Climate change made drought 20 times worse this year, and there’s no relief in sight
by Justine Calma from The Verge - All Posts on (#64F2M)
A palm tree stands above agricultural fields amid ongoing drought on August 26th, 2022, near Bakersfield, California | Photo by Mario Tama / Getty Images Severe drought limited crops, cut power supplies, and fueled out-of-control blazes throughout the summer in North America, Europe, and Asia. Those disastrous summer drought across the Northern Hemisphere were made 20 times more likely because of human-induced climate change, according to a sweeping new study from an international group of researchers with the World Weather Attribution initiative.
In August, officials noted that Europe was likely in the thick of its worst drought in 500 years. The same month, Southern China officially entered its longest drought in 60 years of record keeping. Perennially parched California has just had its three driest years on record.
What might have seemed outrageous in the past is quickly becoming the...