Updated 8:21 AM ET,
CNN)The past two decades have marked the driest years in southwestern North America since the 1500s, a new study finds, and it could get even worse.
The megadrought that began in 2000 led to the driest 19-year span since the late 1500s, according to the study published this week in the journal "Science," and the second driest period since the year 800. Before that, the region had seen its wettest period in 1,200 years, with increased precipitation from 1980 to 1998, the study says.
The transition from such wet conditions to such dry conditions "was hastened by the background drying forced from anthropogenic warming," the study says.
In other words: Blame the human-caused climate crisis.
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