Global Warming Worsens California Drought as July Becomes Hottest Month on Record

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Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report Thursday showing that July was Earth's hottest month on record.

Nine of the 10 hottest months since record keeping began in 1880 have occurred since 2005. Climatologists also expect 2015 to be the hottest year on record. This news comes as scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory released a report that shows that global warming has worsened the California drought, now entering its fourth year. This new study is the first to estimate the extent to which rising temperatures are affecting the loss of moisture from plants and soil, and suggests that within a few decades continually increasing temperatures and resulting moisture losses will push California into a permanent drought by 2060. "Democracy Now!" discusses the report and the impact of the findings with the study's lead author, Park Williams, a bioclimatologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

Image Credit: Reuters