LETTER: Let’s put the Southwest drought in come context

In his Monday letter “Vegas threat,” Al Marquis asserts that scientists warned us that “humanity’s continuing emission of greenhouse gases could lead to dire, irreversible consequences — including a drought in the southwest United States.” This overlooks a great deal of well-established history.

Drought in the Southwest is not a modern phenomenon. Tree ring research, which allows scientists to reconstruct climate conditions going back thousands of years, shows repeated long, severe droughts throughout the region’s past. Some were more intense than the drought we face today.

These events occurred long before industrial emissions, and they were shaped by natural climate cycles, including variations in Earth’s orbit, axial tilt and ocean driven patterns such as El Niño and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

Archaeological and Native American histories tell the same story. Many early Southwestern communities adapted, migrated or reorganized in response to prolonged droughts. These were natural, recurring features of the region’s climate.

Recognizing this long record does not diminish the seriousness of today’s drought. It provides context. If we want productive discussions about water and climate, we should base them on the full scientific and historical picture, not on the assumption that human activity is the sole cause of a pattern that has existed for millennia.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Marquis’ closing paragraph abandons science and veers into partisan blame, even claiming that Donald Trump and “MAGA threatens the very existence of Las Vegas.” That argument collapses under its own timeline.

Mr. Trump has been on the political scene for barely a decade, while this drought began more than 25 years ago. Linking a decades-long climatic cycle to a single politician or political movement does not strengthen his case. It exposes his motive and undermines his credibility.