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.
Two consecutive dry years in South Australia have put extreme stress on urban trees and shrubs, with Flinders University experts examining degrees of dieback in Adelaide trees affected by the dry conditions.
Plants & Animals
Sep 12, 2025
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20
NASA satellite data and trainings helped Uruguay create a drought-response tool that its National Water Authority now uses to monitor reservoirs and guide emergency decisions. A similar approach could be applied in the United ...
Environment
Sep 11, 2025
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21
Iraq's Euphrates River is running at historically low levels as the drought-stricken country faces its worst water scarcity in living memory.
Environment
Sep 10, 2025
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35
Though it may seem counterintuitive, desert-dwelling plants and animals who are well-adapted to hot, dry conditions are still threatened by rising temperatures, drought, and other extremes caused by climate change. For some ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 8, 2025
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47
The extremely hot, dry and windy conditions, which fueled one of the Iberian Peninsula's most destructive wildfire seasons in recorded history, were 40 times more likely due to climate change, according to a study released ...
Environment
Sep 4, 2025
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26
A new global study led by the University of British Columbia shows that hotter and drier conditions are making food production more volatile, with crop yields swinging more sharply from year to year. For some, it may mean ...
Agriculture
Sep 3, 2025
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39
A new study led by Professor Jonghun Kam's team at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) has uncovered a shocking forecast for Pakistan's future. Using a cutting-edge AI model, the research predicts that the ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 3, 2025
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26
A plant's number one priority is to grow—a feat that demands sunlight, nutrients, and water. If just one of these three inputs is missing, like water in a drought, growth halts. You might then think that at the end of that ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 31, 2025
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237
What if plants could speak when they were thirsty? Agriculture, in essence, is a dialog among crops, soil and climate. Yet drought, the most insidious stressor, remains largely silent until its damage is visible.
In a new study, crop scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and USDA's Agricultural Research Service show that soybeans are doubly damaged by drought and ozone pollution, both of which are increasing across ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 28, 2025
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21
