Weather paradox: severe drought in south with flooding elsewhere
With 122 degrees in New York City, intense drought and wild fires in several American states, and mass starvation due to abnormal drought in the Horn of Africa. Middle Eastern countries like Yemen are “running dry” , and ones like Egypt are in danger of not being able to feed themselves. All this appears to be pointing to very unnatural climate changes that are looking more and more as being caused by global warming. The extreme heat and lack of moisture occurring in many parts of the USA seem to be much different than the “drought indexes” of the 1930’s when states like Arkansas and Oklahoma were plagued by what was known as the “dust bowl” .
Ultimate tragedy of drought -starvation
In comparing this summer’s drought conditions with those of the worst ‘dustbowl’ years of 1934-36, an index known as the Palmer Drought Severity Index measures the severity of drought conditions during severe periods of drought conditions. In comparing drought conditions this year with those of the mid-1930’s a much different pattern emerges now as compared to the conditions that occurred during the “Dust Bowl”.
A senior meteorologist for the popular TV Weather Channel, Stu Ostro , says that there are areas affected by severe drought, such as the southern US states, while nearby, there are areas in which severe flooding occurred. In other words, large parts of the continental have been affected simultaneously by two extreme types of weather patterns.
These conditions do not make people in the Horn of Africa or in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East feel any better though. Besides the horrific drought conditions occurring east and northeast Africa, the island of Cyprus has been devastated by drought for several years now, and that goes for parts of Turkey and Syria as well. And climate forecasters predict that large parts of Africa and virtually the entire Middle East will be in the midst of drought conditions that will get much worse by the middle of this century .
What makes matters worse is the “alarming drop in the amount of Arctic sea ice” which will cause rising sea levels and result in severe coastal flooding. This will result in Mediterranean coastal areas, especially those in Egypt’s Nile Delta being flooded.
Yes is it getting hotter, and dryer in many parts of the world; especially the USA and Middle East.
More about drought and climate change:
Horn of Africa Famine: A Cautionary Tale for MENA
Arab World and Med Region More Vulnerable to Climate Change
Water Problems in Cyprus Worse Than Those of Israel, Syria and Lebanon
It’s Not Just Global Warming: it’s Global Scorching
