Yearslong droughts on the increase worldwide, study finds

Multi-year droughts have become more common over the last 40 years, new research suggested.

Climate models have long predicted that changing weather patterns driven by global warming will increase the number and severity of droughts, but the theory had not been demonstrated.

Researchers looked at rainfall records and evaporation rates and found that areas affected by droughts lasting at least two years were expanding 20,000 square miles (50,000 square kilometers) a year. In some regions, such as grasslands, this shift has led to severe declines in vegetation and massive crop failures, Carbon Brief reported: Droughts in Chile, the western US, and Australia have extended fire seasons and hit water reservoirs.