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Southwest U.S. Forests Projected by 2050 to See Worst Drought Conditions in at Least 1,000 years, With Extensive Forest Die-off

Submitted by Nick Sundt on 1 October 2012 - 2:38pm

Scientists report in the journal Nature Climate Change that the drought-stress currently being experienced by forests in the Southwestern U.S. "is more severe than any event since the late 1500s megadrought" that "probably led to deaths of a large proportion of trees living at the time." They warn that climate projections indicate that "the mean forest drought-stress by the 2050s will exceed that of the most severe droughts in the past 1,000 years."

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