The study, due to be published in the online journal, Science Advances, predicts that the US Southwest and Central Plains will face persistent drought worse than anything seen in 1,000 years and these drying conditions will be "driven primarily" by human-induced global warming.

The research says that these droughts of the future would surpass in severity any of the mega-droughts of the country's past, including the drought the researchers link to the decline of the Anasazi or Ancient Pueblo Peoples in the Colorado Plateau in the late 13th century.

“We are the first to do this kind of quantitative comparison between the projections and the distant past, and the story is a bit bleak,” said Jason E. Smerdon, a co-author and climate scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, part of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. “Even when selecting for the worst megadrought-dominated period, the 21st century projections make the megadroughts seem like quaint walks through the Garden of Eden.”

Previous studies have already predicted the drying of these parts of the US, such as a study published last year which concluded that fish species native to a major Arizona watershed may lose access to important segments of their habitat by 2050 as surface water flow is reduced by the effects of global warming.

But this is the first study to suggest the predicted droughts will be on a larger scale than any experienced before.

A total of 11 out of the last 14 years have seen drought in much of America's west including Arizona, Nevada, California and New Mexico. The drought has also stretched across the Southern Plains to Texas and Oklahoma.

Nasa figures report that 64 million people in America are currently affected by drought. In California, currently experiencing its fourth year of drought, many farmers have sold off herds and growers have abandoned their fields.

Droughts in Brazil and New Zealand

Many parts of the world are currently experiencing drought at the moment, including Brazil which is suffering its worst drought in history. The Guardian reports that more than 4 million people have been affected by rationing and rolling power cuts as a result.

New Zealand's government announced an official drought in parts of South Island on Thursday. Dairy farmers are being hit particularly hard by the drought as milk prices are already low. You can read more on this story here.