Drought Research News

December 5, 2023

Top Headlines

Strange Burn: New Research Identifies Unique Patterns in Utah Wildfires

Dec. 4, 2023 — Utah's variable topography produces a tremendous range of wildfire behavior, according to new ...

The Waxy Surface Protecting Plants Might Hold the Key to Developing Stronger Crops

Nov. 30, 2023 — Researchers have discovered that the waxy protective barrier around plants might play a role in sending chemical signals to other plants and ...

Money to Burn: Wealthy, White Neighborhoods Losing Their Heat Shields

Nov. 30, 2023 — White, wealthy neighborhoods in the LA area -- and likely around the world -- are about to start feeling the same heat that has plagued poorer, Hispanic neighborhoods for generations. A new study shows the protective effect of income has largely ...

600 Years of Tree Rings Reveal Climate Risks in California

Nov. 29, 2023 — The San Joaquin Valley in California has experienced vast variability in climate extremes, with droughts and floods that were more severe and lasted longer than what has been seen in the modern record, according to a new study of 600 years of tree ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:09pm EST

Researchers Puncture 100-Year-Old Theory of Odd Little 'Water Balloons'

Nov. 22, 2023 — Quinoa and many other extremely resilient plants are covered with strange balloon-like 'bladders' that for 127 years were believed to be responsible for protecting them from drought and salt. ...

Dams Now Run Smarter With AI

Nov. 17, 2023 — Scientists have leveraged artificial intelligence models to enhance dam ...

Wildfire, Drought Cause $11.2 Billion in Damage to Private Timberland in Three Pacific States, Study Finds

Nov. 13, 2023 — Wildfires and drought have led to $11.2 billion in damages to privately held timberland in California, Oregon and Washington over the past two ...

The Kids Aren't Alright: Saplings Reveal How Changing Climate May Undermine Forests

Nov. 3, 2023 — Researchers studied how young trees respond to a hotter, drier climate. Their findings can help shape forest management policy and our understanding ...

Adding Crushed Rock to Farmland Pulls Carbon out of the Air

Oct. 24, 2023 — Adding crushed volcanic rock to farmland can pull carbon dioxide out of the air. In a field test, scientists found that the process works even in dry ...

Drought Conditions Expose Rivers to Hotter Water Temperatures

Oct. 18, 2023 — A new study reveals how reduced water flows and rising atmospheric temperatures are set to heat our rivers -- creating major challenges for aquatic life, ecosystems, and ...

How to Help Save Plants from Extinction

Oct. 17, 2023 — Now is the time to identify the conditions that cause plants to die. Doing so will allow us to better protect plants by choosing conservation targets more strategically, botanists ...

Wildfires Threaten Environmental Gains in Climate-Crucial Amazon

Oct. 16, 2023 — Despite steps toward decreasing deforestation, uncontrolled wildfires are threatening environmental gains in Brazilian Amazonia, one of the world's most critical carbon sinks and a region of high ...

Second Report on the Status of Global Water Resources Published

Oct. 13, 2023 — Scientists recently presented a report on the status of global water resources. According to this report, large parts of the world experienced drier conditions in 2022 than those recorded on average ...

Rivers May Not Recover from Drought for Years

Oct. 11, 2023 — Lack of rainfall is not the only measure of drought. New research shows that despite a series of storms, the impact of drought can persist in streams and rivers for up to 3.5 ...

Earlier Headlines

Summaries
Headlines

Paleoclimatologists Use Ancient Sediment to Explore Future Climate in Africa

Oct. 10, 2023 — With global warming apparently here to stay, a team of paleoclimatologists are studying an ancient source to determine future rainfall and drought patterns: fossilized plants that lived on Earth ...

Ancient Maya Reservoirs Offer Lessons for Today's Water Crises

Oct. 9, 2023 — Ancient Maya reservoirs, which used aquatic plants to filter and clean the water, 'can serve as archetypes for natural, sustainable water systems to address future water needs.' The Maya ...

We Could Sequester CO2 by 'Re-Greening' Arid Lands, Plant Scientists Say

Sep. 21, 2023 — Reducing CO2 levels in the atmosphere will take more than cutting emissions -- we will also need to capture and store the excessive volumes of already-emitted carbon. A team of plant scientists argue ...

How Climate Warming Could Disrupt a Deep-Rooted Relationship

Sep. 21, 2023 — Trees depend on fungi for their well-being. As climate change and global warming cause higher temperatures and amplified drought, little is known about how these important fungi will respond. To ...

Ohio's Droughts Are Worse Than Often Recognized, Study Finds

Sep. 13, 2023 — A new type of analysis suggests that droughts in Ohio were more severe from 2000 to 2019 than standard measurements have ...

Climate Change Is Reducing Global River Water Quality

Sep. 12, 2023 — A review of almost 1000 studies on the effects of climate change and extreme weather events on rivers around the world has found an overall negative effect on water quality in rivers globally. An ...

Hot Summer Air Turns Into Drinking Water With New Gel Device

Sep. 11, 2023 — Researchers have focused on the moisture present in the air as a potential source of drinking water for drought-stressed populations. They reached a significant breakthrough in their efforts to ...

Extreme El Niño Weather Saw South America's Forest Carbon Sink Switch Off

Sep. 4, 2023 — Tropical forests in South America lose their ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere when conditions become exceptionally hot and dry, according to new research. For a long time, tropical ...

The Search for the Super Potato

Aug. 31, 2023 — As climate change continues to pose severe challenges to ensuring sustainable food supplies around the world, scientists are looking for ways to improve the resilience and nutritional quality of ...

Can This Forest Survive? Predicting Forest Death or Recovery After Drought

Aug. 30, 2023 — New work could help forest managers predict which forests are most at risk from drought and which will ...

Extreme Weather Events Linked to Increased Child Marriage

Aug. 29, 2023 — Among the negative impacts of extreme weather events around the world is one that most people may not think of: an increase in child ...

New Study Examines Historical Drought and Flooding on the Amazon River

Aug. 24, 2023 — Despite the rapid increase in severe flooding, a new article indicates recent floods and droughts in the Amazon River Basin may have not yet exceeded the range of natural hydroclimatic ...

Tree Mortality in the Black Forest on the Rise -- Climate Change a Key Driver

Aug. 23, 2023 — Climate impacts such as dry, hot summers reduce the growth and increase the mortality of trees in the Black Forest because they negatively influence the climatic water balance, i.e., the difference ...

Without Aggressive Climate Action, U.S. Property Values Will Take a Hit from Escalating Wildfire Risk and Tree Mortality, Study Finds

Aug. 17, 2023 — Research attempts to quantify the value of U.S. property at risk in forested areas exposed to increased ecological disturbance associated with climate change, such as wildfire and tree mortality. ...

Irrigating More US Crops by Mid-Century Will Be Worth the Investment

Aug. 14, 2023 — With climate change, irrigating more crops in the United States will be critical to sustaining future yields, as drought conditions are likely to increase due to warmer temperatures and shifting ...

Measuring the Extent of Global Droughts in Unprecedented Detail

Aug. 9, 2023 — While some parts of the world suffer extreme heat and persistent drought, others are being flooded. Overall, continental water volumes vary so much over time that global sea levels fluctuate ...

Then Vs. Now: Did the Horn of Africa Reach a Drought Tipping Point 11,700 Years Ago?

Aug. 9, 2023 — If climate models predict that much of tropical Africa will become wetter with a warming climate, then why does it keep getting drier in the Horn of ...

The History and Future of Ancient Einkorn Wheat Is Written in Its Genes

Aug. 2, 2023 — Researchers have sequenced the complete genome for einkorn wheat, the world's first domesticated crop and traced its evolutionary history. The information will help researchers identify genetic ...

Secondary Forests More Sensitive to Drought Than Primary Forests

July 31, 2023 — The dry summer of 2018 hit Swedish forests hard -- and hardest affected were the managed secondary ...

Soil Microbes Help Plants Cope With Drought, but Not How Scientists Thought

July 25, 2023 — In a multi-generation experiment, researchers found microbes helped plants cope with drought, but not in response to plants' cries for help. Instead, the environment itself selected for ...

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Paleoclimatologists Use Ancient Sediment to Explore Future Climate in Africa

Monday, October 9, 2023

Ancient Maya Reservoirs Offer Lessons for Today's Water Crises

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Ohio's Droughts Are Worse Than Often Recognized, Study Finds

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Climate Change Is Reducing Global River Water Quality

Monday, September 11, 2023

Hot Summer Air Turns Into Drinking Water With New Gel Device

Monday, September 4, 2023

Extreme El Niño Weather Saw South America's Forest Carbon Sink Switch Off

Thursday, August 31, 2023

The Search for the Super Potato

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Can This Forest Survive? Predicting Forest Death or Recovery After Drought

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Extreme Weather Events Linked to Increased Child Marriage

Thursday, August 24, 2023

New Study Examines Historical Drought and Flooding on the Amazon River

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Tree Mortality in the Black Forest on the Rise -- Climate Change a Key Driver

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Without Aggressive Climate Action, U.S. Property Values Will Take a Hit from Escalating Wildfire Risk and Tree Mortality, Study Finds

Monday, August 14, 2023

Irrigating More US Crops by Mid-Century Will Be Worth the Investment

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

The History and Future of Ancient Einkorn Wheat Is Written in Its Genes

Monday, July 31, 2023

Secondary Forests More Sensitive to Drought Than Primary Forests

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Soil Microbes Help Plants Cope With Drought, but Not How Scientists Thought

Friday, July 21, 2023

Climate Science Is Catching Up to Climate Change With Predictions That Could Improve Proactive Response

Monday, July 17, 2023

What Causes Mudslides and Floods After Wildfires? Hint: It's Not What Scientists Thought

Friday, July 14, 2023

Our Favorite Vintages and Their Precarious Mountainside Homes Are at Risk Due to Climate Change, Environmental Scientists Warn

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Salinity Changes Threatening Marine Ecosystems

Monday, July 10, 2023

Monday, July 3, 2023

Three Things to Know: Climate Change's Impact on Extreme-Weather Events

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Undergrad-Driven Project Reveals Drought's Effects on Painted Turtles

Thursday, June 15, 2023

Climate Change Likely Led to Violence in Early Andean Populations

Friday, May 26, 2023

Global Flash Droughts Expected to Increase in a Warming Climate

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Researchers Examine Cooling Power Plants With Brackish Groundwater

Monday, May 22, 2023

How a Drought Affects Trees Depends on What's Been Holding Them Back

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Crops Evolved by Swapping Genetic Modules Between Cells

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

How the Amazon Rainforest Is Likely to Cope With the Effect of Future Drought

Monday, April 17, 2023

Temperature, Drought Influencing Movement of Plains Bison

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Shift to 'flash Droughts' As Climate Warms

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Gone for Good? California's Beetle-Killed, Carbon-Storing Pine Forests May Not Come Back

Friday, March 31, 2023

Why Are Forests Turning Brown in Summer?

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Even Sonoran Desert Plants Aren't Immune to Climate Change

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Monday, March 20, 2023

Douglas-Fir in Klamath Mountains Are in 'decline Spiral'

Friday, March 17, 2023

Discovery of Root Anatomy Gene May Lead to Breeding More Resilient Corn Crops

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Review of World Water Resources

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

To Help Dry Forests, Fire Needs to Be Just the Right Intensity, and Happen More Than Once

Monday, February 27, 2023

Human-Wildlife Conflicts Rising Worldwide With Climate Change

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Scientists Unlock Key to Drought-Resistant Wheat Plants With Longer Roots

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Scientists Use Satellite Images to Study the Degradation of Rangelands in Tanzania

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Thursday, February 16, 2023

European Summer Droughts Since 2015 Were Most Severe Over Centuries -- But Multi-Year Droughts Also Happened in the Past

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

New Research Suggests Drought Accelerated Empire Collapse

Monday, February 6, 2023

Pacific Northwest Heat Dome Tree Damage More About Temperature Than Drought, Scientists Say

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Small Isolated Wetlands Are Pollution-Catching Powerhouses

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Wildfires Are Increasingly Burning California's Snowy Landscapes and Colliding With Winter Droughts to Shrink California's Snowpack

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Satellite Data Shows Sustained Severe Drought in Europe

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

How Plants Are Inspiring New Ways to Extract Value from Wastewater

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

New Modelling Shows How Interrupted Flows in Australia's Murray River Endanger Frogs

Monday, January 16, 2023

Genetically Modified Rice Could Be Key to Tackling Food Shortages Caused by Climate Change

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Landscaping for Drought: We're Doing It Wrong

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Spring Sunny Heat Waves Caused Record Snow Melt in 2021, Adding to Severe Water Supply Impacts Across the Western US

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

How Climate Change Impacts the Indian Ocean Dipole, Leading to Severe Droughts and Floods

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Drought Encouraged Attila's Huns to Attack the Roman Empire, Tree Rings Suggest

Thursday, December 8, 2022

Salton Sea Dust Triggers Lung Inflammation, Research Finds

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Megadrought: How the Current Southwestern North American Megadrought Is Affecting Earth's Upper Atmosphere

Monday, December 5, 2022

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Finding Genes to Help Fruiting Plants Adapt to Droughts

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

1930s Dust Bowl Led to Extreme Heat Around Northern Hemisphere

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Limiting Global Warming Now Can Preserve Valuable Freshwater Resource

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Which Weather Characteristics Affect Agricultural and Food Trade the Most?

Thursday, November 10, 2022

Thirsty Wheat Needed New Water Management Strategy in Ancient China

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Climate Change Could Trigger the Congo Peatlands to Release Billions of Tons of Carbon

Friday, October 28, 2022

El Niño Increases Seedling Mortality Even in Drought-Tolerant Forests

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Plant Processes May Be Key to Predicting Drought Development

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Lower Than Normal Rainfall Linked With a Higher Chance of Food Insecurity

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Timely Study on Rising Groundwater Offers Hope for Drought-Stricken East Africa

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Drought, Not Lack of 'working Rivers', May Have Helped Spur Transition to Steam Power in Britain's Industrial Revolution

Friday, October 7, 2022

Climate Change Made the 2022 Summer Droughts More Likely

Thursday, October 6, 2022

Professors Call for More Research Into Climate-Change Related Threats to Civilization

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Great Salt Lake on Path to Hyper-Salinity, Mirroring Iranian Lake

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Friday, September 23, 2022

Looking Back on 250 Years of Drought on the Korean Peninsula

Monday, September 19, 2022

A Better Understanding of Crop Yields Under Climate Change

Friday, September 9, 2022

Climate Change Is Affecting Drinking Water Quality

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Mirror Image Molecules Reveal Drought Stress in Forests

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Global Analysis Identifies at-Risk Forests

Monday, August 29, 2022

Pretreating Soil With Ethanol Protects Plants from Drought, Study Finds

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Large Regional Differences in Agricultural Adaptation to Future Climate Change in Europe

Friday, August 19, 2022

Which Animals Can Best Withstand Climate Change?

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Extreme Heat and Drought Events Require More Systematic Risk Assessment