The state of California withers under the worst drought in 1,200

Monday, December 8, 2014, 7:57 PM - Severe drought is nothing new to the Golden State, but the past three years have been the driest California in over a millennium.

According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Geophysical Union, natural causes are to blame for the dry, arid conditions that have gripped the state since 2012. But just how bad has the recent drought been?
To find answers to their queries, scientists looked not to the skies, but to the trees.
Researchers measured tree rings in 287 blue oak trees in Central and Southern California.  The rings reveal the age of a tree and tend to grow wider in wet years.  The rings, found in trees that dated as far back as 800 A.D., indicated that rainfall reached a record low between 2012 and 2014. Over 60 periods of drought were identified in the course of 1,200 years, but none of these compared to the severity of the most recent dry spell.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/the-state-of-california-withers-under-the-worst-drought-in-1200-years/41495/