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.