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NOTE TO WIKIPEDIA EDITORS: I HAVE CREATED THIS DRAFT AS A GUIDELINE FOR UPDATING THE TOPIC OF "CLIMATE CHANGE" SUCH THAT THE PAGE ON GLOBAL WARMING WILL BE LINKED FROM A BROADER DEFINITION OF THE FULL TOPIC OF CLIMATE CHANGE. I HAVE NOT YET INCLUDED THE CITATIONS BUT I HAVE MANY RELIABLE SOURCES. ALSO I AM VERY OPEN TO IMPROVEMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Climate is defined as the typical weather pattern for an area, and is usually taken as an average over 30 years although a longer multi-decadal period may be selected. Additionally, weather extremes witnessed over the period of decades define the climate of the region and the frequency of the extremes that underlie the averages. Climate has not remained the same across thousands of years, so a multi-decadal period describes the current climate features of a region as opposed to the climate history.

Climate change is therefore defined as a change in the typical weather pattern for an area observed over a subsequent period, or new extremes witnessed subsequent to the originally selected period which defined the base climate for the region.

Climate Change versus Global Warming
Climate change is a broad topic encompassing all types of changes, from warming to cooling, droughts to floods, storms to stillness, or changes in cloud cover or sea level over a term considered long enough to establish the regional norm. A new record extreme in weather also constitutes climate change. While "global warming" and "climate change" are often used interchangeably, global warming is in fact a subtopic of the broader topic of climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions from pollution attract the most attention from the public, media and organizations due to the extreme and relatively sudden impacts on climate. Note there are other ways in which warming takes place besides by emissions, and other ways in which greenhouse gas emissions occur aside from industrial or vehicle pollution, aside from human activities.

Types of Climate Change
Climate change is categorized into two distinct types termed anthropogenic, referring to climate change induced by human activities, and natural, referring to changes that would occur to climate absent human presence. There may also be interactions between these types, for instance, there are ways in which extremes of natural climate change may be exacerbated by anthropogenic contributors. Global warming also has both anthropogenic and natural causes, and some greenhouse gasses are natural. In fact, greenhouse gases maintain a temperature on the earth's surface warm enough for living things to survive. Without greenhouse gases, the earth's average surface temperature would fall from around 57 degrees to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Another distinction in climate change is whether change is variable, such that conditions return to some neutral state, or else cycle to a different extreme, as compared to a continued trending change. In general, variable climate change is natural rather than anthropogenic.

Climate change can further refer to overall global effects on average or to regional effects; the same meteorological phenomena will not have the same impact on all regions of the planet. A change may be confined to a single region or to a small number of regions.

Natural Climate Change
An example cause of natural climate change is a volcano eruption, which releases gasses into the atmosphere along with particulate matter. Temperatures may be lower following eruption due to sunlight obstruction from ash in the environment. The greenhouse gas emissions will eventually have the greater contribution to warming.

The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a natural phenomenon that takes place across the Pacific Ocean and influences climate in certain regions around the planet in varied manners.

Wildfires can be naturally occurring when caused by intense sunlight or lightning strike, leaving an area dryer.

Anthropogenic Climate Change
The most familiar form of anthropogenic climate change is global warming from the greenhouse gas emissions of polluting factories and vehicles.

Deforestation is also a cause of climate change. Other land use changes can lead to climate change, although deforestation is the leading land use change which is known to affect climate.

Installation of impermeable black asphalt pavement interferes with the water cycle and results in a change to albedo, the surface reflectivity, particularly if the area was formerly forested or rich in vegetation. Cities constructed of buildings and asphalt roads can generate an isolated area of warming known as the Urban Heat Island Effect.

Variable Climate Change
The El Nino Southern Oscillation is a natural phenomenon which gives rise to variable climate change. There are three distinct phases of the El Nino Southern Oscillation, known as Neutral, El Nino, or La Nina. During El Nino phases, the west coast of the United States may be bombarded with strong El Nino winter storms, while during La Nina phases, the East Coast of the United States may experience heightened hurricane activity.

Changes in the sun's luminosity is another factor of nature that will cause climate to change.

A volcanic winter, which may occurs following an eruption, is a variable change since cooling is temporary until ash settles or transported by winds.

Natural Climate Change
Natural Climate Change refers to climate changes that occur in absence of human presence, although there may be interactions between human-induced climate change and natural effects. An example cause of natural climate change is a volcano eruption, which releases gasses into the atmosphere along with particulate matter.

California is known worldwide for its temperate climate and lengthy dry season, offering sunny warm days with blue skies the greatest part of the year. Yet the entire state of California exhibits some of the most opposite ends of the climate spectrum known anywhere. Temperature extremes have ranged from a low of -45 degrees at Boca, situated at 5,528 feet elevation in the Sierra Nevada mountain range north of Lake Tahoe, to a high of 134 degrees in the low lying desert of Death Valley. But the scorching record-hot region of Death Valley, whose elevation is as low as 276 feet below sea level, is located only 85 miles from Mt. Whitney, the absolute highest peak in the conterminous states, rising to 14,495 feet elevation and sometimes freezing in summer months. Precipitation varies vastly from parched desert regions with less than 2 inches average annual rainfall, to extreme deluges in some parts of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains where the maximum intensity of precipitation for periods of 12 hours or longer is greater than anywhere else in the continental United States. Not only is climate varied in California but in many ways is distinct, with the rainy season confined mainly to winter months, distinctly opposite most other places where rain falls throughout summer; and with isotherms (marking level temperatures) running distinctly vertically on the map instead of horizontally, as temperatures decline moving towards the western coast to the Pacific as opposed to moving north in latitude.

California is one of the few places where five major climate types occur in close proximity. Here, the Desert, Cool Interior, Highland, and Steppe climates border a smaller region of Mediterranean climate. Check WRCC.dri.edu for climates.

Climate change is distinguished as natural or anthropogenic (man-made).

Further information: Drought

Drought is generally defined as “a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time (usually a season or more), resulting in a water shortage.” There are five major categories of drought: (1) Meteorological, (2) Agricultural, (3) Hydrological, (4) Socioeconomic, and (5) Ecological.

Over 150 definitions of "drought" have been published, the range reflecting differences in regions, needs, and disciplinary approaches. Four major categories apply: (1) Meteorological, (2) Agricultural, (3) Hydrological, and (4) Socioeconomic. These categories grew out of research in the early 1980s which uncovered the long list of published definitions.

Some examples of definitions of "drought" are as follows:

BEGIN REFERENCES FOR HOUSING ARTICLE Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis

A People's History of The United States by Howard Zinn

National Weather Service https://www.weather.gov/mhx/Drought categories, levels of severity.

Causes of drought in California - Ridiculously Resilient Ridge. La Nina phases of the El Nino Southern Oscillation.

Drought is intrinsic to the natural climate of California. Across the region that is today delineated as the state of California, paleoclimate records dating back more than 1,000 years show more significant dry periods compared to the latest century. Ancient data reveals two mega-droughts that endured for well over a century, one lasting 220 years and one for 140 years. In California, the 20th Century was fraught with numerous droughts, yet this era could be considered relatively "wet" compared against an expansive 3,500 year history. In recent times, droughts lasting five to 10 years have raised concern, but are not anomalous. Rather, decade long droughts are an ordinary feature of the state's innate climate. Based on scientific evidence, dry spells as severe as the mega-droughts detected from the distant past are likely to recur, even in absence of anthropogenic climate change. The climate of California is comprised of five different types: desert, steppe, cool interior, highland, and Mediterranean. The desert region is at the southwestern edge of the state bordering Nevada and Arizona, at Death Valley which receives on average less than 2 inches of rainfall annually; and a part of the central valley. Semi-arid steppe occurs through much of the central valley and the south coast around Los Angeles and San Bernardino down to the border of Mexico. Mediterranean climate receives most precipitation from rainfall in the winter months, the opposite of other climates throughout the world. Mediterranean climates occur only along western coastlines. California is on the Pacific Ocean which experiences the El Nino Southern Oscillation, much larger body of water than other oceans. Most similar to Chile where ENSO originates. Since California has multiple sources for precipitation, there are multiple reasons, or intertwined phenomena, leading to consecutive drought years.

California is one of the few places where five major climate types occur in close proximity. Here, the Desert, Cool Interior, Highland, and Steppe climates border a smaller region of Mediterranean climate. It snows in the Sierra Nevada.

California's Climate Snowpack

California Snowpack and the Drought

The Ridiculously Resilient Ridge Cause of drought - high pressure diverts rain away from California to other states.

22:33, 2 January 2022‎ Darkest tree

Define Drought

In the early 1980s, researchers found more than 150 published definitions of drought. They proceeded to classify the definitions into four major categories: (1) Meteorological, (2) Agricultural, (3) Hydrological, and (4) Socioeconomic. The definitions reflect differences in regions, needs, and disciplinary approaches.

According to the California Water Science Center of the USGS, a drought is "a period of drier-than-normal conditions that results in water-related problems." According to the National Integrated Drought Information System of the NOAA, drought is generally defined as “a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time (usually a season or more), resulting in a water shortage.” In the early 1980s, researchers found more than 150 published definitions of drought.

The historical and ongoing droughts in California are caused by lack of rainfall (or snowfall), higher average temperatures, and drier air masses in the atmosphere, complicated by increased population in the desert southwest. This leads to reduced residential, commercial, and industrial water security and less water availability in the natural environment and in snowpack, rivers, and reservoirs for human use; these water shortages can have major impacts on agriculture and other water-intensive land uses.

A typical dry lakebed is seen in California, which is experiencing its worst megadrought in 1,200 years, precipitated by climate change, facing an existential threat and is therefore water rationing.

Precipitation in California is limited to a single, fairly short wet season, with the vast majority of rain and snowfall occurring in the winter months across the state. This delicate balance means that a dry rainy season can have lasting consequences. California is the most populous state and largest agricultural producer in the United States, and as such, drought in California can have a severe economic as well as environmental impact.