The Western and Southwestern U.S. has been in a “megadrought,” a drought period spanning 20 years or more, since 2000. Using tree ring analysis, researchers from UCLA, Columbia University and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Study determined that the period of 2000-2021 was the driest the Western part of the continent has been since the year 800. As dry conditions are expected to continue, this current megadrought is on pace to be the longest such event in the region since the 1500s, according to the same study.
