Long-term aridity changes in the western United States

被引:1198
作者
Cook, ER [1 ]
Woodhouse, CA
Eakin, CM
Meko, DM
Stahle, DW
机构
[1] Lamont Doherty Earth Observ, Palisades, NY 10964 USA
[2] NOAA, Natl Climat Data Ctr, Boulder, CO 80305 USA
[3] Univ Arizona, Tree Ring Res Lab, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
[4] Univ Arkansas, Dept Geosci, Fayetteville, AR 72701 USA
关键词
D O I
10.1126/science.1102586
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
The western United States is experiencing a severe multiyear drought that is unprecedented in some hydroclimatic records. Using gridded drought reconstructions that cover most of the western United States over the past 1200 years, we show that this drought pales in comparison to an earlier period of elevated aridity and epic drought in AD 900 to 1300, an interval broadly consistent with the Medieval Warm Period. If elevated aridity in the western United States is a natural response to climate warming, then any trend toward warmer temperatures in the future could lead to a serious long-term increase in aridity over western North America.
引用
收藏
页码:1015 / 1018
页数:4
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