Blog: Grim 2022 drought outlook for Western US offers warnings for the future as climate change brings a hotter, thirstier atmosphere
Much of the western U.S. has been in the grip of an unrelenting drought since early 2020. The dryness has coincided with record-breaking wildfires, intense and long-lasting heat waves, low stream flows and dwindling water supplies in reservoirs that millions of people across the region rely on. … One driver of the Western drought has been persistent La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific since the summer of 2020. … The other and perhaps more important part of the story is the hotter and thirstier atmosphere, caused by a rapidly warming climate.
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