A new study shows that future ecosystem functioning will increasingly depend on …
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Where should hydrology go?
Last May, the Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group organized a tour …
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Boussinesq award for drought research
The Boussinesq Board has recently announced that Ryan Teuling is the Boussinesq Awardee 2021. Every two years the Boussinesq Center for Hydrology awards this Boussinesq Award to a mid-career scientist who contributed with innovative research of great importance for the further development of hydrology as a scientific discipline. According to …
Continue readingA drought frequency paradox?
Recent years have shown that droughts can have serious socio-economical impacts. While the underlying cause of a drought (a lack of water compared with normal conditions) appears trivial, the exact definition is not. Especially since droughts can occur in different components of the hydrological cycle, each with unique spatial and …
Continue readingAmbiguous agricultural drought
Agricultural droughts, caused by long periods with little to no rain or heat waves, are generally defined as soil moisture deficits that are severe enough to negatively impact vegetation growth. A new study by van Hateren et al. (2021) shows that there is ambiguity between soil moisture drought and their …
Continue readingA hot future for European droughts
Two studies that appeared in Nature Climate Change in 2018 give an insight into the future of droughts in Europe. Not only will higher evaporative demand lead to drier soils and less water availability, but the drier soils will also lead to higher temperature extremes.
Continue readingWhere should hydrology go?
Last May, the Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group organized a tour along several European hydrological institutes in an attempt to compensate for the negative impact of the covid pandemic on networking and scientific exchange. During the tour, discussions were held to discuss the future of hydrology from the perspective …
Continue readingEcosystems get increasingly thirsty due to climate change
A new study shows that future ecosystem functioning will increasingly depend on water availability. Using recent simulations from climate models, an international team of scientists found several “hot spot regions” where increasing water limitation strongly affects ecosystems. These include Central Europe, the Amazon, and western Russia. Pinpointing such regions is essential: …
Continue readingGlobal tree restoration will change water availability
Tree restoration is an effective way to store atmospheric carbon and mitigate climate change. Many initiatives exist to increase global tree cover. However, the effects of these initiatives on water resources are still poorly understood. Locally, tree restoration will enhance evaporation. But impacts on precipitation reach far beyond country or …
Continue readingDrought makes heatwaves hotter, but less deadly
During heatwaves, there is no rain and the soil dries out. This further enhances the rising of heatwave temperatures. But remarkably, desiccated soils also have an advantage: they reduce air humidity and make a heatwave less deadly to humans. Heatwaves and droughts are causing acute excess mortality and damage to …
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