A person looks over a formerly sunken boat currently stuck nearly upright in a now-dry section of lakebed at the drought-stricken Lake Mead on June 23, 2022 in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada. (Photo by AFP)

San Francisco, July 13 (RHC)-- Forty out of the total fifty U.S. states are currently experiencing some form of drought, according to recent data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.   Citing the data, The Hill reported that the states of Texas, California and Arizona in the western part of the U.S. were the regions most severely affected by the extreme heat and lack of rainfall.

The drought conditions in Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico were also severe.   There was a severe and moderate drought in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Dakota as well.

Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Virginia, Alabama, Washington, Arkansas and Minnesota are all experiencing moderate drought.

Jonathan London, associate professor of human ecology at the University of California, Davis, warned that those residing in areas not affected by drought should still be concerned due to the ripple effect of it.  “What happens in one state affects many others both in terms of food and in infrastructure,” warned London. 

One study showed that dryer grasslands and forests boost the chances of wildfires, which can in turn hurt the air quality by causing dust storms and increasing exposure to harmful pollutants or altering air pollution patterns creating new health concerns.

However, U.S. President Joe Biden has vowed to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, raising hopes for a reverse in weather conditions in the United States.