There have been devastating droughts in the past few years in places like Africa, Australia, and the United States. Last summer, the drought in the central US caused the loss of massive crops, causing a major economic hit for the country. The seemingly increasing prevalence of droughts has some announcing the effects of climate change coming to fruition. However, a new study from researchers at Princeton University in New Jersey and the Australian National University in Canberra has cast doubt on this premise. Their work indicates that the development of drought is much more complex than formerly believed and that recent droughts were more an aberration than an overall drying trend.
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Rashid's Blog: Portal for Inquisitive Learners 
The truth is no research based on the limited years of data collected can legitimately claim a correlation between drought and global warming. The same statement can be made for rising CO2 and global warming. We just haven’t got enough consistent data to confirm or deny anything. But we have three interesting stats upon which to raise an eyebrow or two. Rising sea levels, rising mean atmospheric temperatures, and rising CO2 levels. Everything else is a crap shoot but not those three. Is the North American drought caused by Pacific Ocean surface temperature changes. Is the expansion of the Sahara to the south a consequence of rising equatorial Atlantic Ocean temperatures? What needs to be the strategy for humanity in addressing climate cycles and how does what we do now differ from what he have done before when facing drought in marginal agricultural lands? Part of the problem in the U.S. is simply a decision to create farmland in areas that were marginal for agriculture in the first place, using the Ogalalla Aquifer to provide for the water that didn’t fall in precipitation, and drawing from the Colorado, and Mississippi-Missouri River systems in other areas. The consequences of this overbuild and overuse are now evident. This was always marginal or dry farm lands. Africa has seen the cutting down of forests for fuel acting as a contributing factor to increased dessication again in areas that would normally deemed marginal for agricultural use. Why should anyone be surprised that in drought cycles these areas get scorched.
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