Climate scientists create Caribbean drought atlas
Cornell atmospheric scientists have developed the first-of-its-kind, high-resolution Caribbean drought atlas, with data going back to 1950. Concurrently, the researchers confirmed the region's 2013-16 drought was the most severe in 66 years due to consistently higher temperatures – a hint that climate change is to blame. Because of its topographic complexity, the new atlas delivers critical research data by providing a historical climate backdrop." This is especially important for the Caribbean, since many of its nations are some of the most vulnerable to severe drought," said co-author Dimitris Herrera, a doctoral candidate who, with Toby Ault, professor of atmospheric science, report online June 30 in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate.
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