Lower soil moisture conditions are known to positively contribute to warmer temperatures, in particular during heatwaves. Inner East Asia is one of the regions where this coupling is likely significant. Writing in Science, Zhang and co-workers found that the recent coincidence of drought and hot temperatures is unprecedented in a …
Continue readingCategory: Research
Reduced soil diatom productivity during drought
Although largely invisible to the human eye, large numbers of diatoms can be found on the soil surface. These diatoms are known to reflect local environmental conditions, but until recently, relatively little was known about their response to changing weather conditions. Diatoms are microscopic, unicellular algae and form one of …
Continue readingForest benefits from groundwater during drought – but not everywhere
It is often believed that trees can use their deeper roots to access groundwater during dry periods, but direct evidence for this is sparse. Both in situ observations and global datasets can provide insight into the relation between forest and groundwater, as is shown in two recent studies.
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 reading