Drought in the US Southwest is worst in recorded history
The ongoing drought in the U.S. Southwest is the worst drought the region has experienced since record keeping began in 1895, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Drought Task Force.
The 20 months from January 2020 through August 2021 saw the lowest total precipitation and the third-highest daily average temperatures ever recorded in the Southwest (which encompasses Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah), resulting in an “unyielding, unprecedented and costly” crisis, the report said.
While the drought punctuates a two-decades-long period of declining precipitation in the Southwest that is “presumably natural,” human-induced climate change exacerbated the current drought significantly by driving up average temperatures to scorching highs, the report found. Together, the low precipitation and searing temperatures reduced the area’s mountain snowpack and increased water evaporation in Southwestern soil, leading to the severe and persistent drought.
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