Scientists Warn of Severe and Widespread Drought in the 21st Century
Drought is among the most damaging natural hazards in the world, often causing severe losses to agriculture, ecosystems, and human societies. Historical records of precipitation,…
Drought News
Dry Rice: Cracking the Core Physiological and Molecular Traits of Drought-Tolerant Rice
Study links gene expression patterns to traits that improve drought tolerance in rice plants. For many smallholder farmers in South and Southeast Asia, rice is…
Flash Floods Swamp Iran: Burst of Rain Causing Problems After Months of Severe Drought
After months of severe drought, a burst of rain is causing problems. For much of 2021, drought gripped southern Iran, parching crops, drying wells, and fueling protests over…
“Extreme” Drought Affecting Agricultural Lands in the Northern Great Plains
Warm and dry conditions continue to affect agricultural lands in the U.S. Northern Plains and the Canadian Prairies. Decades of drought across the U.S. Southwest has led…
Lake Powell – The Second Largest Reservoir in the United States – Reaches New Low
Water levels at Glen Canyon Dam have fallen to their lowest level since 1969 and are still dropping. As North America approaches the end of…
Strategies To Meet Future Water Demands and Improve Drought Resiliency Identified in Upper Missouri River Basin Study
The Bureau of Reclamation released the Missouri River Headwaters Basin Study that provides options to meet the increased water demand and a change in the…
Water in Bedrock Is Sustaining Trees Across Country – Long-Held Assumptions About Where Trees Get Their Water Overturned
You can’t squeeze water from a rock. But tree roots can — and they’re doing it more frequently than scientists previously thought, with a new…
Lake Mead – The Largest Reservoir in the United States – Drops to a Record Low
The reservoir stands at its lowest level since the 1930s. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States and part of a system…
California Is Burning – And the Emissions From Destructive Fires Are Adding Up
Several destructive fires have charred landscapes in northern California, and their emissions are adding up. The worst of California’s fire season typically comes in autumn,…
Let Them Burn? How Wildfire Restored a Lost Forest Ecosystem in Yosemite
Half a century of allowing lightning fires to burn in Yosemite’s Illilouette Creek Basin has created a lost forest ecosystem that is far more resilient…
2.5 Billion Trees and Vines Killed in Epicenter of Major Amazon Droughts and Fires
A major drought and forest fires in the Amazon rainforest killed billions of trees and plants and turned one of the world’s largest carbon sinks…
California Reservoirs Reflect Deepening Drought – Worst They Have Been Since the 1970s
Precipitation totals and lake levels are among the worst they have been since the 1970s. Just four years after emerging from a severe multi-year drought, California…
High Risk of Extreme Drought: Unchecked Climate Change Will Cause Severe Drying of the Amazon Rainforest
Amazon rain forests could be at far higher risk of extreme drought than previously thought, according to new research. An international study, led by the…
Long-Term Drought Grips the Western U.S. – Soils and Plants Are Parched
For the second year in a row, drought has overtaken much of the United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast. For the…
Dwindling Water Sources in Mexico: Nearly 85 Percent of the Country Is Experiencing Drought
Nearly 85 percent of Mexico is experiencing drought, and water sources are dwindling. Mexico is experiencing one of its most widespread and intense droughts in…
Western U.S. Drought Conditions Continue in Spring 2021 – And It’s Expected to Worsen
The western United States is currently experiencing moderate to severe drought, and it is expected to worsen in upcoming months. Almost half of the United…
Recent Summer Droughts in Europe Are Far More Severe Than Anything in the Past 2,100 Years
European summer droughts since 2015 unprecedented in the past two millennia, according to a new study. An international team, led by the University of Cambridge,…
“See Through Soil” to Study Hydrogels’ Hidden Workings Could Help Farmers Deal With Future Droughts
In research that may eventually help crops survive drought, scientists at Princeton University have uncovered a key reason that mixing material called hydrogels with soil…