Nearly all of US states are facing droughts, an unprecedented number

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By Marina Dunbar, The Guardian. 

Excerpt: Every US state except Alaska and Kentucky is facing drought, an unprecedented number, according to the US Drought Monitor. A little more than 45% of the US and Puerto Rico is in drought this week, according to the tracker. About 54% of land in the 48 contiguous US states is affected by droughts. Even as the country experiences autumn and heads further away from a summer of record heat, the droughts continue to rise. More than 150 million people in the country – and 149.8 million in the 48 contiguous states – are in a drought this week. That is about a 34% increase since last week and an over 150% increase since last month. The drought is also affecting more than 318m acres of crops, a 57% increase since last month, according to the tracker. That reality is only the latest illustration of global warming and the climate crisis, spurred primarily by humans’ burning of fossil fuels. Last month, it was reported that world’s water cycle was out of balance “for the first time in human history”. Nearly 3 billion people face water scarcity.... 

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