Droughts, as a research topic, encompass the characterization, drivers, impacts, and prediction of prolonged periods of abnormally low water availability in the atmosphere, soil, and hydrological systems. Scientific study distinguishes meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and socio-economic droughts, often quantified using indices such as the Standardized Precipitation Index or Palmer Drought Severity Index. Research investigates land–atmosphere feedbacks, large-scale circulation anomalies, soil moisture deficits, vegetation stress, and groundwater depletion, as well as the modulation of drought frequency, duration, and intensity by climate variability and anthropogenic climate change, with implications for water resources management, ecosystem functioning, and risk assessment.
Burning time for North American wildfires is going into overtime. Flames are lasting later into the night and starting earlier in the morning because human-caused climate change is extending the hotter and drier conditions ...
Environment
5 hours ago
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As water supplies shrink and food demand grows, new interdisciplinary research from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln offers a practical way for farmers to manage irrigation more efficiently while protecting their bottom ...
Other
22 hours ago
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As future shifts in climate lead to more rain and less snow in the western United States, new research finds that water will move faster through a landscape, likely leading to negative impacts on summer water levels and water ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 16, 2026
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Dramatic droughts linked to the decline of the Classic Maya civilization approximately 800 to 1000 CE may not have required any external trigger, according to a new climate modeling study. Instead, they could have emerged ...
Drought significantly reduces the reproductive success of bumblebee colonies, according to a new study conducted by a research team at the University of Würzburg and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 15, 2026
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Beans of the cacao plant, Theobroma cacao, are used in chocolates, pharmaceuticals and other products, but they're under threat. Increased drought associated with climate change has already begun to stress cacao-growing regions ...
Ecology
Apr 13, 2026
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New research from the University of St Andrews has shown that an important group of peatlands in the western Amazonia region of Peru developed more recently than many other peatlands in the tropics. Published in the journal ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 13, 2026
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Making wheat more resilient to climate change without compromising yields has become an urgent priority for the agricultural sector. Now, a study led by a research team from the University of Barcelona and the Agrotecnio ...
Biotechnology
Apr 10, 2026
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Two back-to-back droughts in 2023 and 2024 caused the most severe decline in forest moisture and biomass (the total mass of living vegetation such as leaves, trunks and branches) in the Amazon since 1992, according to a study ...
As drought conditions intensify across the American West and the impact of climate change accelerates, cities such as Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas may face a sobering reality. While it certainly helps, water conservation ...
Environment
Apr 10, 2026
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