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Scientists Predict Extreme US Drought by 2030s

Lake Mead drops to record low

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 20, 2010 8:13 AM CDT

(Newser) – The US and much of the western hemisphere are likely to face drought conditions worse than anything seen in modern times over the decades to come, scientists warn. National Center for Atmospheric Research scientists, working with climate models and greenhouse gas predictions, believe that severe drought will affect areas including two-thirds of the US, southern Europe, and much of Latin America beginning in the 2030s, LiveScience reports.

"If the projections in this study come even close to being realized, the consequences for society worldwide will be enormous," one of the scientists says, although he cautions that many variables exist, including natural climate cycles and emission reductions. In what may be a small taste of things to come for the American West, Lake Mead, the country's biggest reservoir, has fallen to its lowest level since it was filled 75 years ago, the New York Times notes. Experts believe it may vanish completely by 2021.

[Images (3)]

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An irrigation canal on the Klamath Reclamation Project near Klamath Falls, Ore., waits for water. (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)

Farmer Glen Armstrong walks in a field of dead peanut plants in Dublin, Texas during a drought in 2000. (Getty Images)

A family in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma is forced to leave their home during the Great Depression, due to a serious drought in the region. (Getty Images)

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We are facing the possibility of widespread drought in the coming decades, but this has yet to be fully recognized by both the public and the climate change research community. - NCAR scientist Aiguo Dai

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 24 comments

HappyHabenero

Oct 21, 2010 3:11 AM CDT

yawn....the earth is covered in WHAT percentage of water? Just exactly is all this water going to be?...If the earth is hotter,the ice caps will recede adding more liquid H2O to the total, it will liberate more water into the atmosphere, and generating more rain..but oh no some scientist says "DROUGHT" ...and the climate is going to suddenly change.....yeah right

LibertyAtStake

Oct 20, 2010 10:36 PM CDT

Sure. http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/ "Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive"

Box1Car

Oct 20, 2010 8:39 PM CDT

Nat'l Solar Observatory NSO Solar Scientists find climatologist claims amusing since Earth's temperature follows the sun's measured solar output closely since recordings of solar constant begin @ WW2. However, Germany's Plancks Institute has found a subtle deviation occurred @1980 wherein Earths avg T unexplainably departed from an exact correlation to fluctuations ongoing within the solar output. In the long run, Scientific America's 1970 issue on ENERGY predicts that in the end there will be too much energy output generated by mankind, that its the WASTE HEAT that eventually does us in- Means EFFICIENCY is the WatchWord of the 21st Century. Next time you're near a PLASMA TV reach out & touch it- you could SCORCH palm of your hand on it- very INEFFICIENT. Where does the WASTE HEAT GO? You can guess its not reabsorbed like a hybrid reabsorbs energy from brakes.

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climate change • drought • water • severe weather • global weather • Lake Mead • National Center for Atmospheric Research • greenhouse-gas emissions • climate • rainwater

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Scientists Predict Extreme US Drought by 2030s

Lake Mead drops to record low

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[Quotes (1)]

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

climate change • drought • water • severe weather • global weather • Lake Mead • National Center for Atmospheric Research • greenhouse-gas emissions • climate • rainwater

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Water is in decline 20 to 30 years earlier than expected

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