"For the same precipitation deficit, drought now is much stronger than it used to be in the 20th century, and drought also lasts longer," said Rong Fu, a UCLA climate researcher and study coauthor.
"The researchers determined that since 2000, human-caused warming has become the dominant force leading to more drought severity in the Western United States."
"Examining potential future scenarios, the researchers said climate models indicate that an extreme drought like the one from 2020 to 2022 could become a 1-in-60-year event by the middle of this century."
"Human-caused warming has ushered in an era of temperature-dominated droughts," noted the researchers, highlighting the critical impact of rising temperatures on drought conditions.
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