Yet another reason why I'm glad I live in Buffalo

This New York Times story paints a pretty bleak picture of climate trends in the American West:

"Continuing research into drought cycles over the last 800 years bears this out, strongly suggesting that the relatively wet weather across much of the West during the 20th century was a fluke. In other words, scientists who study tree rings and ocean temperatures say, the development of the modern urbanized West ? one of the biggest growth spurts in the nation's history ? may have been based on a colossal miscalculation."

I occasionally see predictions that there will be wars over water at some point in the future. It seems strange to me that we'd have wars over a substance that covers something like seventy percent of the planet's surface, but then -- we are talking about humanity, here. We don't really need much by way of an excuse to have a war or two.

(via Making Light)