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.
Due to climate change, agriculture is facing an unprecedented transformation. While Germany was hardly affected by massive crop failures for decades, the picture has changed drastically since 2015. Since then, heat waves ...
Ecology
Mar 5, 2026
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With desert cities like Phoenix and Tucson bracing for their allotments of Colorado River water to be slashed dramatically, San Diego County's water agency could for the first time sell some of its water to other states by ...
Environment
Mar 4, 2026
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A prolonged drought in southeastern Connecticut reduced the stability of microorganisms responsible for a critical step in the nitrogen cycle in a coastal salt marsh, according to research led by a Connecticut College scientist ...
Ecology
Mar 3, 2026
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13
National parks in the United States represent a treasure trove of natural, historical, and recreational landscapes, but their health is at risk. A comprehensive new study on the climate-change vulnerability of national parks, ...
Wildfires are among the most economically costly natural disasters and are becoming more severe and frequent due to global warming. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates that global damage from wildfires ...
Environment
Mar 3, 2026
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A study published in Nature Food by researchers from the Politecnico di Milano and the University of California at Berkeley provides forward-thinking answers to the debate on the role of environmental stresses on migration ...
Environment
Feb 26, 2026
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Nearly 6.5 million people in Somalia are facing severe hunger as worsening drought, conflict and global aid cuts intensify the country's humanitarian crisis, the federal government and U.N. agencies said Tuesday.
Environment
Feb 24, 2026
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More extreme weather and shifting growing seasons are putting pressure on school meal programs, which serve nearly half a billion children worldwide. Jennifer Burney, a professor of Earth system science and of environmental ...
Environment
Feb 24, 2026
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How do plants adapt to drought and heat? New studies on plants of the Canary Islands show that adaptation is not determined by a single character but by the interaction of entire sets of characters. Even closely related plants ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 24, 2026
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12
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), in collaboration with international partners, have shown that ocean temperature patterns help limit the global spread of droughts. Published in Communications ...
Environment
Feb 23, 2026
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