Models predict longer, deeper U.S. droughts

Severe, decades-long "megadroughts" that hit the southwestern and midwestern United States over the past millennium may be just a preview of droughts to come in the next century as a result of climate change, new research suggests. According to a new analysis of 17 state-of-the-art climate models and reconstructions of historical drought based on 1000 years of tree-ring data, the regions are heading into a period of unprecedented dryness even if CO₂ emissions are dramatically reduced. Under a "business-as-usual" emission scenario, there's an 80% likelihood that at least one decades-long megadrought will hit the regions between 2050 and 2100, scientists say.