Western states’ “atmospheric thirst” means more fires and strained water supplies
Drought is typically thought of as a simple lack of rain and snow. But evaporative demand—a term describing the atmosphere's capacity to pull moisture from the ground—is also a major factor. And the atmosphere over much of the U.S. has grown a lot thirstier over the past 40 years, a new study in the Journal of Hydrometeorology found.
To measure how atmospheric thirst has been changing, Albano and her colleagues examined five data sets covering 1980 to 2020 that included temperature, wind speed, solar radiation and humidity—all of which contribute to evaporative demand. They found the biggest U.S. increases occurring over Southwestern states, whereas rising humidity offset higher temperatures in the East.
Rising evaporative demand adds to the strain as the West continues to endure megadrought conditions that have not been seen for 1,200 years. The increase contributed to low spring runoff from the Sierra Nevada in 2021, when much less stream water came from snow than predicted, Albano says. A thirstier atmosphere also dried out Western forests, leading to larger wildfires.
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