Periods of drought in the western United States have become longer over the past 50 years, according to a new study.
In hopes of understanding how significantly rainfall totals and timing have changed in the past five decades, researchers analyzed daily meteorological data from over 300 long-term weather stations across the western US.
“In the West, total annual rainfall has decreased by about 0.4 inches since the 1970s. The average longest dry period has increased by roughly 50% from 20 to 32 days,” says co-senior author William K. Smith, assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona.
The new study reports ominous trends for the desert southwest, including southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico, regions that already experience relatively high mean temperatures and lower annual water inputs, such as rainfall or snowfall. For these regions, substantial multi-decade evidence demonstrates droughts are becoming longer
El Oeste de EE UU es azotado por una megasequía sin pronósticos de mejora canariasnoticias.es - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from canariasnoticias.es Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Droughts longer, rainfall more erratic over the last five decades in most of the West
The time between rainfalls have become longer and occurred more erratically in the last 50 years in the Southwest. Image shows a section of the Santa Rita Experimental Range site outside Tucson, Ariz. Photo byJoel Biederman
-USDA ARS
TUCSON, Ariz. Dry periods between rainstorms have become longer and annual rainfall has become more erratic across most of the western United States during the past 50 years, according to a study published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and the University of Arizona.
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Rainstorms grew more erratic and droughts much longer across most of the U.S. West over the past half-century as climate change warmed the planet, according to a sweeping government study released Tuesday that concludes the situation is worsening.
In 2014, a drought drove hungry bears out of the woods and down to Lake Tahoe.
(Courtesy of Nevada Department of Wildlife)
The most dramatic changes were recorded in the desert Southwest, where the average dry period between rainstorms grew from about 30 days in the 1970s to 45 days between storms now, said Joel Biederman, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Southwest Watershed Research Center in Tucson, Arizona.
Study: Drought-Breaking Rains More Rare, Erratic in US West claimsjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from claimsjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.