A new global study has determined that global drought risk is increasing, with droughts developing more rapidly as a result of climate change. The paper – A global transition to flash drought under climate change – has been produced by an international collaboration featuring scientists from China, the UK and the US.
The study has also identified further global risk from flash droughts, which intensify in a matter of weeks, resulting from the combination of rainfall deficit alongside amplified soil moisture loss. Impacts are being felt globally, including in Europe, with increasing risk as these flash droughts have increased in frequency since the 1950s over 74% of the worlds 33 global regions. Highlighting that the changing nature of the risk from slow on-set to rapid on-set flash droughts will continue to increase with climate change.
This world leading research is part funded by the Climate Science for Service Partnership China (CSSP China) project, a collaborative climate science initiative between research institutes in the UK and China. CSSP China is part of our Weather and Climate Science for Service Partnership (WCSSP) programme, supported by the UK Government’s Newton Fund. The research forms fundamental disaster science to understanding the evolving nature of drought risk and inform future and existing risk management policy and practices.