Climate Change Is Expected To Increase the Number of Devastating Flash Droughts

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New analysis signifies that the frequency of flash droughts will improve globally as a result of local weather change, with notably pronounced impacts on North America and Europe. They warn that these abrupt drought occasions might intensify socioeconomic pressures associated to meals manufacturing as a result of elevated crop losses, resulting in increased costs and potential social unrest.

The swift onset of surprising drought, often known as flash drought, which may have a critical impression on each agricultural and ecological techniques, is at the moment being studied by researchers on the University of Oklahoma. These sudden droughts can have far-reaching results past their fast space. The researchers goal to find out how the rising international temperatures would possibly affect the frequency of flash droughts and the related dangers to international crop fields.

Jordan Christian, a postdoctoral researcher, is the lead creator of the examine which was revealed within the Nature Communications Earth and Environment journal.

“In this study, projected changes in flash drought frequency and cropland risk from flash drought are quantified using global climate model simulations,” Christian said. “We find that flash drought occurrence is expected to increase globally among all scenarios, with the sharpest increases seen in scenarios with higher radiative forcing and greater fossil fuel usage.”

Impact of a Flash Drought on a Grassland in Oklahoma

A figure showing the impact of a flash drought on a grassland in Oklahoma. The photos on the top row show the impact of the flash drought on the ecosystem compared with photos of the same area without flash drought impacts (bottom row). Credit: University of Oklahoma

Radiative forcing describes the imbalance of radiation where more radiation enters Earth’s atmosphere than leaves it. Like burning fossil fuels, these activities are among the most significant contributors to climate warming. The changing climate is expected to increase severe weather events from storms, flash flooding, flash droughts, and more.

“Flash drought risk over cropland is expected to increase globally, with the largest increases projected across North America and Europe,” Christian said.

“CMIP6 models projected a 1.5 times increase in the annual risk of flash droughts over croplands across North America by 2100, from the 2015 baseline of a 32% yearly risk in 2015 to 49% in 2100, while Europe is expected to have the largest increase in the most extreme emissions scenario (32% to 53%), a 1.7 times increase in annual risk,” he said.

Percentage of Cropland Experiencing Flash Drought Over Entire Continents

The multi-model mean of the yearly percentage of cropland experiencing flash drought over entire continents for the historical (black), SSP126 (blue), SSP245 (orange), and SSP585 (red) scenarios. A 30-year centered moving average is applied to each time series. The shaded regions indicate the variability (±1σ) among the 30-year centered moving averages between all six models for the corresponding historical and future scenarios. Credit: Global projections of flash drought show increased risk in a warming climate

Jeffrey Basara, an associate professor in the School of Meteorology in the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences and the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences in the Gallogly College of Engineering, is Christian’s faculty advisor and study co-author. Basara is the executive associate director of the hydrology and water security program and leads OU’s Climate, Hydrology, Ecosystems, and Weather research group. The researchers have been investigating ways to improve flash drought identification and prediction since 2017, with multiple papers published in the Journal of Hydrometeorology, Environmental Research Letters and Nature Communications.

“This study continues to emphasize that agricultural producers, both domestic and abroad, will face increasing risks associated with water availability due to the rapid development of drought. As a result, socioeconomic pressures associated with food production, including higher prices and social unrest, will also increase when crop losses occur due to flash drought,” Basara said.

Reference: “Global projections of flash drought show increased risk in a warming climate” by Jordan I. Christian, Elinor R. Martin, Jeffrey B. Basara, Jason C. Furtado, Jason A. Otkin, Lauren E. L. Lowman, Eric D. Hunt, Vimal Mishra and Xiangming Xiao, 25 May 2023, Communications Earth & Environment.
DOI: 10.1038/s43247-023-00826-1