Hot on the heels of a study released in September that downplayed the role global warming is playing on California’s three-year drought comes another government-funded analysis coming more or less to the same conclusion. The catalyst is a predominate area of high pressure off the Western Seaboard diverting needed rainfall across heavy agriculture areas. NOAA researcher and study co-author Martin Hourlong contends, “Two-thirds of the precipitation deficit in California [since 2011] were due to factors we wouldn’t judge to have long predictability at all. They resulted from the randomness of the atmosphere.” Still, the report conjured up some blame on humans for exasperating the effects. Bobby Magill, senior science writer for Climate Central, writes, “Even though the drought may not have been caused by climate change, the drought’s effects may be worse because of hotter temperatures on land that may be caused by global warming, the study says.” In May, WeatherBell meteorologist Joe Bastardi explained the dynamics that lead to extended droughts, like the one currently parching California, which are strongly correlated with sea surface temperatures. He even predicted a period of wetter weather for the Golden State this fall and winter. A simple glance at the headlines depicts a soggy pattern dampening the Western U.S. The kicker? Bastardi made these connections with a little research of the past, not obscure and costly taxpayer-funded studies. More…