"As an extended drought bakes the West, nowhere are ravages of changes in the climate worse than in New Mexico."

"Scientists in the West have a particular way of walking a landscape and divining its secrets: They kick a toe into loamy soil or drag a boot heel across the desert's crust, leaning down to squint at the tiny excavation.

Try that maneuver in New Mexico these days and it yields nothing but bad news in a puff of dust.

Across the West, changes in the climate are taking a toll. Almost 87% of the region is in a drought."

Julie Cart reports for the Los Angeles Times August 6, 2013, with photography and video by Michael Robinson Chavez.

SEE ALSO:

"Wells Are Running Dry In Parts Of Kansas" (NPR/KCUR)

"Seven Ways the Drought in the West Really Sucks" (Grist)

US Drought Monitor

Source: LA Times, 08/07/2013