WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.090 --> 00:00:04.300 (Reporter) It's been a tale of two extremes this year for the United States, severe drought 2 00:00:04.300 --> 00:00:08.490 has plagued the west coast and parts of Texas 3 00:00:08.490 --> 00:00:12.680 recently thought parts of California and Texas did get rain, but 4 00:00:12.680 --> 00:00:16.820 Here to tell us if those droughts are over and what it means for the rest of the country is Dr. 5 00:00:16.820 --> 00:00:21.040 Dough Morton, from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, thanks for joining us. 6 00:00:21.040 --> 00:00:25.230 (Morton) Thanks for having me. (Reporter) So this has been a year of extreme weather 7 00:00:25.230 --> 00:00:29.430 in the United States. What are NASA satellites telling us? (Morton) NASA has twenty Earth 8 00:00:29.430 --> 00:00:33.620 observing satellites looking down at our home planet. Constantly taking the pulse 9 00:00:33.620 --> 00:00:37.810 of everything from rainfall and droughts to fires and 10 00:00:37.810 --> 00:00:42.020 other storms systems. Last year we launch our most advanced rainfall 11 00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:46.200 monitoring mission called GPM. And that's giving us an unprecedented look at rainfall 12 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:50.400 patterns over 2015. This animation shows the cumulative amounts 13 00:00:50.400 --> 00:00:54.580 rainfall since January across the lower 48. with those areas in 14 00:00:54.580 --> 00:00:58.770 red to purple having seen 6ft. of rain since January. 15 00:00:58.770 --> 00:01:02.860 While California and the desert southwest have been unusually dry. 16 00:01:02.860 --> 00:01:07.070 7 inches in deficit this year and more than a year behind on their rain 17 00:01:07.070 --> 00:01:11.280 fall and snow fall, since this multi-year drought began. 18 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.490 (Reporter) Parts of the country like Texas and Southern California 19 00:01:15.490 --> 00:01:19.680 recently experienced heavy rain after eperiencing 20 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:23.850 years of drought, does that mean that those droughts are over? 21 00:01:23.850 --> 00:01:28.050 (Morton) Well big rainfall events and the wettest May on record did spell relief for 22 00:01:28.050 --> 00:01:32.160 Texas and parts of the midwest, but there is no quick fix for 23 00:01:32.160 --> 00:01:36.330 California's drought situation. This animation shows GRACE data 24 00:01:36.330 --> 00:01:40.510 where our satellites are sensitive to how water is moving around 25 00:01:40.510 --> 00:01:44.710 the surface of the Earth, changing Earth's gravity. These area in red 26 00:01:44.710 --> 00:01:48.880 actually shows regions that have lost water since 2003 in Califorina 27 00:01:48.880 --> 00:01:53.060 the amount of water that's been lost, just based on its weight would fill the 28 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:57.240 entire state knee deep. As we look around the Globe, one of the unique 29 00:01:57.240 --> 00:02:01.300 aspects of NASA Satellite data we can see other parts of the globe that are 30 00:02:01.300 --> 00:02:05.420 similarly facing drought conditions, significantly like areas in Brazil 31 00:02:05.420 --> 00:02:09.620 where their major population centers are seeing similar drought cases to what we are see in 32 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:13.800 California. (Reporter) A strong El-nino is developing in the Pacific 33 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.990 Ocean, what impact could that have on the extreme weather we are seeing around the 34 00:02:17.990 --> 00:02:22.200 country? (Morton) We do see a moderate to strong El-Nino forming right now 35 00:02:22.200 --> 00:02:26.390 that classic pattern where warmer water pools off the coast of South 36 00:02:26.390 --> 00:02:30.510 America, and that tends to shift weather patterns and rainfall distributions 37 00:02:30.510 --> 00:02:34.700 around the world. What that means for the U.S. is a likely a shift in the 38 00:02:34.700 --> 00:02:38.890 jet stream bringing some of the storm tracks, especially during those winter months 39 00:02:38.890 --> 00:02:43.080 over California and the desert southwest that would bring much needed rain 40 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:47.260 to those areas that have been in deficit, but it would need 41 00:02:47.260 --> 00:02:51.470 multiple years of those above average rainfalls and snowfalls to help California 42 00:02:51.470 --> 00:02:55.660 out of their drought situation. (Reporter) Can we expect to see more of these type 43 00:02:55.660 --> 00:02:59.850 of extreme weather events in the future? (Morton) So NASA 44 00:02:59.850 --> 00:03:04.040 Scientist like myself take the satellite data and combine it with our latest 45 00:03:04.040 --> 00:03:08.250 generation of computer models and that allow us to take a look not just now 46 00:03:08.250 --> 00:03:12.450 but project that into the future, for a likelihood of changes under a 47 00:03:12.450 --> 00:03:16.650 climate. This animation shows the projected summertime drought 48 00:03:16.650 --> 00:03:20.830 conditions across the next century, with those colors of red 49 00:03:20.830 --> 00:03:25.000 and brown showing regions that are likely experience more frequent and more severe 50 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:29.200 drought conditions by the end of the century. So our understanding of the Earth as a 51 00:03:29.200 --> 00:03:33.400 system is really critical whether we are making those forecasts over days or decades. 52 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:37.580 (Reporter) Where can we learn more? (Morton) More 53 00:03:37.580 --> 00:03:41.760 information about NASA satellites, the sciences and the scientists doing that work 54 00:03:41.760 --> 00:03:44.960 can be found at nasa.gov/earth where there is really a treasure trove of information 55 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:49.140 and animations to help us learn more about our home planet. 56 00:03:49.140 --> 00:03:52.933 (Reporter) Doug Morton, Thanks so much for joining us. (Morton) Thank You.