US megadrought could upend life as we know it – just look to history

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We don't cognize precisely however the existent megadrought successful south-western North America volition end, but determination are examples to larn from passim history  

Environment 17 November 2022

By James Dinneen

Aerial presumption    of past  Maya metropolis  Chichen Itza

Ruins of the past Maya metropolis Chichen Itza

Shutterstock/Aleksandr Medvedkov

Around the world, terrible droughts are disrupting beingness for millions of people. In south-western North America and the Pacific seashore of South America, worst-in-a-millennium megadroughts person created a slow-moving disaster, arsenic reservoir levels diminution and full regions hole to marque unprecedented cuts to marque up the shortfall.

In the Horn of Africa, the worst drought successful 40 years has enactment much than 7 cardinal people astatine hazard of famine. In Europe and China, drought and vigor person made rivers impassable and tanked vigor output astatine dams and atomic plants.

Global warming has made specified droughts more terrible and frequent successful galore places, but these exceptionally atrocious droughts – oregon megadroughts – are not lone a modern phenomenon. According to a recent review, megadroughts person occurred connected each continent but Antarctica implicit the past 2000 years.

A look astatine immoderate of the worst droughts of the past tin assistance america to hole for the megadroughts of the future. Below, research however megadroughts person changed the scenery and altered quality societies for the past 2 millennia.

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