Hot and dry conditions are hammering Colorado, intensifying a 20-year shift toward aridity.
On Thursday, federal officials designated 100% of the state abnormally dry or in drought for the first time in eight years — “extreme” or “severe” in many areas — consistent with a broader transformation of the Southwest amid climate warming.
A combination in Colorado of paltry spring snow, warmer temperatures that triggered earlier melting of winter mountain snowpack, feeble rain through summer, and parched soil from previous dry years led to this formal label.
Source: www.dailycamera.com
