Rapid intensification of the emerging southwestern North American megadrought in 2020–2021

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By A. Park Williams, Benjamin I. Cook & Jason E. Smerdon, Nature Climate Change. 

Abstract: A previous reconstruction back to 800 CE indicated that the 2000–2018 soil moisture deficit in southwestern North America was exceeded during one megadrought in the late-1500s. Here, we show that after exceptional drought severity in 2021, ~19% of which is attributable to anthropogenic climate trends, 2000–2021 was the driest 22-yr period since at least 800. This drought will very likely persist through 2022, matching the duration of the late-1500s megadrought.… See also New York Times article How Bad Is the Western Drought? Worst in 12 Centuries, Study Finds.

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