Droughts, flash floods the future for the Midwest ... probably
In the 2004 disaster flick The Day After Tomorrow, the world is subsumed by extreme weather as a violent climate collapse encases the Northern Hemisphere in ice and snow in a matter of days.
However, a more likely future may be that of the dust bowl droughts depicted in Christopher Nolan's film Interstellar, released 10 years later.
A climate model developed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Labs, projects prolonged droughts across much of the US which will be followed by brief but devastating floods. But these events won't happen overnight.
Instead, they're forecast to place with increasing frequency over the next 50 years. But even by the middle of the century — just a short 27 years from now — simulations suggest that large portions of the Midwest will be in a state of persistent drought, and the American West isn't looking much better off, despite recent rainstorms that have raised hopes of more lush times ahead...more
No comments:
Post a Comment