July 31, 2012 – CLIMATE - The climate's ‘new normal’ for most of the coming century will parallel the long-term drought that hit western North America from 2000 to 2004 - the most severe drought in 800 years - scientists report in a study published Sunday. “The severity and incidence of climatic extremes, including drought, have increased as a result of climate warming,” the researchers said, adding that these long-term trends are consistent with a 21st century ‘megadrought.’ Crops and forests died and river basins dried, but as bad as conditions were during the 2000-04 drought, in the future they may be seen as the good old days, a group of 10 researchers warned Sunday in the journal ‘