The Mercury News - Current drought is worst in 1,200 years in California and the American West, new study shows

This article was published on: 02/15/22 1:00 PM

Tree rings indicate 2001-2022 is driest 22-year-period since at least 800 A.D., when Vikings sailed and Mayans built temples.

The drought that has parched California and the American West for much of the past two decades ranks as the driest 22-year period in at least 1,200 years, according to a new study published Monday.

Measuring historical moisture patterns by looking at thousands of tree rings, scientists concluded that the West is in a “megadrought,” the likes of which have not been seen in the region since at least 800 A.D., when Vikings sailed the North Atlantic and Mayans built temples in Mexico and Central America.

Climate change, which is leading to increasing temperatures, is making the current dry period more severe than it otherwise would have been, the researchers concluded.

“Here we are 22 years into a bad drought, and because of climate change we are now surpassing the severity of megadroughts that have always been thought of as the worst-case scenarios,” said Park Williams, an associate professor of geography at UCLA and lead author of the study.