Americans are told to reduce flushing toilets as 48 states are under drought warnings following the driest period in decades.

The US is currently experiencing its worst drought in 25 years, affecting all but two states.

Some 257 million Americans are living under severe drought warnings as drier, warmer conditions moved across the country last month, leaving only Alaska and Kentucky unaffected.

Several states have asked residents to reduce their water use by reducing shower times, not watering lawns and flushing toilets less often to conserve resources, and the situation in Pennsylvania was so severe that it led to a lake drying up and revealing the remains of a 200-meter lake. summer bridge.

The hardest-hit regions include Texas, Ohio, West Virginia, Wyoming, Montana and Missouri – all facing extreme or exceptional drought conditions after no precipitation since September.

Red alerts were issued across the United States as 14 major wildfires burned more than 486,000 acres in 10 states, including Oklahoma, Texas and Massachusetts.

Alaska and Kentucky Conditions were drier, but temperatures remained below average in Alaska, keeping it out of a moderate drought, while a cold front brought rain to Kentucky on Thursday.

Water conservation efforts have been launched in US states such as Colorado and Hawaii, and Pennsylvania residents have been asked to reduce their water consumption by 10 to 15 percent, which equates to 11 to 16 gallons per day.

That’s because drought affected just 12 percent of the U.S. in June, but that number had risen to 87 percent as of November.

This was caused by a strong surge in pressure that hangs high in the atmosphere for weeks on end, preventing precipitation from reaching the region.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) described the event as a “flash drought” caused by less than normal precipitation, abnormally high temperatures and strong winds.

“While droughts typically develop slowly over months and years, flash droughts intensify quickly over a period of a few weeks to a couple of months,” said Kaylee Schwartz, a scientist at the University of Alabama’s Center for Global Water Security. .

At least 100 weather stations across the U.S. recorded no rain throughout October, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center.

Drought is affecting major cities such as Philadelphia, Atlanta, Birmingham, Dallas, Las Vegas and Sacramento.

This is true even in states like North Carolina and Georgia, which were devastated by Hurricane Helen and experienced 15-foot flooding in late September.

NASA’s Earth Observatory said many areas affected by the storm dried out quickly and there had been no rainfall since the disaster.

Extreme drought, also called D3, can disrupt crop and livestock production, increase the intensity and severity of wildfires, and cause outbreaks of diseases such as typhoid and cholera if people drink contaminated water.

Exceptional droughts, called D4, are the most serious because, in addition to having the same impact as D3, they can cause widespread crop failure, extreme water shortages and potential environmental devastation.

Affected areas also include New York City, where Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday urged residents to conserve every drop of water by reducing the number of times they flush the toilet, taking shorter showers and not letting water run while brushing their teeth.

The warning comes from reservoirs in upstate New York that are used by the city and are currently less than two-thirds full, compared with the usual three-quarters level for this time of year.

The cotton industry has also been hit hard by the drought and is forecast to produce its second-lowest harvest in a decade.

This primarily affected Texas, which is the largest cotton producer in the country.

Farmers are expected to produce just 2.1 million acres of cotton this year, down from 5.5 million acres in 2022.

Arkansas also suffered, damaging much of the wheat their livestock needed for grazing.

“This fall has been a prime example of flash drought in parts of the U.S.,” said Jason Otkin, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“These events can take people by surprise because you can quickly go from no drought to severe drought conditions.”

Wildfires have already broken out across the country, including New Jersey, where firefighters battled two blazes over the weekend.

One fire burned more than 200 acres in Rockaway Township, forcing helicopters to drop hundreds of gallons of water to try to extinguish the flames.

A second fire in Downe, New Jersey, broke out on Thursday and burned 120 acres.

National Weather Service forecasters also warned states in the Northeast, including Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, of increasing fire levels.

2023 study published in Science showed that droughts have increased dramatically since the 1950s due to man-made climate change due to increased use of fossil fuels.

“In general, climate change is making all weather conditions more extreme,” said Dr. Rohit T. Aggarwala, New York City’s chief climate officer and commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection. New York Times.

He said that while the northeast was likely to see wetter conditions heading into the winter months, “we also have a strong likelihood of shorter, more severe droughts like the one we may be in now.”