NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

As parts of Mexico and the Southwest endure historic droughts, scientists have unearthed new evidence about ancient dry spells that suggest the future could bring even more serious water shortages. Scientists will present new evidence that deforestation-amplified droughts affected Mayan and Aztec civilization, that past megadroughts have struck the Northeast and that climate change will leave famine-prone sub-Saharan Africa and other regions of the world thirsting for fresh water.

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Panelists:

• Ben Cook, climatologist, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies/Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, New York, N.Y.
• Dorothy Peteet, paleoclimatologist, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies/Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, New York, N.Y.
• Eric Wood, hydrologist, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

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Presenter Materials

Ben Cook, climatologist, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies/Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, New York, N.Y.

› Briefing slides (pdf format)
› Briefing slides (pptx format)

Dorothy Peteet, paleoclimatologist, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies/Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, New York, N.Y.

› Briefing slides (pdf format)

Eric Wood, hydrologist, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

› Briefing slides (pdf format)
› Briefing slides (pptx format)