The American Drought

 For many in the Global South it would mean a death sentence or a mass exodus of people but the USA perserveres.

The western United States will suffer "prolonged, persistent drought" for the second spring in a row, government scientists have said. The US National Weather Service (NWS) predicted continuing or worsening drought across a vast swathe of the country from California to Montana down to Texas.

It comes after the southwestern US experienced its most severe drought on record last year, exacerbated by historic high temperatures that a US government report blamed "significantly" on global warming.

Nearly 60 per cent of the continental US will experience minor to exceptional drought conditions. Severe to exceptional drought has persisted in some areas of the West since the summer of 2020 and drought has expanded to the southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley.  Dry conditions would increase the risk of wildfires in the Southwest and the central Great Plains region, following brutal fire seasons in California and Oregon. Southwest states such as California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah have been in drought for two years now, bringing crucial water reservoirs such as the Hoover Dam to all-time lows.