Water Scarcity2
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Climate-Driven Megadrought Is Emerging in Western U.S., Says Study
Scientists say a long-feared megadrought, worse than anything in recorded history, seems to be starting up in southwestern North America.
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As Climate Warms, Plants May Demand More Water, Cutting Supplies for People
New study challenges many climate scientists’ expectations that plants will make much of the world wetter in the future.
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National Climate Assessment: Will U.S. Water Problems Worsen?
Upmanu Lall is director of the Columbia Water Center, and the lead author of the new U.S. National Climate Assessment’s chapter on water resources. The report paints a dire picture of the nation’s climate future. We spoke with Lall about the outlook for water supplies, quality and infrastructure.
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The 100th Meridian, Where the Great Plains Begin, May Be Shifting
Two new papers find that the line that divides the moist East and arid West is edging eastward due to climate change—and the implications for farming and other pursuits could be huge.
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Photo Essay: The Dead Sea, Living Waters and Megadrought
Thousands of years before Biblical times, during a period when temperatures were unusually high, the lands around the Dead Sea now occupied by Israel, Jordan and surrounding nations suffered megadroughts far worse than any recorded by humans. Warming climate now threatens to return such conditions to this already hard-pressed region.
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Richard Seager Sees Hand of Climate Change in Drought
California’s wet and snowy winter brings welcome relief from a years-long drought that has challenged the state’s water supply and agricultural system. But climate scientist Richard Seager of Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory offers words of caution: Remember what happened, because it will happen again.
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In Jharkhand, Using an Old Technique for Sustainable Water
The Indian state of Jharkhand has plentiful rainfall, but most of that water runs off before it can be put to use by farmers, who struggle to make a living. To help improve irrigation and crop productivity, the Centers for International Projects Trust and Ranchi’s Birsa Agricultural University turned to a simple traditional technology, “dobhas,”…
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Reduced U.S. Air Pollution Will Boost Rainfall in Africa’s Sahel, Says Study
If U.S. sulfur dioxide emissions are cut to zero by 2100, as some researchers have projected they will be, rainfall over Africa’s Sahel region could increase up to 10 percent from 2000 levels, computer simulations suggest.
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To Ease Mexico City’s Water Woes, Look up, Study Suggests
For Mexico City’s biggest businesses and its poorest neighborhoods, rainwater harvesting could help address an enormous water crisis plaguing the city, a recent Columbia Water Center study found.
