Flash Droughts: Climate Change’s Next Big Blow

The state of Illinois is suffering from its driest conditions in more than a decade. In fact, large swathes of the Midwest and Plains states are suffering from extraordinarily dry conditions according the U.S. Drought Monitor. But a certain kind of drought is becoming more and more frequent: flash drought.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines flash drought as follows: Flash drought is simply the rapid onset or intensification of drought. It is set in motion by lower-than-normal rates of precipitation, accompanied…