The Earth may face a megadrought lasting more than 20 years: what scientists warn about

Scientists believe that 2024 will break last year's temperature records and become the hottest year in the history of observations.

This was reported by SSPDaily.

According to scientists, droughts in Australia can have particularly dramatic consequences: they may destroy agriculture, threaten water resources and harm the environment. Most of Australia's drought-prone areas are in danger. Scientists warn that as the planet warms globally, the risk of megadroughts will only increase.

The results of a new study show that, given enough time, the natural variability of rainfall in Australia could lead to megadroughts lasting 20 years or more. If we add these results to the climate change caused by human activity, future droughts could be much more severe than previously thought.

Researchers say that human impact on the climate has already made the southern parts of Australia more prone to drought. That's why we can expect longer droughts in the future, while scientists have not found any impact on the intensity or frequency. In other words, anthropogenic climate change has probably not yet caused droughts in Australia to become more arid, nor has it changed the frequency of droughts. But this impact could still manifest itself as climate change worsens.

The authors of the study believe that in the future, Australia will face mega-droughts that could last 20 years or more. This is much longer than any drought that has been observed in Australia since instrumental observations began.

In addition, scientists have concluded that megadroughts in Australia are possible even without the impact of climate change as they are part of the variability of rainfall in Australia in the long term.

Earlier, scientists made an attempt to calculate the real cost of climate change. The results of the study show that over the next 36 years, the boiling of the planet will cost humanity an incredible $24 trillion. It is expected that by 2060, economic turmoil will affect many industries.