National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Photo: Ancient "Megadroughts" Struck U.S. West, Could Happen A


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Ruins of a pioneer town in Nevada flooded 70 years ago by the creation of Lake Mead are now high and dry due to a prolonged drought in the U.S. Southwest.

Now a study of tree rings dating back to A.D. 762 shows that the region has experienced droughts in the past lasting more than 60 years—an ominous finding that suggests the current drought could be that start of another decades-long dry spell.

Photograph by David McNew/Getty Images