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.

Hydroclimatology

Floods and droughts are intensifying globally

Nature Water volume 1, pages 226–227 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Satellite data show hydroclimatic extreme events are increasing in frequency, duration, and extent under warming conditions.

The frequency and intensity of hydroclimatic events, such as extreme precipitation and droughts, are increasing due to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions1. Under warming conditions, climate change manifests itself through water by intensifying the water cycle — exacerbating evaporative demands during dry events and increasing atmospheric moisture that fuels heavy precipitation. Extreme wet and dry events affect every continent across the globe, causing harm to human health, damage to infrastructure, economic losses, crop failure, ecosystem degradation, and triggering humanitarian crises such as food insecurity and conflict.

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

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

Fig. 1: The most intense wet and dry events during 2002–2022 (ref. 2).

References

  1. IPCC Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (eds Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) (IPCC, 2021); https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6/wg1/IPCC_AR6_WGI_FullReport.pdf

  2. Rodell, M. & Li, B. Nat. Water https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00040-5 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Hu, G. & Franzke, C. L. E. Geophys. Res. Lett. 47, e2020GL089624 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Greve, P. et al. Nat. Geosci. 7, 716–721 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Groundwater Making the Invisible Visible (UNESCO, 2022); https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380721

  6. Options for Decoupling Economic Growth from Water use and Water Pollution (UNEP, 2015); https://www.resourcepanel.org/file/342/download?token=LmsRBoq4

  7. Myers, N., Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., da Fonseca, G. A. B. & Kent, J. Nature 403, 853–858 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. California’s Water Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future (State of California, 2022); https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/08/11/governor-newsom-announces-water-strategy-for-a-hotter-drier-california/

  9. Swain, D. L., Langenbrunner, B., Neelin, J. D. & Hall, A. Nat. Clim. Change 8, 1–10 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rohde Environmental Consulting, LLC, Seattle, WA, USA

    Melissa M. Rohde

  2. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Melissa M. Rohde

Authors
  1. Melissa M. Rohde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melissa M. Rohde.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rohde, M.M. Floods and droughts are intensifying globally. Nat Water 1, 226–227 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00047-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00047-y

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