Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Key Facts About The Link Between Climate Change & Drought

Clean Technica: Of all the ways climate change inflicts harm, drought is the one people worry about most, according to a Pew Research Center survey. And it’s not surprising – droughts have been drier and lasting longer in recent years thanks in part to climate change. In 2012, the central and western US was hit particularly hard when 81 percent of the country was living in abnormally dry conditions, causing $30 billion in damages and putting the health and safety of many Americans at risk.

But droughts aren’t only hitting the US hard. Many regions in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa are also experiencing higher air temperatures, drier air, and more severe or frequent droughts. One recent NASA study revealed that a drought that’s been affecting the eastern Mediterranean Levant region since 1998 is likely the worst in the past 900 years.

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