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “As New Yorkers always do in a crisis, we are coming together to face this challenge.”

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