‘Bathtub ring’ mineral deposits are visible due to extraordinarily low water levels at the Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico Mario Tama/Getty Images
Exceptionally severe and persistent droughts – or megadroughts – have wreaked havoc on human societies for thousands of years. A megadrought in northern China between AD 1627 and 1643, for instance, caused a famine that killed an estimated 20 million people and may have sparked a revolt that toppled the Ming Dynasty.
Megadrought in North America
This story is part of our Parched Earth series about the ongoing megadrought in south-western North America …
