The article “Are drought conditions in the American Southwest here to stay?” by Ben Thompson reports yet another disaster caused by climate change. Based on the study Running dry: The U.S. Southwest’s drift into a drier climate state published in Geophysical Research Letters, research shows that the American Southwest is now a much drier climate system compared to the decades before.

Andreas Prein, the leader of the study and a research fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), explains how the research data taken from 1979 to 2014 shows decreasing trends of precipitations in most of the western regions of the country, while the Atlantic coast and Northeast shows increasing precipitations and intensity.The study collected data of daily sea pressure, atmospheric water depth, and wind speeds for over 35 years predict the trends to worsen over the next few decades. Environmentalist  fear that even with stronger storms in some regions of the country, there will not be enough water to provide to the western regions.

Contrary to popular belief, the drought that certain regions are currently facing in central and western states of the United States are not temporary but the new standards. Results showed an ongoing trend of temperatures increasing and grounds become drier which only will only accelerate the drought conditions.