Climate Change

What the Western US megadrought tells us about climate change

Megadrought: A tumble weed sits on a mud flat where water used to be next to the Great Salt Lake Marina west of Salt Lake City, Utah, August 4, 2014. The Great Salt Lake water levels are expected to be the lowest since 1963 because of a prolonged drought in Utah.

The number of disasters related to a weather, climate or water hazard has increased fivefold over the past 50 years, Image: REUTERS/George Frey

Johnny Wood
Writer, Forum Agenda
Share:
Our Impact
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Climate Change is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Climate Change

Human-induced climate change (ACC) accounted for up to 42% of the soil moisture problems behind the Western US megadrought.
Human-induced climate change (ACC) accounted for up to 42% of the soil moisture problems behind the Western US megadrought. Image: Nature Climate Change

Have you read?
More than 60% of the Western US is experiencing severe or extreme drough
More than 60% of the Western US is experiencing severe or extreme drough Image: Drought Monitor
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
Climate ChangeWaterFuture of the Environment
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

The world needs to do more to hit  clean energy goals, says UN

United Nations

June 9, 2023

About Us

Events

Media

Partners & Members

  • Join Us

Language Editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

© 2023 World Economic Forum