Human emissions are impacting our drought conditions

A new series of studies published in Nature and Nature Geoscience confirms what Utahns are already feeling: the Southwest’s megadrought isn’t just bad luck, it’s being driven and intensified by human-caused climate change.

Scientists have long debated whether the region’s record-breaking dry spell is simply part of natural weather cycles. But researchers now say that our greenhouse gas emissions have “loaded the dice,” fundamentally changing how the Pacific Ocean behaves and locking the West into a prolonged dry phase.

In short, human emissions are altering the ocean’s rhythms and shifting storm tracks away from the Southwest. That means less rain and snow for Utah, and a drier Colorado River Basin that millions depend on. Researchers warn that unless emissions are rapidly reduced, drought may become the permanent reality for our region.

Higher temperatures are also “aridifying” the landscape, drying out soils, shrinking the snowpack, and evaporating more of our limited water supply. Even if precipitation slightly rebounds as pollution controls improve overseas, the overall warming trend means Utah will stay parched.

Wherever you have an environmental issue, you have a public health issue if you look hard enough or wait long enough. Drought and heat amplify air pollution, increase dust storms from the Great Salt Lake, worsen wildfire smoke, and threaten drinking water quality. That can impact respiratory and cardiovascular health. Real solutions require confronting the root causes, transitioning rapidly away from fossil fuels, improving water conservation policies, and demanding that state leaders treat climate change as the public health emergency it is. Each ton of emissions avoided means cleaner air, more stable water supplies, and a safer future for every Utahn.