Study: Natural causes, not human activity, behind Plains drought [1]

CNN - 4/12/13, Michael Martinez

• NEW: Climate scientist disputes study findings
• "Every drought that's occurring isn't a result of climate change," author says
• Study found a lack of moist air from Gulf of Mexico and "severe rainfall deficits"
• The drought in six Great Plains states was the worst since records began in 1895

Rancher Gary Wollert pauses before heading out for work on August 23 near Eads, Colorado. The nation's severe drought has been especially hard on cattlemen. Much of eastern Colorado and virtually all of Nebraska and Kansas are still in extreme or exceptional drought, according to the University of Nebraska's Drought Monitor.
 

(CNN) -- Extreme natural events, not man-made climate change, led to last summer's historic drought [2]in the Great Plains, a new federal study said Friday.

Drought occurred in six Plains states between last May and August because moist Gulf of Mexico air "failed to stream northward in late spring," and summer storms were few and stingy with rainfall, said a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

More: CNN [3]