Drought
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NASA
Drought Parches Florida
Florida is among the wettest U.S. states, but that doesn’t mean it is drought-free. Nearly all of Florida faced at least “moderate” drought, and nearly 80 percent faced “extreme” conditions in April 2026, according to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor. Unusually dry conditions gripped the state for much of 2025, but the intensity and extent of the drought ratcheted up starting in…
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NASA
NASA Data, Trainings Help Uruguay Navigate Drought
Lee esta historia en español aquí. NASA satellite data and trainings helped Uruguay create a drought-response tool that its National Water Authority now uses to monitor reservoirs and guide emergency decisions. A similar approach could be applied in the United States and other countries around the world. From 2018 to 2023, Uruguay experienced its worst drought in nearly a century. The…
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NASA
NASA Satellites Find Snow Didn’t Offset Southwest US Groundwater Loss
Record snowfall in recent years has not been enough to offset long-term drying conditions and increasing groundwater demands in the U.S. Southwest, according to a new analysis of NASA satellite data. Declining water levels in the Great Salt Lake and Lake Mead have been testaments to a megadrought afflicting western North America since 2000. But surface water only accounts for a…
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NASA
How ‘Glowing’ Plants Could Help Scientists Predict Flash Drought
An unusual boost in plant productivity can foreshadow severe soil water loss. NASA satellites are following the clues. Flaring up rapidly and with little warning, the drought that gripped much of the United States in the summer of 2012 was one of the most extensive the country had seen since the yearslong Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The “flash drought,”…
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NASA
NASA Data Shows How Drought Changes Wildfire Recovery in the West
A new study using NASA satellite data reveals how drought affects the recovery of western ecosystems from fire, a result that could provide meaningful information for conservation efforts. The West has been witnessing a trend of increasing number and intensity of wildland fires. Historically a natural part of the region’s ecology, fires have been exacerbated by climate change—including more frequent…
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