The combined effects of climate change and air pollution have led to direct declines in precipitation in the U.S. Southwest, making drought inevitable, a new study has shown. These circumstances, which began taking hold in about 1980, are likely here to stay as the planet warms, according to the study, published on Wednesday in Nature Geoscience. Its authors attributed this decades-long trend toward less precipitation to La Niña-like conditions, weather patterns that lead to cooler surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Even if El Niño-like conditions had prevailed instead, the Southwest would not have experienced a corresponding surge in rainfall, the researchers found. … The post-1980 period in the U.S. Southwest exhibited the fastest soil-drying among past and future periods of similar lengths — a result that the authors attributed to human-induced warming and a decline in precipitation.

Other drought science and mitigation news:

• Phys.org: Climate change and aerosols drive persistent drought and lower rainfall in Southwest, study finds
• KSL (Salt Lake City, Utah): Southern Utah city implements new regulations amid ‘extreme low’ water flows
• UC Agriculture and Natural Resources: Blog: UC ANR shares prospects for sustainably farming the ‘agave rush’
• The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: News release: Metropolitan advances project to help communities vulnerable in state droughts