USU researcher says Europe’s drought trends match climate change projections

It may have been pure coincidence, but on the same day in late October that global leaders wrapped up an international water and climate summit in Rome, a Utah State University researcher published new findings that suggest European drought trends are lining up with climate change projections.

That researcher, Dr. James Stagge said his research becomes supporting data that climate change is a reality.

He said the findings are giving researchers more confidence that climate change is really affecting drought occurrence.

The study was published Oct. 25 in <em>Scientific Reports</em> and it demonstrates that two major drought indices are deviating from one another across Europe in a manner consistent with climate change simulations.

Stagge said patterns he and his team observed match climate change projections for Europe that suggest decreases in drought frequency in the north and increases in drought frequency in the south.

Stagge is a post-doc at USU’s Utah Water Research Lab. He said these new findings could affect public policy.

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