Warming climate may spread drying to a third of earth: Heat, not just rainfall, plays into new projections

According to the Earth Institute at Columbia University, a new study estimates that 12 percent of land will be subject to drought by 2100 through rainfall changes alone; but the drying will spread to 30 percent of land if higher evaporation rates are considered. An increase in evaporative drying means that even regions expected to get more rain, including important wheat, corn and rice belts in the western United States and southeastern China, will be at risk of drought.

For the full article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140331144149.htm