Expect a lot of Global Warming talks in the months ahead! Whatever economic catastrophe cannot be pinned on Putin will go strait to the weather!

 But is there ANY truth at all behind this?

 Droughts are real. In Europe, the US, China. No doubt about it. Here in Japan it has been wetter than usual which is exactly what you would expect in a La Nina year. 

 But to understand the weather, you have to look at a much longer timeline and suddenly it all starts to make sense. The current conditions have nothing at all exceptional. Conversely, it is the mild and rather wet conditions of the last two centuries which are the long term outliers. The Egyptian ancient dynasties, The Roman Empire, the High Middle age, the Maya, the Anasazi of New Mexico, all these civilizations prospered during warm and wet intervals followed without exception by much harsher conditions. The famous plagues of Egypt. The terrible 6th century, the cold snap of Bruegel's paintings which left us the now famous "Huger stones" of the Rhine River and the terrible and long lasting drought of the Americas which decimated several civilizations in the 12th Century. 

 The Earth is currently in a long term recurring ice age with short warm intervals. Statistically, we are close to the end of such a warm period which is why people in the 1980s predicted a return to cold conditions. But the weather changes over hundreds or even thousands of years not really decades. 

 The current consensus is that CO2 drives the atmosphere but many scientists disagree, saying that it is the Sun and water vapor which are most important. Likely, historically, it looks like CO2 has been rising AFTER temperatures rose not the other way around. But this of course cannot be proved in the current "climate" of witch hunting. A scientist proposing such a study would be committing "career suicide."

 And so what is likely to happen is that the weather will be taken as another proof that the consensus is right and that even MORE must be invested to combat climate change bankrupting even faster our current social order.      

 This too is nothing new. Our ancestors worshiped harder when times were harsh. And when the gods failed them, as they always did, they destroyed the temples and centuries later prayed to new, different gods!

Drought Conditions Now Affecting Two-Thirds Of US

Human remains discovered at the shores of Lake Mead in May, July and August as its water levels are at historic lows are just the latest consequence of a prolonged drought gripping the United States. One of the bodies found was identified as a homicide victim who died around 40 or 50 years ago, spurring speculation that the person could have been a victim of mob crime that still was prevalent in nearby Las Vegas at that time.

As Statista's Katharina Buchholz notes, since late 2020, the United States has been experiencing unusually hot and dry weather. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, extreme and exceptional drought affects the American West as well as Texas most, but stretches as far as Kansas, Nebraska, Montana and Massachusetts.

The extreme circumstances have spurred demand for water and cooling, leaving reservoirs emptier than usual. With the drought also comes a heightened risk of heat-induced medical emergencies and wildfires.

As of August 16, droughts of different levels of severity affect more than 66 percent of the area of the continental United States. The number has been above the 60-percent mark since October of 2020 with just two short breaks (82 out of 98 weeks).

You will find more infographics at Statista

While it has risen this high before, it rarely stayed there for so long. During the drought of 2018, it exceeded the threshold for only five weeks. Between April 2012 and May 2013, droughts had affected more than 60 percent of the United States’ area for 60 weeks in a row and expanded to around 80 percent momentarily.

While fluctuating temperatures and very hot, very dry or very cold days are a normal phenomenon, these extreme weather events are expected to become more frequent and severe due to climate change. Scientist have connected the reoccuring drought in the Western U.S. to a changing climate, for example citing heatwaves that start earlier in the year and have become longer as well as stronger.