While we here in the Southeast have been the beneficiaries of the current atmospheric wave pattern and its cooler temperatures, our friends in the western US have had the bad end of the stick. Not only are they seeing an extended and extreme drought, but they have also been experiencing record-setting high temperatures that are taxing the power grid, evaporating reservoirs, and causing a lot of problems for farmers. Here are a few stories I have seen about the dangerous situation out there.
PBS Newshour: What’s causing the drought in the West — and why it’s so bad
Science: The Colorado River is shrinking. Hard choices lie ahead, this scientist warns
Yahoo News photo essay: ‘Nobody’s winning’: Drought upends life in US West basin
Inside Climate News: A Deadly Summer in the Pacific Northwest Augurs More Heat Waves, and More Deaths to Come
