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AgDaily Contributors. (2023, March 28). California flooding continues to Impact Agriculture. AGDAILY. https://www.agdaily.com/news/california-flooding-continues-to-impact-farmworkers/
Canon, G. (2023, March 15). Atmospheric rivers are inundating California – but what are they?. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/15/what-are-atmospheric-rivers-explainer
Castleman, T., Smith, H., & Toohey, G. (2023, January 10). Tracking the deaths from California’s winter storms: At least 22 killed. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-10/tracking-the-deaths-from-californias-winter-storms
Hecht, C., Ralph, M., & Kalansky, J. (2023, October 20). The Atmospheric Rivers of water year 2023: End of water year summary. Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes. https://cw3e.ucsd.edu/the-atmospheric-rivers-of-water-year-2023-end-of-water-year-summary/
NASA. (2022, November 30). Atmospheric rivers. GHRC. https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/home/micro-articles/atmospheric-rivers
NIDIS. (2022, October 18). California-nevada drought status update: October 18, 2022. Drought.gov. https://www.drought.gov/drought-status-updates/california-nevada-drought-status-update-10-18-22#:~:text=California%2FNevada%20conditions%20as%20of%20October%2011%2C%202022%3A%2099.77%25,%28D4%29%20Drought%20%2823.34%25%20in%20D3%2C%2016.57%25%20in%20D4%29
NOAA. (2024). Billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/events/US/1980-2023?disasters%5B%5D=all-disasters
Ramirez, R. (2023, March 21). Is this normal? California is facing its 12th Atmospheric River this winter following a historic drought. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/21/us/california-weather-atmospheric-river-drought-climate/index.html
Salahieh, N., Yan, H., & Garrett, M. (2023, January 12). “a very significant emergency”: California’s deadly, record-setting storms are about to get an encore. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/11/weather/california-flooding-atmospheric-river-wednesday/index.html
Sasani, A., & Moity, S. (2023, January 1). California scrambles to recover from storm before the next one hits. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/01/us/california-storm.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
Sommer, L. (2023, March 23). 3 reasons why California’s drought isn’t really over, despite all the rain. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/03/23/1165378214/3-reasons-why-californias-drought-isnt-really-over-despite-all-the-rain
Tavernise, S., & Flavelle, C. (2023, January 12). The California floods. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/podcasts/the-daily/california-storms-flooding-rain.html?showTranscript=1
Toohey, G. (2023, April 11). No one expected 31 atmospheric rivers storms to hit California. The mystery remains: Why?. Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2023-04-atmospheric-rivers-storms-california-mystery.html
Weather.com staff. (2024, February 6). Facts about mudslides. The Weather Channel. https://weather.com/safety/news/2024-02-06-what-are-mudslides-rain-california
Zhong, R., & Schaff, E. (2023, April 3). See what California’s record snowpack looks like, up close. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/03/climate/california-storms-snowpack.html?searchResultPosition=6
Change in spheres only occurs when matter or energy moves between spheres; it relies on their interrelationships.
Interrelationships between the lithosphere and other spheres often shapes the Earth’s landforms through constructive and destructive forces. During the 2023 California atmospheric rivers, heavy rains caused mudslides in the hilly areas of the state. In this instance, an interaction put water from the hydrosphere into the lithosphere, causing erosion and modifying the landscape.
Shorter-term meteorological changes are often the result of interrelationships between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere. Disruptive atmospheric rivers form over the Pacific Ocean when water evaporates. This is a transfer of water from the hydrosphere to the atmosphere, without which the changes caused by atmospheric rivers would not have happened.
An interrelationship between the biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere is becoming increasingly pertinent as it has the potential to cause long-term changes to the Earth. Humans are extracting fossil fuels and burning them, releasing carbon dioxide In this case, a movement of matter from the lithosphere to the atmosphere through interactions with the biosphere is setting off countless chains of interactions that are changing the Earth. A contribution to 2023 California atmospheric rivers is only one example.
It is clear that the Earth, do to the interrelationships between it’s spheres, is far from static. We must consider how we can take on some humility and make our systems more dynamic to bend to changes in the Earth.
The flooding and uprooted trees caused at least 22 human deaths (Castleman, 2023), more than the past two wildfire seasons. (Salahieh, 2023) Some people were hit by falling trees. (ibid.) Some were carried away by rivers and drowned. (Castleman, 2023) The storms must have killed many other animals as well, though that has not been recorded.
Floods have overwhelmed sewage systems, leading to leaks in urban areas. (Salahieh, 2023) This exposed humans and other animals in those areas to harmful bacteria. (ibid.)
More vegetation will help absorb water in the future, helping prevent more catastrophic floods. (Flavelle, 2023)
More vegetation will mean more roots in the soil, which will stabilize it and help prevent future mudslides.
Agriculture in California - part of the biosphere - was hit hard by the flooding and spreading of sediment. (AgDaily, 2023)) Damage to the agricultural industry was over $336 million in Monterey County alone. (ibid.) Floods in fields blocked access and damaged crops. (ibid.) Leafy greens and other low-lying crops suffered the most damage, as they were covered in mud. (ibid.) In some places, cattle had to be evacuated due to flooding. (ibid.) On top of all this, farmers lost a lot of equipment to flood damages (ibid.)
High wind speeds uprooted many trees. (Salahieh, 2023) It’s estimated over 1,000 trees were downed in just the first 11 days of 2023. (ibid.)
The atmospheric rivers brought heavy winds, blowing up to 160 km/h in some places. (NASA)
Despite the damage caused by flooding, it will make soil more fertile in the long run. (Flavelle, 2023) When rivers flood their banks, they deposit nutrient rich sediment in the flooded areas. (ibid.) This will help farmers in future, and encourage other ecosystem growth.
As a result of flooding and mudslides, a lot of sediment was spread across large areas. (AgDaily, 2023)
Relief from drought encouraged more plant growth and revitalized ecosystems that suffered from several dry years.
Increased snowpack will ensure substantial snowmelt in future years, helping to prevent drought. (Canon, 2023)
A combination of flooding, mudslides, high winds, and fallen trees dealt immense damage to human homes and infrastructure. The total cost was an estimated $4.6 billion. (NOAA, 2023) Homes were flooded and hit by mudslides and fallen trees. Levees on swollen rivers broke. (Sasani, 2023) Many roads were washed out or blocked by trees, mud, and debris. (Flavelle, 2023) All this impacts the activities of the human element of the biosphere.
Image source: Terry Schmitt
This event had a significant impact on the hydrosphere. It is normal for atmospheric rivers to bring a lot of rain, accounting for nearly half of precipitation in California. (Canon, 2023) However, in the 2022-2023 winter, unusually powerful AR events happened in quick succession, flooding many areas and causing rivers and water reservoirs to overflow. (ibid.) When there is little time between storms, the ground is saturated with water and cannot absorb it well. (ibid.) In total, 31 atmospheric rivers hit the state, (Toohey, 2023) dumping 30 trillion gallons of water. (Canon, 2023) On the 1-5 magnitude scale, one was rated 5 (exceptional), two were rated 4 (extreme), and 9 were rated strong (Hecht, 2023)
Image source: Fred Greaves
California’s hydrosphere had been in a state of drought years before the 2023 atmospheric rivers. (Sommer, 2023) The atmospheric river season brought an end to much of this drought, refilling reservoirs and adding to some aquifers (ibid.) Many water use restrictions were raised (Toohey, 2023) and the total area in California facing some form of drought went down from the entire state in October 2022 (NIDIS, 2022) to a third. (Ramirez, 2023)
The relief precipitation from this event impacted the cryosphere as it built up snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains. In some places, snowpack reached up to 700 inches, twice the historical average. (Zhong, 2023)
Image source: Mario Tama
The 2023 atmospheric rivers in California impacted the lithosphere by creating mudslides. In the state’s hilly and mountainous areas, the deluge saturated soil with water (Weather.com). In some places, this destabilized the ground and caused it to slide down slopes. (ibid.)
The biosphere has played a part in the formation of the 2023 atmospheric rivers, as humans have been emitting greenhouse gasses and warming the planet.
The lithosphere contributes to the impact of AR events on North America’s Pacific coast. Plate tectonics have created the rocky mountains near the coast, which force Atmospheric Rivers upwards. (Bird, 2024) This relief causes clouds to drop most of their moisture as precipitation, as the air cools and condenses. (ibid.) These mountains have been formed by the rock cycle, and the relief precipitation is a natural part of the water cycle. (ibid.)
As the name would suggest, the atmosphere is significant to the occurrence of atmospheric rivers. All of the moisture is carried in the atmosphere, and moved by wind currents. Often, these are wind currents generated by tropical cyclones. (Bird, 2024)) A common path for an AR to travel is from near Hawaii to California. This is referred to as the ‘Pineapple Express.’ (NOAA, 2023)
Image source: NASA Worldview
The hydrosphere plays an important role in the formation of atmospheric rivers. An atmospheric river is a long, thin band of flowing water vapour held in the atmosphere. (Bird, 2024) They form over the Pacific ocean near the equator where the warm temperature allows water in the hydrosphere to evaporate into the atmosphere. (ibid.) This is part of the hydrological cycle. (ibid.)
Warmer air and oceans meansmore water vapour in the atmosphere, which can increase the size and amount of precipitation of atmospheric rivers. (Toohey, 2023) This is a disruption in the hydrological cycle caused by a disruption in the carbon cycle.
