• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), in collaboration with international partners, have shown that ocean temperature patterns help limit the global spread of droughts. • Published in Communications Earth & Environment, the study analyzed climate data from 1901-2020 and found that synchronized droughts affected between 1.8% and 6.5% of global land, far lower than earlier claims that one-sixth of the planet could dry out at once.
Article Summaries:
- Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, working with international partners, have clarified how global droughts are limited by ocean temperature patterns. Published in Communications Earth & Environment, the study examined climate records from 1901 to 2020 and found that synchronized droughts affected only 1.8 % to 6.5 % of the planet’s land area. This figure is far below earlier estimates that suggested a sixth of the world could dry out simultaneously. The findings suggest that oceanic heat distribution plays a key role in preventing widespread, simultaneous drought conditions.
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