Amid strong heatwaves and devastating fires, the summer of 2022 in the Northern Hemisphere is being intense and rekindling the debate on global warming and climate change once again. In some European countries, such as Italy and Portugal, and also in the USA, another consequence of this crisis has drawn attention: extreme drought. This week, NASA released recent images of the country's largest water reservoir that reveal how dramatically low water levels are.

The photo, which makes a comparison with the scenery in the years 2000, 2021 and 2022, impresses. Lake Medow, which provides water to about 25 million people across the American West, is now at its lowest level since it was filled in 1937. In the measurement made on July 18, it had only 27% of its capacity.

Currently more than a third of the American West is classified in extreme drought by the US Drought Monitor. For experts, drought is a consequence of rising temperatures and melting snow that supplies the region, in addition to excessive extraction.

Michael Carlowicz, editor-in-chief of NASA's Earth Observatory, said the new image is "a stark illustration of climate change and a long-term drought that may be the worst in the western U.S. in 12 centuries." Climate scientists believe this is a systemic change that requires planning and adaptation for years to come.

Source: Um só Planeta