The mega drought that is engulfing the American West is so severe that it has turned into the driest in the region in at least 1.200 years, scientists said on Monday.
While the western United States would stay in drought until the end of the century regardless of climate change, scientists have calculated that 42% of the severity of the drought is due to higher temperatures caused by greenhouse gas emissions that capture heat in the atmosphere.
Researchers also warned that the drought is likely to last into 2022 and may continue for years to come.
A megadürn is defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a long-lasting severe and intense drought that lasts for two decades or more.
Park Williams, an evolutionary climate scientist at UCLA.
“There is no evidence that the 2000s drought is starting to relent,” said Williams, who used tree ring data to lead the study to examine ancient drought records.
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