How Severe is the 2015 Drought Situation on the West Coast?

""California's reservoirs have about a year's worth of water left. Groundwater levels, seen as a "savings account" that the state can draw from in dry times, are at an all-time low. The US Drought Monitor comes out with weekly drought maps based on satellite imagery, precipitation, and water flow data; the Central Valley—America's bread basket—is covered in dark red, "exceptional drought."

What exactly is groundwater, and why are people in California freaking out about it? Groundwater is the water that seeps through the ground when it rains. Over the centuries, it accumulates in vast underground aquifers, with older water found deeper in the earth's crust. Accessed through wells, groundwater is often compared to a savings account in California—good to have in dry times but difficult to refill. The issue now is that with reservoirs (above ground) so depleted, groundwater use is spiking. Farmers are drilling deeper and deeper for water—using water that fell 20,000 years ago. Usually, groundwater makes up about 40 percentof the state's freshwater usage, but with the recent drought, that number has leapt to 65 percent. This year, it may rise to 75 percent.

What are the state's biggest water users? Farming in general, and alfalfa (used to feed cows) and almonds in particular. California grows half of the fruits and veggies produced in the States, including more than 90 percent of the country'sgrapes, broccoli, almonds, and walnuts. Here are some of the state's most thirsty crops:

Alfalfa is a superfood of sorts for cows, and it's in high demand in the Golden State, which leads the country in dairy production and is also a major beef producer. (Fun fact: It takes nearly 700 gallons of water to grow the alfalfa necessary to produce one gallon of milk, and 425 gallons of water to produce 4 ounces of beef.) Almonds are second from the top, both because it takes a lot of water to produce nuts (a single almond takes a gallon of water) but also because the crunchy snack is in vogue in the United States and abroad. The water that's used to grow the California almonds that are exported overseas in one year would be enough to fuel Los Angeles for nearly three years.""

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/04/everything-you-wanted-know-about-california-drought

First Massive Solar Storm of 2015 Delivers Spectacular Auroras from Bursting Plasma Shoots of Sun

""A severe solar storm reached the Earth on Tuesday, contributing to a display of the aurora with the potential to stretch as far south as Oregon in the US, as well as being visible across unexpected reaches of the southern hemisphere.

Two blasts of magnetic plasma left the sun on Sunday, eventually combining and arriving on Earth on Tuesday about 15 hours earlier and much stronger than expected, said Thomas Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Centre in Boulder, Colorado. 

Authorities warned of possible disruption to power grids, GPS tracking and communication systems, but Berger said that in this case there were none of the bursts of radiation that can affect satellite operations.

The storm ranked a 4, called severe, on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s scale of 1-5 scale for geomagnetic effects. It is the strongest solar storm to reach Earth since the fall of 2013. It’s been nearly a decade since a level 5 storm, termed extreme, has hit Earth."" 

""Striking images came from Estonia and Alaska, while forecasters said there was the possibility of a sky show in much of Russia and northern Europe, as far south as central Germany and Poland.

In the southern hemisphere, displays were reported from Dunedin, New Zealand, and mainland Australian locations including Perth and Goulburn.""

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/18/solar-storm-delivers-spectacular-aurora-displays-and-pictures