"Only one drought in the past 1,200 years comes close to the ongoing, global warming-driven event"
"A vast region of the western United States, extending from California, Arizona and New Mexico north to Oregon and Idaho, is in the grips of the first climate change-induced megadrought observed in the past 1,200 years, a study shows. The finding means the phenomenon is no longer a threat for millions to worry about in the future, but is already here.
The megadrought has emerged while thirsty, expanding cities are on a collision course with the water demands of farmers and with environmental interests, posing nightmare scenarios for water managers in fast-growing states.
A megadrought is broadly defined as a severe drought that occurs across a broad region for a long duration, typically multiple decades.
Unlike historical megadroughts triggered by natural climate cycles, emissions of heat-trapping gases from human activities have contributed to the current one, the study finds. Warming temperatures and increasing evaporation, along with earlier spring snowmelt, have pushed the Southwest into its second-worst drought in more than a millennium of observations."
Andrew Freedman and Darryl Fears report for the Washington Post April 16, 2020.
SEE ALSO:
"Southwest Drought Rivals Those of Centuries Ago, Thanks to Climate Change" (New York Times)
"Human Activity Makes Droughts Worse—and More Likely to Happen" (Bloomberg Green)
Advertisement 
