Climate models predict a continuation of the trends we’ve been seeing in many countries:  heat waves happening more often and more intensely, longer and more severe droughts owing to decreased precipitation, wildfires as a consequence of long-term dry spells, and water stress for both urban and rural populations as well as for agriculture.  Nowhere are these trends more in evidence than in the American West.  The extraordinary engineering that has gone into making the West prosperous is at risk.  (I blogged about the landmark history of water policy and politics in the West, Cadillac Desert, here in September.) Continue reading →