The Drying of the West – Our Future?

January 21, 2008

The Drying of the West – Our Future?

Malcolm K. Hughes, UA Regents’ Professor of Dendrochronology, Laboratory for Tree Ring Research presented his luncheon talk “The Drying of the West - Our Future?” on January 23, 2008 at the Arizona Inn.

A podcast of this talk will be available here soon. This lecture covers some of the same material available in the February 2008 issue of National Geographic Magazine featuring three UA researchers: Tom Swetnam, Director of the Laboratory for Tree Ring Research; Dave Meko, and Connie Woodhouse.

Recent and projected droughts were discussed in the context of what is known from the last few thousand years. How bad could it get? Current patterns indicate that Arizona is one of several Western states experiencing the most severe drying and warming trends. Some scientists are describing the ongoing drying conditions as not just drought but a new hotter, drier climate system.

Hughes has worked for the last 30 years on the nature and causes of natural climate variability on timescales of years to centuries. Hughes has conducted research projects and given lectures all over the world and is the author of more than 125 scientific publications. Formerly the Director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Hughes is a Fellow of the Galileo Circle and was named a Regents’ Professor in 2007.

For a good Tucson Weekly article on Tucson’s water situation, go here.

More on how the water crisis in the West may grow worse, read this LA Times article.

To Download a new, comprehensive report on climate science and policy titled: “CLIMATE Code Red: The Case for a Sustainability Emergency” click here.