Drought Research News

December 23, 2024

Top Headlines

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 between two species of juniper with lessons for the ...

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 in the future. By 2050-2080, year-long droughts ...

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 projections, the basins face a potential tipping ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:21pm EST

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Seismic Detectors Measure Soil Moisture Using Traffic Noise

Aug. 5, 2024 — Using state of the art techniques, researchers use vibrations from traffic to measure underground soil ...

Agriculture: Less Productive Yet More Stable Pastures

July 22, 2024 — Climate change will have a considerable influence on the biodiversity and productivity of meadows and pastures. However, according to the results of the large-scale climate and land use experiment ...

Additional Taxes Vs. Water Quotas: Study Compares the Most Effective System to Manage Water Consumption in Agriculture

July 16, 2024 — A new study finds that the proportional allocation of water, and not additional taxes on the resource, is more effective from the point of view of those engaged in ...

Study Examines Urban Forests Across the United States

July 12, 2024 — Tree-planting campaigns have been underway in the United States, especially in cities, as part of climate mitigation efforts given the many environmental benefits of urban forests. But a new study ...

Near Chromosome-Level Genome of the Mojave Poppy Bee

July 2, 2024 — Scientists have developed a near chromosome-level genome for the Mojave poppy bee, a specialist pollinator of conservation ...

Groundbreaking Discovery: Zinc Can Make Crop Yields More Climate-Resilient

June 27, 2024 — Climate change, drought, increased temperature and other stressors challenge agricultural sustainability. Researchers have now made an unexpected discovery: zinc plays a pivotal role in the plant ...

Human Activity: A Double-Edged Sword in the Face of Drought

June 21, 2024 — A professor analyzes the conflicting impacts of human activities on extreme spring ...