Posted on Feb 14, 2022
Study finds Western megadrought is the worst in 1,200 years
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Shrunk reservoirs. Depleted aquifers. Low rivers. Raging wildfires. It's no secret that the Western U.S. is in a severe drought. New research published Monday shows just how extreme the situation has become.
The Western U.S. and Northern Mexico are experiencing their driest period in at least 1,200 years, according to the new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The last comparable – though not as severe – multi-decade megadrought occurred in the 1500s, when the West was still largely inhabited by American Indian tribes.
Today, the region is home to tens of millions of people, massive agricultural centers and some of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. — all in an area where there's less water available than there was in the past, partially due to human-caused climate change.
The Western U.S. and Northern Mexico are experiencing their driest period in at least 1,200 years, according to the new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The last comparable – though not as severe – multi-decade megadrought occurred in the 1500s, when the West was still largely inhabited by American Indian tribes.
Today, the region is home to tens of millions of people, massive agricultural centers and some of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. — all in an area where there's less water available than there was in the past, partially due to human-caused climate change.
Study finds Western megadrought is the worst in 1,200 years
Posted from kuow.org
Climate Change
Water
Natural Disaster
Farming
Agriculture
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 4
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Areas of the US Southwest are made up of many deserts and mountainous regions. It's critical to the areas' future that finite water resources are properly managed & distributed. Las Vegas, NV has actually turned to recycling more than 90% of the water it uses in hotels from the water drawn from Lake Mead. Once that water source is gone, it's gone for good. California lets more than 80% of the water from the Sierra's flow into the ocean, when this water can be used by California farmers to feed the Nation. All to protect some small fish. We need a regional water strategy to solve this important problems.
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But PO1 William "Chip" Nagel isn't "climate change" just a fancy word for how we've screwed up?
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Too many people and mismanagement of the water supplies has worsened it.
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Lt Col Charlie Brown
BTW, there are ruins all over the Western States of places the Native Americans lived and abandoned due to climate change thousands of years ago.
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