Turn of the century drought worst in 800 years

A new scientific study indicates the turn-of-the-century drought in the North American West was the worst of the last millennium—with major impacts to the carbon cycle and hints of even drier times ahead.

The study, titled “Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America,” indicates that the major drought that struck western North America from 2000 to 2004 severely reduced carbon uptake and stressed the region’s water resources, with significant declines in river flows and crop yields. It was published on July 29 in Nature-Geoscience.

The current drought [2012] that has currently engulfed [the] country is as intense in the western United States as the turn of the century drought, but also includes large portions of the Midwest and Eastern United States.

An 800 year drought doesn’t prove anything. Having two of them back-to-back just might.