Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Drought in the Rain Forest

The rainforest on Vancouver Island, British Columbia averages 10 feet 11 inches of rain per year. The wet season is winter, but even in the summer the driest month (August) averages 3.9 inches of rain. (In Oklahoma City, we have only two months that average over 3.9 inches of rain, May and June).
This year, the rainforest's dry season was particularly dry.... no rain fall in August. This caused an emergency in the resort town of Tofino. The town ran out of drinking water. Drinking water had to be trucked in around the clock from Ucluelet, 19 miles away. The dry weather also raised concerns of forest fires.
Can you imagine a place that averages 131 inches of rain per year running out of water? Here in Oklahoma City we average 36 inches of rain per year, and we usually have plenty of water.

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