The feared droughts would cover most of the western half of the United Statesthe Central Plains and the Southwest.
Those regions have suffered severe drought in recent years. But it doesn’t compare to the ‘megadroughts’ likely to hit them before the century is over due to global warming.
These will be epochal, worthy of a chapter in Earth’s natural history.
Even if emissions drop moderately, droughts in those regions will get much worse than they are now, NASA said.
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Some Southwestern areas that are currently drought-stricken are filling up with more people, creating more demand for water while reservoirs are already strained.
The predicted megadroughts will wrack water supplies much harder, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center said.
“These droughts really represent events that nobody in the history of the United States has ever had to deal with,” Cook said.
Compared with the last millennium, the dryness will be unprecedented. Adapting to it will be tough.
