Climate change is driving a megadrought in the western US

The western US is in the grips of a megadrought, generally defined as a multi-decade period of intense aridity, with wildfires razing forests in the Pacific Northwest and reservoirs hitting dangerously low levels.

While droughts are naturally occurring, human-driven climate change is making the problem worse.

“If emissions continue, then there is a very good chance that we’re going to see a level of drought and aridity that we haven’t seen in at least a thousand years,” professor Jessica Tierny of the University of Arizona told Newsy.

NASA’s climate change research suggests that the drought may stretch through the end of the century.