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.
K'gari is the world's largest sand island and known for its world-famous lakes, but research from the University of Adelaide has discovered its largest lakes could be vulnerable to drying.
Earth Sciences
Dec 4, 2025
0
44
A new study shows that during drought, it's not how hot or how dry it is that determines gas emissions from plants—but how quickly conditions change. This discovery reshapes our understanding of the relationship between drought, ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 2, 2025
0
46
Successive major droughts, each lasting longer than 85 years, were likely a key factor in the eventual fall of the Indus Valley Civilization, according to a paper published in Communications Earth & Environment. The findings ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 27, 2025
1
203
The Qinling-Bashan Mountains (QBMs) serve as an important boundary between southern and northern China and are dubbed China's Central Water Tower (CCWT). However, the spatiotemporal structures and dynamics of the summer hydroclimate, ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 25, 2025
0
15
One of North America's longest rivers, the Rio Grande—or Rio Bravo as it's called in Mexico—has a history as deep as it is long. Indigenous people have tapped it for countless generations, and it was a key artery for Spanish ...
Environment
Nov 21, 2025
0
28
Cornell researchers have discovered a previously unknown way plants regulate water that is so fundamental it may change plant biology textbooks—and open the door to breeding more drought-tolerant crops.
Plants & Animals
Nov 20, 2025
0
33
In light of the ongoing fifteen-year megadrought in Chile, an international team of researchers, including Francesca Pellicciotti from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), addressed a bold future scenario. ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 18, 2025
0
33
Droughts are having a major impact on Europe's forests—and climate change could make them even more frequent—but diversity helps.
Ecology
Nov 13, 2025
0
21
Climate change is extending the growing season in European forests, but this effect will not be sufficient to offset the negative impacts of increasing drought stress. An international research team led by Jan Tumajer from ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 13, 2025
0
21
As climate change increases the frequency of droughts, UCLA and UC Davis researchers found one overlooked side effect: People report more conflicts with wildlife during drought, when resources are scarce.
Plants & Animals
Nov 12, 2025
0
134
