Drought Research News

January 23, 2025

Top Headlines

Stronger Stress Response in Monkeys Helps Them Survive

Jan. 23, 2025 — Researchers used the environmental circumstances and fecal samples collected from the six years prior to the severe El Ni o drought in Costa Rica to study the relationship between the endocrinologic stress response and survival in white-faced ...

Here's What's Causing the Great Salt Lake to Shrink

Jan. 21, 2025 — The Great Salt Lake, the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere, reached historic low levels in 2022, raising economic, ecological and public health concerns for Utah. New research is believed to be the first peer-reviewed study that ...

How Climate Change May Alter Hydrology of Grassland Ecosystems

Jan. 16, 2025 — New research reveals that drought and increased temperatures in a CO2-rich climate can dramatically alter how grasslands use and move water. The study provides the first experimental demonstration of the potential impacts of climate change on water ...

The Megadroughts Are Upon Us

Jan. 16, 2025 — Increasingly common since 1980, persistent multi-year droughts will continue to advance with the warming climate, warns a new study. This publicly available forty-year global quantitative inventory seeks to inform policy regarding the environmental ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:20pm EST

Floods, Droughts, Then Fires: Hydroclimate Whiplash Is Speeding Up Globally

Jan. 9, 2025 — Hydroclimate whiplash -- rapid swings between intensely wet and dangerously dry weather -- has already increased globally due to climate change, with further large increases expected as warming ...

Integrating Historic Data Stands to Improve Climate Models in the Global South

Jan. 7, 2025 — Researchers have devised a way to improve the accuracy of climate change models for the Global South by integrating historical records kept by ...

Climate Extremes in 2024 'Wreaking Havoc' on the Global Water Cycle

Jan. 6, 2025 — 2024 was another year of record-breaking temperatures, driving the global water cycle to new climate extremes and contributing to ferocious floods and crippling droughts, a new report shows. The ...

Researchers Identify a Mysterious Fossil Seed to Reveal New Chapters in Climate History of Los Angeles

Dec. 19, 2024 — Scientists have successfully identified a previously unknown species to Southern California from fossilized seeds, revealing a drought-fueled dance ...

New Research About Drought Impacts on Wildlife Can Inform Conservation Strategies

Dec. 16, 2024 — New research shows that many wildlife species in the U.S., like the endangered giant kangaroo rat, will face much more frequent and severe droughts ...

Impact Studies Should Include High-Sensitivity Climate Models

Dec. 5, 2024 — High-sensitivity climate models should not be excluded when predicting future regional climate impacts because the level of warming measured globally is not always the only good indicator of regional ...

Two-Way Water Transfers Can Ensure Reliability, Save Money for Urban and Agricultural Users During Drought in Western U.S.

Nov. 26, 2024 — A study offers a solution to water scarcity during droughts amid the tug of economic development, population growth and climate uncertainty for water ...

NASA Satellites Reveal Abrupt Drop in Global Freshwater Levels

Nov. 16, 2024 — The Earth's total amount of freshwater dropped abruptly starting in May 2014 and has remained low ever since. The shift could indicate Earth's continents have entered a persistently drier ...

Colorado River Basins Could Face Tipping Point, Drought Study Warns

Nov. 14, 2024 — Water from Colorado's West Slope basins plays a vital role in supporting the economy and natural environment across seven western U.S. states, but a new study finds that even under modest climate ...

Extreme Weather Accelerates Nitrate Pollution in Groundwater

Nov. 13, 2024 — Extreme weather from climate change, including droughts and heavy rains, may increase the risk of nitrates from fertilizers ending up in ...

Climate Change Parching the American West Even Without Rainfall Deficits

Nov. 6, 2024 — Higher temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change turned an ordinary drought into an exceptional one that parched the American West from 2020--22. A study has found that evaporation ...

Droughts' Impact on Pasturelands Is Measured in Order to Guide Extensive Livestock Management on Spain's Dehesas

Oct. 30, 2024 — A study using meteorological data and remote sensors, aims to furnish livestock farmers with information to promote more efficient ...

Beehive Fences Are Highly Effective in Reducing Human-Elephant Conflict, but Researchers Warn of Future Risks

Oct. 29, 2024 — A groundbreaking, nine-year study has revealed that elephants approaching small-scale farms in Kenya avoid beehive fences housing live honey bees up to 86% of the time during peak crop seasons, ...

New Parasite Discovered Amid Decline of California's Unique Channel Island Fox

Oct. 23, 2024 — In the 1990s, the San Miguel Island fox nearly went extinct, with numbers dropping to just 15. A recovery program increased their population by 2010, but from 2014 to 2018, it fell to 30% of its peak ...

Weather-Changing El Nino Oscillation Is at Least 250 Million Years Old

Oct. 21, 2024 — A new modeling study shows that the El Nino event, a huge blob of warm ocean water in the tropical Pacific Ocean that can change rainfall patterns around the globe, was present at least 250 million ...

The 2022 European Drought: What Was the Role of Climate Change?

Oct. 21, 2024 — The drought that lasted through the summer of 2022 was especially intense and caused the soil in many regions of Europe to dry out substantially. Public discussions about the causes repeatedly ...

Combining Satellite Methods Provides Drought Detection from Space

Oct. 21, 2024 — Observing sites like the Amazon basin from space has underscored the capability of satellites to better detect signs of drought, according to a new study. The researchers combined Global Positioning ...

Chickpeas: Sustainable and Climate-Friendly Foods of the Future

Oct. 16, 2024 — Climate change has a negative impact on food security. Researchers have now conducted a study to investigate the natural variation of different chickpea genotypes and their resistance to drought ...

Climate Change Impacts Internal Migration Worldwide

Oct. 15, 2024 — The influence of climate change on migration, both current and future, has garnered significant attention from the public and policymakers over the past decade. A new study has provided the first ...

Researchers Discover How Plants Produce a Novel Anti-Stress Molecule

Oct. 9, 2024 — New research identifies for the first time the genes that help plants grow under stressful conditions -- with implications for producing more sustainable food crops in the face of global climate ...

Drier Winter Habitat Impacts Songbirds' Ability to Survive Migration

Oct. 4, 2024 — A new study shows environmental conditions in migratory birds' winter homes carry over to affect their ability to survive spring migration and the breeding ...

New Tool to Help Decision-Makers Navigate Possible Futures of the Colorado River

Sep. 20, 2024 — The Colorado River is a vital source of water in the Western United States, providing drinking water for homes and irrigation for farms in seven states, but the basin is under increasing pressure ...

Scientists Urge New Conservation Approach to Save Vulnerable Species from Climate Change Impacts

Sep. 18, 2024 — A team of scientists alarmed by the loss of biodiversity across the world due to climate change has proposed a new approach to managing vulnerable landscapes, focusing on sites that are least ...

How El Nino and Mega Ocean Warming Caused the Greatest-Ever Mass Extinction

Sep. 12, 2024 — Mega ocean warming El Nino events were key in driving the largest extinction of life on planet Earth some 252 million years ago, according to new research. The study has shed new light on why the ...

Study Suggests US Droughts, Rainy Extremes Becoming More Severe

Sep. 6, 2024 — Severe drought in the American Southwest and Mexico and more severe wet years in the Northeast are the modern norm in North America, according to new research -- and the analysis suggests these ...

Groundwater Use Can Be Accurately Monitored With Satellites Using OPENet

Sep. 5, 2024 — Drought is a widespread concern in the Western U.S., and water managers across the region are developing groundwater management plans to conserve the essential resource. Groundwater is often pumped ...

Dangerous Airborne Fungus Boosted by California Droughts

Sep. 3, 2024 — Researchers have identified the seasonal and climate-based cycles of Valley fever, an emerging but dangerous fungal disease spread through dust in the ...

AI Approach to Drought Zoning

Aug. 21, 2024 — A recent study shows that climate change may cause many areas in Canada to experience significant droughts by the end of the century. In response, the researchers have introduced an advanced AI-based ...

Why Isn't Colorado's Snowpack Ending Up in the Colorado River? New Research Suggests the Problem Might Be the Lack of Spring Rainfall

Aug. 16, 2024 — The Colorado River and its tributaries provide water for hydropower, irrigation and drinking water in seven U.S. states and Mexico. But since 2000, water managers have struggled to predict how much ...

Study Reveals Urban Trees Suffer More from Heat Waves and Drought Than Their Rural Counterparts

Aug. 13, 2024 — A recent study details how trees in New York City and Boston are more negatively impacted by heat waves and drought than trees of the same species in nearby rural forests. The finding highlights the ...