The Dry Spell
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images (4)Lake Oroville, north of Sacramento, is California’s second largest reservoir. In late 2014, NASA scientists found that the state would need 11 trillion gallons of water to recover from its drought, about 10 times the capacity of Lake Oroville.About a decade ago, scientist Lisa Sloan made a dire forecast: melting Arctic ice could produce an epic drought. By changing the path of winter storms over North America, it would send far more rain to Alaska, and much less—about 25 cm, or 30 percent less, per year—to the American West. The findings were alarming enough to attract national headlines. But before long, all was forgotten, trampled over by a parade of newer studies with their own dire predictions. Sloan’s paper could have remained in obscurity—and probably would have—but for one thing: The terrifying scenario she describes appears to be coming true.In case you’ve been...