Thread by @JimBair62221006

You may have seen some recent press on droughts and climate change. Here is a quick summary and context (thread).

First, two recent studies:

1. Europe is in trouble

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#ClimateCrisis #food #water #farming
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/20…

Key findings:

the 2018-2020 drought was ‘a new benchmark having an unprecedented intensity’ &

“Europe should be prepared for events of comparable intensity ... but with durations longer than any of those experienced in the last 250 years”

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agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/20…

What does this mean for food production?
“Our analysis also shows that these exceptional temperature-enhanced droughts significantly negatively impact commodity crops across Europe.”

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#ClimateCrisis #food #farming #AgTwitter
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/20…

A second study found that the fastest flash droughts ‘‘sending areas into drought conditions within just five days—have increased by about 3%-19%’ globally.

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#ClimateCrisis #water #food #AgTwitter #foodblogger
phys.org/news/2022-04-d…

However:

‘in places that are especially prone to flash droughts—such as South Asia, Southeast Asia and central North America—that increase is about 22%-59%’

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#ClimateCrisis #food #foodblog #foodsecurity #water
phys.org/news/2022-04-d…

How do these studies fit in to the broader literature on droughts?

In sum: nowhere is safe.

Risks for food production across the world are already substantially increased due to #ClimateChange, and the risk is growing.
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'The study suggests... widespread drying & increases in agricultural drought by up to 200% over most of the Americas... Europe & the Mediterranean region, southern Africa, Southeast Asia, & Australia under moderate-high emissions'

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#ClimateCrisis
phys.org/news/2022-01-s…

Climate change to increase the probability of co-occurring droughts 40% by mid-21st century, & 60% by late century

“The potential for a food security crisis increases even if these droughts aren’t affecting major food producing regions"

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#food
news.climate.columbia.edu/2022/02/09/sim…

And how is this all playing out now?

Just a sampling of some of the ongoing & current droughts:

A megadrought in the western U.S. that may well last until 2030 or longer

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#ClimateCrisis #water #food
nationalgeographic.com/environment/ar…

…one that has already seen ~400,000 acres of idled land in the biggest agricultural producing state in the U.S.

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#ClimateCrisis #uspoli #food #water
news.ucmerced.edu/news/2022/last…

Extreme winter droughts in Spain and Portugal

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#ClimateCrisis #food #water
euronews.com/2022/02/13/cli…

An absolutely horrendous situation unfolding in the Horn of Africa, with at least “25 million people currently facing drought-induced starvation”

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#Africa #ClimateCrisis
news.mongabay.com/2022/03/as-the…

And: a 13 year (!) drought in Chile

"This drought we are suffering has been ongoing with peaks of no rainfall, for 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀" Current water level of rivers in the capital region “the lowest since records have been taken”

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#water
en.mercopress.com/2022/03/18/chi…

Honduras-

'All farmers know bad years. It’s part of rural life. But across Central America men like Abidam are watching yields drop season after season.

For Abidam the reason is simple: the rain has stopped – or most of it, anyway'

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#ClimateCrisis
oregonlive.com/palabra/2022/0…

Afghanistan-

'As the planet warms, the worst dry spell in two decades has coincided with Afghanistan’s political and economic upheaval...some 10 million people — more than a quarter of Afghanistan’s population — are near famine'

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#ClimateCrisis
bloomberg.com/news/features/…