The rise of compound warm-season droughts in Europe

0542533 - ÚVGZ 2022 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Markonis, Y. - Kumar, R. - Hanel, Martin - Rakovec, O. - Máca, P. - AghaKouchak, A.
The rise of compound warm-season droughts in Europe.
Science Advances. Roč. 7, č. 6 (2021), č. článku eabb9668. ISSN 2375-2548. E-ISSN 2375-2548
Research Infrastructure: CzeCOS III - 90123
Institutional support: RVO:86652079
Keywords : Drought * Food security
OECD category: Physical geography
Impact factor: 14.980, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Open access
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/6/eabb9668/tab-pdf

Drought is one of the main threats to food security and ecosystem productivity. During the past decades, Europe has experienced a series of droughts that caused substantial socioeconomic losses and environmental impacts. A key question is whether there are some similar characteristics in these droughts, especially when compared to the droughts that occurred further in the past. Answering this question is impossible with traditional single-index approaches and also short-term and often spatially inconsistent records. Here, using a multidimensional machine learning-based clustering algorithm and the hydrologic reconstruction of European drought, we determine the dominant drought types and investigate the changes in drought typology. We report a substantial increase in shorter warm-season droughts that are concurrent with an increase in potential evapotranspiration. If shifts reported here persist, then we will need new adaptive water management policies and, in the long run, we may observe considerable alterations in vegetation regimes and ecosystem functioning.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0319925