NASA On Air: NASA Study Finds Carbon Emissions Could Dramatically Increase Risk Of U.S. Megadroughts (2/12/2015)

  • Released Thursday, February 12, 2015
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LEAD: NASA study finds carbon emissions could dramatically increase risk of U.S. megadroughts.

1. Analysis of current greenhouse gas emission trends indicate that the Southwest and Central Plains have an 80% likelihood of megadroughts between the years 2050 and 2099.

2. This is the first study to compare future drought projections directly to drought records from the last 1000 years.

TAG: The 1930’s Dust Bowl only lasted a decade. These new results indicate future droughts may last at least 30 to 35 years.

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Thursday, February 12, 2015.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:49 PM EDT.