A major government study shows that during the last half century of climate change, droughts in the arid West last much longer and rainstorms are more erratic. Most dramatically, the Southwest's average dry period lengthened from 20 days in the 70's to 45 days now. Because most of the west is now dryer, wildfires are more intense. cropland is parched, and there is not enough vegetation to feed livestock and wildlife. Climate scientists are calling the drought that started in 1999 and continues a "megadrought".
The new study, published in the journal,
Geophysical Research Letters, is based on data from 337 weather stations accross the western United States since 1976. Researchers focused on when rain occurrs as well as total amounts. The pattern of rainfall shows longer periods of dry weather with rainfall coming in a few large storms. This has implications for agriculture since growing corps depend on regular rainfall.
The next few months could develop into the worst spring drought in a decade, bad news for farmers.
