In Joshua Tree National Park from 1895 to 2016, annual precipitation dropped by 39%. The park is shown on December 30, 2022, in Joshua Tree, California. Drought and climate change are adding stress in the Colorado River basin. Drought in the American West is becoming a persistent reality instead of a periodic emergency due to climate change, and a recent study found that an essential tool used to measure drought can’t keep up.
The U.S. Drought Monitor’s Colorado map shows areas of the state under varying levels of drought or near-drought conditions as of June 18, 2024. Those in charge of the Drought Monitor — the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture — could create a new category for drought that is more severe than “exceptional drought.” Scientists have similarlyFrustrated farmers are rebelling against EU rules.
The Drought Monitor is a crucial tool, he said, and there will be no silver bullet or simple solution to adapt it to climate change. Instead, he said, “a constellation of fixes and investments” is needed.