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https://theconversation.com/climate-models-reveal-how-human-activity-may-be-locking-the-southwest-into-permanent-drought-262837>
"A new wave of climate research is sounding a stark warning: Human activity may
be driving drought more intensely – and more directly – than previously
understood.
The southwestern United States has been in a historic megadrought for much of
the past two decades, with its reservoirs including lakes Mead and Powell
dipping to record lows and legal disputes erupting over rights to use water
from the Colorado River.
This drought has been linked to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, a climate
pattern that swings between wet and dry phases every few decades. Since a phase
change in the early 2000s, the region has endured a dry spell of epic
proportions.
The PDO was thought to be a natural phenomenon, governed by unpredictable
natural ocean and atmosphere fluctuations. But new research published in the
journal Nature suggests that’s no longer the case.
Working with hundreds of climate model simulations, our team of atmosphere,
earth and ocean scientists found that the PDO is now being strongly influenced
by human factors and has been since the 1950s. It should have oscillated to a
wetter phase by now, but instead it has been stuck. Our results suggest that
drought could become the new normal for the region unless human-driven warming
is halted."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
