Stemming the water crisis in the western US will require cities and rural areas to work together to make water use on farms – the largest source of demand – more efficient.
New research has found suicides increase during drought, and climate change will see more drought in Australia.
A man sits next to dead livestock in the village of Hargududo, Ethiopia, where there’s hardly been a drop of rain in 18 months.
Eduardo Soteras/AFP via Getty Images
Climate change has forced Australia’s grape growers to band together to secure water, as well as plant new varieties and cut water use.
After being displaced by drought, nearly 300 people, mostly women, and children arrived at Qansahley camp in Dollow, Jubaland, Somalia.
Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Already critically endangered, the southern bent-wing bat is still declining in a drying climate. If we don’t step in, it will likely be extinct within three generations of bat.
La Niña is only part of the problem. The long-term driver of increasing drought – even in areas getting more rainfall overall – is the rapidly warming climate.
When trees burn, all the carbon they have stored goes back into the atmosphere.
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More carbon dioxide in the air doesn’t necessarily mean more growth for trees, and the increasing risk of wildfires and drought has major consequences, as an interactive map shows.
A policeman marches with a Somali flag during a parade in the capital Mogadishu.
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Whoever wins the presidential election will inherit a host of challenges that have persistently tormented previous Somali leaders.
The white ‘bathtub ring’ around Lake Mead, shown on Jan. 11, 2022, is roughly 160 feet high and reflects falling water levels.
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The Colorado River provides water and electricity to 40 million people in the western US, but falling water levels threaten both of those resources.
Portugal has seen little rain since October 2021. By the end of January, 45 per cent of the country was enduring ‘severe’ or ‘extreme’ drought conditions.
(AP Photo/Sergio Azenha)
If the world overshoots its climate targets, drought could cause dryland areas to expand by a quarter and encompass half the Earth’s land area, threatening lives and livelihoods.
Wind quickly spread a blaze that burned homes near Flagstaff, Ariz., in April 2022.
Coconino National Forest via AP
Fire season is getting longer, and the result is transforming iconic desert ecosystems. The start to 2022 has been so dire, one governor called for a federal disaster declaration.
Colorado River water flows through a canal that feeds farms in Casa Grande, Ariz., on July 22, 2021.
AP Photo/Darryl Webb
Agreements negotiated a century ago to share water on Western rivers among states are showing their age in a time of water scarcity.
The main driver of climate change is the greenhouse effect – when certain gases in the Earth’s atmosphere trap the sun’s heat and cause global warming.
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500 million people live in 19 African countries deemed “water insecure”.
Maria Khoza collecting water from the City of Tshwane municipality after a short closure of the a treatment plant caused by a sewage leakage in 2019.
Phill Magakoe/AFP/GettyImages
Tasmania’s drying climate is seeing more bushfires ignited by lightning strikes. To protect the state’s World Heritage wilderness, we must use sustainable fire management practices.
Forest floors are often laden with fuel for fires.
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Dry, windy conditions have fueled destructive wildfires in Texas, Florida and other states in 2022. Understanding these terms can help people in fire-risk areas prepare.