This hardy desert plant lives in the hostile Atacama Desert in Chile by sucking moisture out of passing fog. As water resources become ever more scarce, humans could follow suit.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Drought
Displaying 181 - 200 of 613 articles
Many of the temperatures presently being recorded in Africa, and those projected in the next decade, are already close to the limits of human survival, or “liveability”.
Collaboration can have immediate benefits in the most dire circumstances.
Policy-makers need the courage to commit to meaningful reductions of greenhouse gas emissions if we want to avoid the widespread loss of mountain glaciers.
Tree rings carry a wealth of information, which can be used to uncover climate data from hundreds of years ago.
A consequence of a warming world is prolonged dry spells and periods of drought that can lead to infectious diseases like cholera.
African livestock keepers need help: without proactive interventions, increasing temperatures will reduce meat and milk production.
The picture seems hopeless, but with mitigation and adaptation strategies and policies driven through COP26, southern Africa can reduce the impacts of climate change on local livelihoods.
Studies show climate change is raising the risk of cascading hazards that alone might not be extreme but add up to human disasters. Communities and government agencies aren’t prepared.
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and that share is growing. Rapid climate change could make many cities unlivable in the coming decades without major investments to adapt.
African countries cannot be ignored, or just listened to. Their needs should shape the agenda.
Researchers asked aid workers how to best prepare for the climate emergency in places where its effects are most severe.
Ancient cultures that flourished in arid climates developed low-tech solutions to manage water scarcity.
As surface water diminishes in the Western US, people are drilling deeper wells – and tapping into older groundwater that can take thousands of years to replenish naturally.
The next year appears likely to bring another sequence of La Niña-related droughts to eastern East Africa. The time to act is now or many will suffer.
Monsoons are weather patterns that bring thunderstorms and heavy rains to hot, dry areas when warm, moist ocean air moves inland. They’re challenging to forecast, especially in a changing climate.
Cities and farmers in the Southwest are resorting to unsustainable strategies to pull in more water. Iran has tried many of these strategies and shows how they can go wrong.
How scientists are improving their understanding of the connection between extremes and climate change – and what’s to come. Listen to The Conversation Weekly.
Many plants are really good at withstanding bushfires, but the combination of drought, heatwaves and pest insects under climate change may push them to the brink.
Rapid attribution studies reveal climate change’s influence on the weather, but they’re expensive and time-consuming.
Top contributors
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Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University
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Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, The University of Melbourne
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Head of Operational Climate Services, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Regents Professor Emeritus and Morris K. Udall Professor of Law & Public Policy Emeritus, University of Arizona
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Climate Scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Climate Scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Climate scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Professor of Physical Geography, University of the Witwatersrand
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Lecturer, The University of Melbourne
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Visiting Adjunct Professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand
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Senior Climatologist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Senior Research Associate, UNSW Sydney
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Associate Professor in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University
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Chief Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO, CSIRO
