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Megadrought

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A megadrought is an extended drought. It lasts two decades or more. Megadroughts in the past were linked with La Niña conditions lasting for many years.[1]

The term megadrought generally refers to the length of a drought, not its intensity. Multiyear droughts lasting one decade or less, like the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s, are not a megadrought though they lasted a long time.

Megadroughts have caused people to move away from the drought-affected areas. One example is Ancestral Puebloans in the Southwestern United States.

References

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  1. "The Characteristics and Likely Causes of the Medieval Megadroughts". The Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory. Retrieved May 15, 2021.