Expanding Western drought sets 122-year record: scientistsA devasting drought has spread virtually throughout the entire western U.S., setting a 122-year record, scientists say.
Almost 90 percent of the the region is now considered to be in drought.
The U.S. Drought Monitor – a partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – reports that more than 60 million Americans are currently affected by drought conditions.
A multi-agency webinar discussing the status of the drought and response efforts in the region was held Tuesday, hosted by the National Integrated Drought Information System.
The webinar featured remarks from USDA and Interior Department officials, and an update from NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad, who said the lingering drought costs the U.S. $63 billion annually, in addition to multibillion-dollar losses from wildfires.
It's a crisis that Spinrad said will only worsen – citing the 1-in-1,000-year June heat wave – as climate change exacerbates the frequency, duration and intensity of drought.
David Simeral, a climatologist with the Western Regional Climate Center, blamed an overall lack of precipitation and rising temperatures on top of 20 years of drought in the West for creating the current crisis. .................
https://www.foxnews.com/us/drought-sets-122-year-record-scientists
