Global Drought on the Horizon?

According to a new study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the United States and many other heavily populated countries could face a growing threat of severe and prolonged drought in coming decades, as a result of warming temperatures associated with climate change (notice how I didn't say global warming!). These warming temperatures will likely create increasingly dry conditions across much of the globe in the next 30 years, possibly reaching a scale in some regions by the end of the century that has rarely, if ever, been observed in modern times.

The study, which is highlighted in an article in "Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change," indicates that most at risk would be the Western Hemisphere, along with large parts of Eurasia, Africa, and Australia, while higher-latitude regions from Alaska to Scandinavia are likely to experience opposite conditions.

An expert working on the study noted that if the projections come even close to being realized, the consequences for society worldwide will be enormous as some of the worst impact we face will involve a decrease in water as a natural resource.

Learn more about the study here.

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Record Low National Drought!

The stormy pattern affecting the nation over the past several months has proved extremely helpful in fighting the national drought, which is at an all-time low!

A drought, which is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply, has in recent years been especially harsh in the desert southwest, including California, Nevada and Arizona; the inter-mountain west states of Utah and New Mexico; and the gulf states from Georgia to South Carolina.

As of January 26, The U.S. Drought Monitor, which measures drought on a scale from D0 (abnormally dry) to D4 (exceptionally dry), indicates that only 9.15% of the country is in moderate to exceptional drought. This is a 10-year record low percentage of drought in the United States since the Drought Monitor report began in 1999.

The Weather Channel says much of this drought alleviation can be attributed to the recent western storminess that provided days of heavy snow and excessive rains across the southwest. Arizona went from 88% of the state in severe or worse drought to just 15.7% in one week, while California plummeted from 63.2% to 19.4%.