(Watchers) – A severe drought in Chile’s central region is entering its 10th year, setting a record for the country’s longest dry-spell ever. Records since 1915, when the nation started data-keeping, showed that no droughts have lasted longer and that the previous megadrought of this scale likely occurred more than 1000 years ago.
Over the past 10 years, rainfall in central Chile has been below normal every year by an average of 20 to 45 percent, which is extremely low. Around the capital Santiago (population 7 million), lack of rain has been particularly severe. Between 2014 and 2019, only 10 to 20 percent of normal rainfall has been recorded.
In 2019, the greater Santiago area in Valparaiso saw rainfall almost 80 percent below the previous record low. It was down by 90 percent in the northern region of Coquimbo. According to Rene D. Garreaud, a scientist at the University of Chile, they are estimating that the last ‘megadrought‘ of this scale probably occurred in this region more than 1,000 years ago. READ MORE
