Droughts in the United States
Droughts in the United States is similar to drought around other parts of the world. Below-normal precipitation leads to drought. That's caused by an above average persistence of high pressure over a dry area.
Drought in the United States occurs during climate cycles, such as the North Atlantic oscillation, Atlantic multidecadal oscillation and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. These determine what areas are more likely to have development of drought and when drought develops.
Droughts are periodic. They alternate with floods over a series of years.
The worst droughts in U.S. history happened in the 1930s and 1950s. The U.S. drought in the 1930s was called the Dust Bowl. The 1936 North American heat wave was part of the Dust Bowl.
Other major droughts in the 20th and 21st centuries happened in the United States in the 1960s,[1] 1980, 1983,[2] 1988-90,[3] 2002 and 2012-14.
The costliest drought in United States history was the 1988-90 drought. The drought caused just over $60 billion in damage. During the drought, there were also heat waves that took the lives of 4,800-17,000 people in the U.S. This drought was also the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history before Hurricane Katrina.
Droughts can affect anywhere within the United States. But the Midwest, Great Plains and Western United States are most likely to be affected by droughts.
References
- ↑ Plight of Farmers in State Deepening in Worst Drought . New York Times. Report.
- ↑ Drought Disaster Declared by U.S. . New York Times. Report.
- ↑
Droughts In The United States Media
Percent Area in U.S. Drought Monitor Categories since year 2000.
A farmer and his two sons during a dust storm in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, 1936. Photo: Arthur Rothstein.
La Niña's impact on global climate
A typical dry lakebed is seen in California in 2009, which is experiencing its worst megadrought in 1,200 years, precipitated by climate change, and is therefore rationing water.
Perceptions differ along political lines, on whether climate change was a "major factor" contributing to various extreme weather events experienced by respondents.
This graph shows average drought conditions in the contiguous 48 states, according to the EPA, with yearly data going from 1895 to 2011. The curve is a nine-year weighted average.
Folsom Lake reservoir during the California drought in 2015
"Billion Dollar Disasters". Live Science. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
