SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
A new study published as a joint effort by scientists at Cornell University, the University of Arizona, and the U.S. Geological Survey finds that the chances of the Southwest facing a “megadrought” are much higher than previously suspected.
According to the new study, “the chances of the southwestern United States experiencing a decade-long drought is at least 50 percent, and the chances of a ‘megadrought’ – one that lasts up to 35 years – ranges from 20 to 50 percent over the next century.” Not so crazy, according to Richard Seager, a climate scientist at Columbia University who has helped pen many studies of historical megadroughts: “By some measures the west has been in drought since 1998 so we might be approaching a megadrought classification!” he says. The study points to manmade global climate change as a possible cause for the drought, which would affect portions of California (where a drought is currently decimating farms), Arizona and New Mexico.
http://modernfarmer.com/2014/09/scientists-american-southwest-faces-megadrought/
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 06 2014, @06:56PM
I will just leave this set of pre-drought and current-drought photos of california lakes right here. [theatlantic.com]
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Sunday September 07 2014, @02:35AM
This looks like a great time to inspect the footings on those bridges....
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday September 11 2014, @04:50AM
On the same page, irony:
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/09/historic-flooding-in-india-and-pakistan/100809/ [theatlantic.com]
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.