New York area in the grip of a severe drought

“The truth is that the drought we are experiencing is just one example of the impact of climate change on our land today, not in the future, but here and now, “said the Democratic Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, during his meeting with the media on Wednesday.

Since Friday, firefighters from New York and New Jersey have been battling fires that have burned thousands of acres around the Jennings Creek forest river, an hour away from Manhattan’s skyscrapers.

The fires led to the death of an 18-year-old New York state parks worker on Saturday, who may have been killed by a falling tree while assisting with operations. Driven by winds and low humidity, fires have increased since the beginning of October and have burned three times as many hectares, nearly 4,500, compared to an average of 1,600 in New Jersey.

New York City is not spared. Firefighters, some on board a boat, were battling a large brush fire Wednesday night in the large Inwood Hill park, far north of Manhattan.

Lack of water doesn’t help matters. While Hurricane Helen devastated areas further south in late September, killing at least 101 people in North Carolina, New York and its region have not received much rain in months September and October, and still not in November. “It’s been more than 20 years since we’ve measured this kind of drought in the northeastern United States,” said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the National Center for Drought Studies in New York. , to AFP -Lincoln.

Local authorities have asked the public to conserve water. All 8.5 million New Yorkers are being asked to report open fire hydrants, take faster showers and only flush toilets if necessary. Barbecues in public areas were also banned, with fires, quickly brought under control, also breaking out this weekend in Prospect Park, the big green lung in the heart of Brooklyn.

New York receives water from reservoirs around the region’s rivers, which reached 62% of their capacity on Wednesday, compared to 79.2% in normal times. “Unfortunately, these unseasonably dry conditions do not appear to be ending anytime soon, as all indications are that a very dry winter is ahead,” said governor New Jersey.

Like Phil Murphy, other officials have attributed the drought to climate change. For Brian Fuchs, a drought event is not entirely unusual in the northeastern United States. “But the temperature is higher because of climate change. And these higher temperatures can contribute to droughts that we have not seen in the past,” he explains to AFP. “We are moving more and more quickly from very wet periods to dry periods, and vice versa,” he said.