(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Pedro DiNezio , University of Colorado Boulder and Timothy Shanahan , The University of Texas at Austin

(THE CONVERSATION) A new wave of climate research is sounding a stark warning: Human activity may be driving drought more intensely – and more directly – than previously understood.

The southwestern United States has been in a historic megadrought for much of the past two decades, with its reservoirs including lakes Mead and Powell dipping to record lows and legal disputes erupting over rights to use water from the Colorado River .

This drought has been linked to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation , a climate pattern that swings between wet and dry phases every

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