Aerosols, not greenhouse gases, caused catastrophic drought and recovery

Aerosols, not greenhouse gases, caused catastrophic drought and recovery

The devastating droughts that struck Africa’s Sahel region in the 1970s and 1980s and the subsequent return to wetter conditions were driven primarily by anthropogenic aerosols rather than greenhouse gases, according to new research. The Sahel droughts of the late 20th century were not a single event but a prolonged climatic disaster of huge proportions, one that stands as a defining humanitarian crisis of the modern era. While the Sahel, a semi…