Climate change fueling warm ocean 'blob' causing Chile megadrought - study

FILE PHOTO: A cow is seen on land that used to be filled with water, at the Aculeo Lagoon in Paine, Chile, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Matias Delacroix/File Photo

(Reuters) - A blob of warm water in the southern Pacific is fueling a decade-long megadrought in Chile, and climate change is at least partly to blame, scientists say.

The "Southern Blob" east of New Zealand is driving hot and dry conditions in Chile, with snow caps melting https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/mega-drought-andes-leaves-some-peaks-without-snow-2021-08-05/#:~:text=Europe-,'Mega-drought'%20in%20Andes%20from%20climate%20change,leaves%20some%20peaks%20without%20snow&text=The%20Andes'%20glaciers%2C%20which%20between,seen%20before%2C%22%20he%20said on the Andes, reservoirs running low and once-lush landscapes withered https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-environment-bees/decade-long-drought-in-chile-wipes-out-hives-as-bees-are-left-without-flowers-idUSKBN1XB3T5. Chilean authorities this year were forced to truck water to some 400,000 people living in rural areas.