Climate change is increasing the frequency of both droughts and floods, with back-to-back extreme events stressing crops and reducing yield. The area affected by such events is also likely to increase, with low-income populations facing the steepest relative increases in exposure.
Extreme weather events like drought, flooding, and wildfires alter soil carbon inputs, microbial processes, and sequestration, with repeated drought leading to declining soil organic carbon. The review highlights the importance of protecting soil carbon for climate mitigation and sustainable agricultural productivity.
Europe's forests are losing their ability to recover due to increased damage from drought, storms, wildfires, and insect outbreaks. A new policy brief calls for forest resilience to become a measurable objective of European policy, underpinned by long-term ecosystem observation and monitoring.
Heatwaves disrupt soil bacteria, temporarily reducing resistance genes, but also causing significant damage to soils and ecosystems. Soils from warm, dry countries remain relatively stable, while cold, wet soils are more susceptible to heat and drought
The FLEX mission will track how plants react to drought, heat, and other environmental stresses, providing insights into climate-resilient agriculture and natural ecosystem protection. Forschungszentrum Jülich operates the German FLEX project office and contributes its scientific expertise to the mission.
Researchers found that betalain pigment in beets is linked to drought tolerance in flowering plants, enabling the evolution of succulent traits. The pigment's role in water storage and metabolic processes was also explored.
Exposure to drought during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of preterm birth and, when persistent, with a greater likelihood of the baby being small for gestational age. The study analyzed nearly 30 million births in Brazil, showing a 2% relative increase in preterm birth likelihood across analyzed time scales.
A historic drought in northern Kenya led to a shift in livelihoods, with fishing becoming a crucial source of food and income among the Daasanach community. The study found that drought can alter not only physical health and food access but also cultural norms and settlement patterns, with women experiencing greater hardship than men.
A global forest study found that trees do not substantially alter their physiological traits to cope with prolonged drought. However, maintaining physiological capacity may allow trees to maximize carbon assimilation during favorable periods, while narrowing hydraulic safety margins pose a threat.
The study found that regional deployment of marine cloud brightening could induce a global mean cooling of approximately 0.9°C, alleviating the global land drying trend. However, different regions exhibit varying responses, with some experiencing mitigated or overcompensated drought stress, while others face exacerbated conditions.
A new study reveals that climate change can lead to a significant increase in wheat prices, with severe water scarcity being a key driver. The researchers found that wheat prices are more closely linked to water scarcity than other crops, and that compound drought events are expected to become more common in a warmer climate.
A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that tomato plants can optimize water use during a specific 'golden hour' when sunlight is strong but heat and dry air are minimal. This discovery could give plant breeders a powerful tool to develop crops that can thrive in increasingly unpredictable climate conditions.
New research contradicts past findings on plant recovery from drought, revealing that sunflowers cannot fully recover from drought. A study by Colorado State University found that gas bubble blockages in sunflowers' water-transporting tissues do not reverse after watering, despite appearing to recover remarkably well from drought.
Researchers used CRISPR/Cas9 to eliminate the SlERF.J2 gene in tomatoes, improving drought and salt tolerance. The edited plants showed enhanced germination, root growth, and antioxidant defenses.
Climate change is altering drought patterns, leading to surges in illnesses like cholera and West Nile virus. Drought can concentrate animals around remaining water bodies, creating hotspots for parasite transmission.
A new study explains why drought can both reduce and increase waterborne diseases. The authors identified three mechanisms that determine whether a parasite will thrive or die out during drought: host-parasite concentration, desiccation traps, and changes in water quality.
A recent study found that tropical tree species exhibit substantial variation in their hydraulic traits to match local water availability, making them more drought-resistant. This adaptation could sharpen our understanding of forest resilience and carbon storage.
A genetic switch LpCbDR1 in perennial ryegrass coordinates leaf yellowing, senescence timing, and drought tolerance by activating genes promoting chlorophyll breakdown and stress tolerance. This discovery offers a precise route for breeding more resilient grasses.
Researchers at Tohoku University identified a new class of small molecules that improves drought tolerance in plants without causing unwanted side effects. The compounds, NS5806 and UA49, inhibit stomatal opening and enhance plant survivability during water scarcity.
Researchers identified the SlbHLH70 gene as a key regulator of drought tolerance in tomatoes. The study shows that tomatoes with higher SlbHLH70 activity survive drought better and recover more quickly after rewatering.
A molecular switch in tomato helps redirect energy towards roots under drought conditions, increasing water uptake capacity and drought tolerance. Overexpression of the SlTPP1 gene boosts dry matter allocation to roots, while silencing SlERF4 enhances this effect.
A new study by the University of Delaware has identified global hotspots of drought-sensitivity and resilience in major crops like rice, corn, and soybeans. These hotspots reveal areas particularly susceptible to drought, such as the Midwestern US, eastern Brazil, and northern India.
A study proposes an operational framework combining machine learning models with Sentinel-2 data to estimate agricultural drought conditions in irrigated and non-irrigated maize fields. Deep Neural Network (DNN) achieved the best performance, showing higher prediction accuracy and lower error metrics for non-irrigated fields.
Research by CSU scientists found that soil organic carbon benefits crops the most during moderate water supply conditions, not extreme drought. Increasing soil organic carbon makes crops more stable and resilient from year to year.
A new study found that drought timing is critical for plant survival, as it alters flowering schedules and reduces competition. Climate change may disrupt this delicate balance, highlighting the importance of considering both rainfall amount and timing.
Xinjiang's snowpack serves as a seasonal water reservoir, affecting agriculture and mountain-oasis systems. The region experienced an increase in warm-dry snow droughts after 2000, driven by both warming and precipitation deficits.
Research finds biodiversity delivers largest gains under extreme drought in drier grasslands, with stronger effects from species complementarity. In contrast, forests show no comparable context dependence under extreme drought.
A six-year study on drought's impact on soil microbial communities found decreased biodiversity and shifted ecological configurations. This decline affects nutrient cycling processes and broader ecosystem health.
Research reveals that drought stress stimulates primary root elongation in plants, allowing them to adapt and survive. The plant hormone abscisic acid plays a crucial role in this process by integrating with other hormonal signals to promote primary root growth.
This study found that households in metropolitan areas with higher population density and income levels show stronger voluntary water conservation during drought. The AI-based scenario analysis showed that increased drought-related news coverage leads to significant water savings in these regions, but has a limited impact on rural areas.
A study published in Crop Science found that some corn plants have longer cells and deeper roots, enabling higher water absorption. This stretch phenotype can help breeders improve drought-tolerant crops. Researchers used computer simulations and microscopy techniques to confirm the trait's effects.
A new study reveals that giant Dipterocarp trees can transport water to their topmost branches without difficulty, contrary to conventional scientific theory. The research found that these trees' hydraulic systems are perfectly adapted for their height, allowing them to withstand drought conditions.
Planted forests in China experience more frequent flash droughts than natural forests, averaging 7.05 events every five years. In contrast, natural forests face more slow droughts, with a 12% lower risk of prolonged droughts.
Researchers found that a specific enzyme, GELP80, helps create flexible guard cells in plants, allowing them to conserve water and survive longer drought periods. This discovery could aid in optimizing crops for better water management and greater resilience to drought.
Researchers identify OsFeSOD3 gene that supports chloroplast health while enhancing plant survival under drought conditions. This discovery could help overcome crop yield limitations and improve climate-resilient crops.
Climate change is projected to increase frequency and intensity of hydroclimatic whiplash events, with regions experiencing both floods and droughts. This may lead to increased flash flooding, water quality deterioration, and soil erosion, as well as challenges for flood and drought planning.
During the most severe drought in the Amazon basin, vegetation emitted new sesquiterpenes as stress signals and protective compounds. These emissions persisted long after the stress ended, revealing an adaptive response to oxidative stress.
Researchers discovered a novel gene BM-SZ that regulates sorghum's cuticular wax accumulation and drought tolerance. The study highlights the gene's essential role in epicuticular wax formation during sorghum evolution.
A new study from the University of Oxford found that drought exposure is associated with increased risk of sexual, emotional and physical violence among adolescents in Southern Africa. Girls and young women face the highest risk of violence during drought conditions.
A new web tool, FishCast, helps forecast drought impacts on trout populations and support fisheries and water management in Montana's blue-ribbon rivers. The tool integrates weather information, historic trout population data, and streamflow records to predict drought risk and trout population trends.
A recent study published in Cell has found that certain plants actively reduce their ability to take up iron when experiencing drought stress. This shift is driven by changes to plant roots that downregulate both immune systems and iron uptake machinery, allowing specific bacteria to thrive.
A new study led by the University of Michigan found that drought conditions in the Southwest have reduced the suitable habitat for herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores by at least 10%. The analysis of 12 years of data from GPS collars on mule deer, black bears, and cougars showed that drought is negatively impacting life across Utah a...
Climate-driven instability is transforming dengue transmission in Vietnam, requiring a new approach to surveillance and early warning systems. Researchers propose a hybrid system incorporating climatic thresholds, probabilistic modeling, and One Health practices to proactively reduce outbreak scale.
Researchers identify 'hooked hairs' in common beans that form tiny structures to defend against drought and nutrient starvation. These cells help young plants survive long before their mature root systems take shape.
Research on Rhizobacterial metabolites reveals that proline is a crucial osmoprotectant helping plants regulate osmotic pressure under drought conditions. PGPR strains improve lettuce plant survival rates and fresh weight recovery after drought stress, providing a scientific basis for developing high-efficiency microbial inoculants.
Fungal endophytes from cacti have been found to boost drought tolerance in cacao plants by controlling stomatal conductance and retaining more water. These microbes could provide a novel strategy for addressing climate change's impact on cacao production.
Researchers project that 28% of the global population will face heightened exposure to hot-dry extremes by the 2090s, concentrated in low-income, tropical nations. Limiting emissions could avert a lot of risk, with about 18% of the population facing this level of exposure under current climate action plans.
Researchers found a more reliable way to track seasonal productivity and drought stress in dryland ecosystems by combining multiple optical signals. This approach could improve drought monitoring and carbon-cycle modeling, supporting climate forecasting and ecosystem management.
This study reveals a novel post-translational regulatory mechanism of ABI4, where RBOHD-derived ROS mediate its oxidative modification. The oxidation enhances ABI4's DNA-binding affinity to the RBOHD promoter, promoting further ROS production in a positive feedback loop.
Salk Institute scientists created a high-resolution atlas showing how droughts affect plant cells. They identified a gene, Ferric Reduction Oxidase 6 (FRO6), that could be targeted to create more resilient crops. FRO6 expression in mesophyll cells partially maintained leaf growth under drought stress.
Researchers tracked scarlet monkeyflower populations in Oregon and California, finding that those that evolved fastest recovered from extreme drought. The study provides the first full documentation of
Microbial community shifts from biotic to abiotic drivers under drought, with legacy effects persisting upon rehydration. Soil properties dominate recovery stages, highlighting dual focus on biology and abiotic factors for ecosystem resilience.
Researchers found that removing typhoon-induced precipitation leads to sharply declining soil moisture and more severe drought conditions worldwide. The effect of typhoons varies by region, acting as a condition that exacerbates drought in some areas, while mitigating it in others.
A prolonged drought in southeastern Connecticut disrupted the balance of key nitrogen-cycling microbes in a coastal salt marsh. The study found that ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria showed significant fluctuations during dry periods, leading to decreased temporal stability.
This study reveals a microRNA-based regulatory mechanism that fine-tunes drought tolerance by controlling reactive oxygen species homeostasis. The PomiR172d–PoARR module modulates membrane stability, antioxidant enzyme activity, and water-stress sensitivity.
Researchers have shown that ocean temperature patterns limit the global spread of droughts, with synchronised droughts affecting only 1.8% to 6.5% of global land. The study identified 'drought hubs' in regions like Australia, South America, and southern Africa.
A new study suggests that short periods of extreme heat and drought during flowering could become a major threat to global wheat production. This could lead to yield losses of up to three-quarters by 2090, highlighting the need for farmers to develop more heat-tolerant varieties.
A study analyzing news reports, social media posts, and internet search data during the 2022-2023 South Korea drought found that public views change depending on problem size and distance from people. Public interest, emotions, and behavior also shifted as the disaster scale changed.
Research found that oak tree microbiomes are resilient to environmental stressors like drought and disease, with subtle changes in root microbiota after prolonged drought. The study suggests a potential role for beneficial bacteria in supporting tree resilience and stability.
Climate change is projected to exacerbate agricultural droughts in Europe and western North America, even in areas with increasing rainfall. Soils will dry out faster than water can replenish them, leading to more frequent and severe crop droughts.