Just like flash floods, the soil dries out in a matter of days to weeks. Crops can be wiped out by these events. Scientists say that the speed at which they dry out the landscape has increased.
Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Texas Tech University found that the number of flash droughts has remained stable over the past two decades. There have been increases in the number of flash droughts that occur within five days. South Asia, Southeast Asia and central North America are places that are prone to flash droughts.
The study found that rising global temperatures are probably behind the quicker start to flash droughts.
He said that record-breaking warming episodes are a good indicator of the upcoming flash droughts.
Nature Communications published the research. The study was led by a student and a professor.
The advancement of remote sensor technology has helped to reveal instances of soil rapidly drying out. This is the telltale sign of a flash drought and can make the situation look out of place.
The name suggests that flash droughts are short lived, usually lasting a few weeks or months. Disasters can occur when they occur during critical growing periods. In the summer of 2012 the corn crop in the central United States was damaged by a flash dry.
The scientists analyzed global hydroclimate data sets that use satellite soil moisture measurements to capture a global picture of flash drought and how it has changed over the past 21 years. The data shows that 34% of the flash droughts came on in about five days. More than 70% of the rest emerge within a month.
They noticed that the flash droughts were happening more quickly.
The study showed that when there is a shift from humid to arid conditions, there is a greater chance of flash droughts. The Amazon Basin, Southeast Asia, and the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States are some of the areas that have seasonal swings in humidity.
Wang said that they should pay close attention to the vulnerable regions with a high probability of concurrent soil and atmospheric aridity.
The director of the National Drought Mitigation Center, Mark Svoboda, said that the advancement in drought detection and modeling tools has led to growing awareness. The next step is to translate this knowledge into on-the-ground planning.
We really have the stage set to do a better job of tracking these droughts, and you can go back and watch that evolve in 2012 and compare it to how that tool did, said Svoboda, who was not part of the study.
More information: Yamin Qing et al, Accelerating flash droughts induced by the joint influence of soil moisture depletion and atmospheric aridity, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28752-4 Citation: 'Flash droughts' coming on faster, global study shows (2022, April 1) retrieved 1 April 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-04-droughts-faster-global.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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