The current drought in the US West is already 13 years old, and could already be deemed a megadrought. Past megadroughts have lasted for decades, sometimes even 100-200 years. It is way past time to ban grass lawns in semi-arid areas of the West, and don’t get me started about the abomination of golf courses in deserts.
The drought that has been afflicting most of the Western states for 13 years may be a “megadrought,” and the likelihood is high that this century could see a multidecade dry spell like nothing else seen for 1,000 years, according to research presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting last week.
But the long drought the West is undergoing might not be a product of human-caused climate change, and could be natural, he said.