Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Drought in the Anthropocene

Nature Geoscience volume 9, pages 89–91 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Drought management is inefficient because feedbacks between drought and people are not fully understood. In this human-influenced era, we need to rethink the concept of drought to include the human role in mitigating and enhancing drought.

The current multiyear California drought has severely affected both environment and economy. In this area where water supply is highly artificial, water storage in reservoirs and groundwater abstraction provide water during dry periods, but also increase evaporation and decrease groundwater levels, and thereby exacerbate the drought. In contrast, management responses, such as water transfer and water-saving measures, alleviate drought conditions1. The ongoing California drought clearly demonstrates how strongly water and society are intertwined during drought periods.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Drought propagation in the Anthropocene.
Figure 2: Hypothetical schematic of the distinction between climate-induced drought, human-induced drought and human-modified drought.

References

  1. AghaKouchak, A., Feldman, D., Hoerling, M., Huxman, T. & Lund, J. Nature 524, 409–4011 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Christian-Smith, J., Levy, M. C. & Gleick, P. H. Sustain. Sci. 10, 491–501 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Van Loon, A. F. WIREs Water 2, 359–392 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Dessai, S. & Sims, C. Environ. Hazards 9, 340–357 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Wilhite, D. A. & Glantz, M. H. Water Int. 10, 111–120 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. IPCC Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (eds Field, C. B. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012).

  7. Van Loon, A. F. & Van Lanen, H. A. J. Water Resour. Res. 49, 1483–1502 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Silva, A. C. S., Galvão, C. O. & Silva, G. N. S. Proc. Int. Assoc. Hydrol. 369, 129–134 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Van Dijk, A. I. J. M. et al. Water Resour. Res. 49, 1040–1057 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Montanari, A. et al. Hydrolog. Sci. J. 58, 1256–1275 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Wagener, T. et al. Water Resour. Res. 46, W05301 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Grant, S. B. et al. Environ. Sci. Tech. 47, 10727–10734 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Science Research Group, School of Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK

    Anne F. Van Loon, David M. Hannah & Sally Rangecroft

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria, Canada

    Tom Gleeson

  3. Human Geography Research Group, School of Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK

    Julian Clark

  4. Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Albert I. J. M. Van Dijk

  5. Hydrology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Germany

    Kerstin Stahl

  6. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK

    Jamie Hannaford

  7. Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Sweden

    Giuliano Di Baldassarre

  8. Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

    Adriaan J. Teuling, Remko Uijlenhoet & Henny A. J. Van Lanen

  9. Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Norway

    Lena M. Tallaksen

  10. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, USA

    Justin Sheffield & Niko Wanders

  11. National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA

    Mark Svoboda

  12. Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

    Boud Verbeiren

  13. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, UK

    Thorsten Wagener

  14. Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, UK

    Thorsten Wagener

Authors
  1. Anne F. Van Loon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tom Gleeson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Julian Clark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Albert I. J. M. Van Dijk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kerstin Stahl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jamie Hannaford
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Giuliano Di Baldassarre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Adriaan J. Teuling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Lena M. Tallaksen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Remko Uijlenhoet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. David M. Hannah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Justin Sheffield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Mark Svoboda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Boud Verbeiren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Thorsten Wagener
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Sally Rangecroft
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Niko Wanders
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. Henny A. J. Van Lanen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne F. Van Loon.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Van Loon, A., Gleeson, T., Clark, J. et al. Drought in the Anthropocene. Nature Geosci 9, 89–91 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2646

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2646

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing