The Stream, November 20, 2024: New York City Marks Its Driest Month On Record

New York City skyline. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue

YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN 

• A combination of raging wildfire and energy blackouts — both fueled by a months-long drought — has spurred Ecuadorian officials to declare a national emergency.
• New York City has been placed under a drought warning for the first time in more than two decades.
• The melting of tropical glaciers in Peru is releasing heavy metals and triggering chemical reactions in freshwater sources, turning rivers and lakes acidic and red.
• Fossil fuel delegates attending COP29 in Azerbaijan outnumber nearly every country’s representation, according to a new estimate.

Staggering amounts of plastic pollution have accumulated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ruzizi dam, restricting water flow and causing regular power cuts.

— Christian Thorsberg, Interim Stream Editor

Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue

• Brackish Groundwater Is No Easy Water Solution for Arizona — Substantial impediments to using state’s large reserves of slightly salty groundwater.
• Amish Farmers’ Partnership With Beef Giant Produces Manure Mess — Water pollution found in three counties in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.

The Lead

October was New York City’s driest month ever recorded — with data going back more than 100 years — as just 0.87 inches of rain fell over 31 days, compared to the historic monthly average of more than four inches, the Guardian reports. For the first time since 2002, officials have placed the city under a drought warning. 

“A drought warning is the second of three levels of water conservation in our city, and I want to be clear on this: This is not normal, and I’m pretty sure if you’re outside, you may enjoy the beautiful weather in November, but the reality is, climate change is real, and it’s impacting our city,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference, Spectrum1 News reports.

As of last week the city’s water reservoirs were 62 percent full, compared to the usual 79 percent this time of year. During the last drought, experienced 20 years ago, the city’s water storage fell to 42 percent at its worst.

Even in such a dense urban area, the lack of rain has fueled wildfires with above-average frequency. Between Halloween and November 12, 229 brush fires broke out in New York. A two-acre fire in Brooklyn flared up over the weekend, and a four-acre fire in Manhattan was finally contained late last week. Firefighters in New Jersey and Connecticut have battled hundreds of blazes themselves. Since the beginning of September, Gothamist reports, just 1.5 inches of rain have fallen on Central Park. Historically during such a span, meteorologists would expect to see seven or eight inches of rainfall in Manhattan’s largest green space.

This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers

1,773

Fossil-fuel lobbyists attending COP29, the United Nations’ climate negotiations, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Yale Environment 360 reports. Tallied by a cohort of climate groups, those at the conference who could “‘be reasonably assumed’ to represent the interests of fossil fuel firms” outnumbered the delegates sent by all but three countries — Turkey, Brazil, and Azerbaijan — and were more than the total number of people (1,033) representing the world’s 10 countries most vulnerable to global warming.

40 percent

Amount by which Peru’s glaciers have melted since 1968, “uncovering rocks that, when exposed to the elements, can trigger chemical reactions that leach toxic metals into the water and turn it acidic.” As a result, many rivers and streams below the Cordillera Blanca mountain range — home to the world’s largest concentration of tropical glaciers — have pH values below four, and their colors changed to green and red due to heavy metal pollution, the New York Times reports. Scientists have identified 60 lakes in Cordillera Blanca that are highly acidic, and five of eight glacial gorges tested so far have “confirmed acid rock drainage.”

On the Radar

Ecuador’s government has officially declared a 60-day national emergency, as the country struggles to contain 13 active wildfires exacerbated by a drought that has persisted for four months. Reuters reports that nearly 25,000 acres of forest have burned in the most-impacted provinces of Azuay and Loja. Heavily reliant on hydropower, many of Ecuador’s communities have endured “relentless blackouts” that over the past several weeks have lasted up to 14 hours each day.

Christian Thorsberg

Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer from Chicago. He is passionate about climate and cultural phenomena that often appear slow or invisible, and he examines these themes in his journalism, poetry, and fiction.