The Millennium Drought in southeast Australia (2001–2009): Natural and human causes and implications for water resources, ecosystems, economy, and society
Albert van Dijk,Hylke E. Beck,Russell Crosbie,Richard de Jeu,Yi Y. Liu,Yi Y. Liu,Geoff Podger,Bertrand Timbal,Neil R. Viney +8 more
TLDR
In this article, the authors used climate, water, economic, and remote sensing data combined with biophysical modeling to understand the drivers of the "Millennium Drought" and its impacts.Abstract:
[1] The “Millennium Drought” (2001–2009) can be described as the worst drought on record for southeast Australia. Adaptation to future severe droughts requires insight into the drivers of the drought and its impacts. These were analyzed using climate, water, economic, and remote sensing data combined with biophysical modeling. Prevailing El Nino conditions explained about two thirds of rainfall deficit in east Australia. Results for south Australia were inconclusive; a contribution from global climate change remains plausible but unproven. Natural processes changed the timing and magnitude of soil moisture, streamflow, and groundwater deficits by up to several years, and caused the amplification of rainfall declines in streamflow to be greater than in normal dry years. By design, river management avoided impacts on some categories of water users, but did so by exacerbating the impacts on annual irrigation agriculture and, in particular, river ecosystems. Relative rainfall reductions were amplified 1.5–1.7 times in dryland wheat yields, but the impact was offset by steady increases in cropping area and crop water use efficiency (perhaps partly due to CO2 fertilization). Impacts beyond the agricultural sector occurred (e.g., forestry, tourism, utilities) but were often diffuse and not well quantified. Key causative pathways from physical drought to the degradation of ecological, economic, and social health remain poorly understood and quantified. Combined with the multiple dimensions of multiyear droughts and the specter of climate change, this means future droughts may well break records in ever new ways and not necessarily be managed better than past ones.read more
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High-resolution mapping of global surface water and its long-term changes
TL;DR: Using three million Landsat satellite images, this globally consistent, validated data set shows that impacts of climate change and climate oscillations on surface water occurrence can be measured and that evidence can be gathered to show how surface water is altered by human activities.
Journal ArticleDOI
Global warming and changes in drought
Kevin E. Trenberth,Aiguo Dai,Aiguo Dai,Gerard van der Schrier,Gerard van der Schrier,Philip Jones,Philip Jones,Jonathan Barichivich,Jonathan Barichivich,Keith R. Briffa,Justin Sheffield +10 more
TL;DR: In this article, a commonly used drought index and observational data are examined to identify the cause of these discrepancies, and the authors indicate that improvements in the quality and coverage of precipitation data and quantification of natural variability are necessary to provide a better understanding of how drought is changing.
Journal ArticleDOI
Emerging trends in global freshwater availability.
Matthew Rodell,James S. Famiglietti,James S. Famiglietti,David N. Wiese,John T. Reager,Hiroko Kato Beaudoing,Hiroko Kato Beaudoing,Felix W. Landerer,Min-Hui Lo +8 more
TL;DR: Analysis of 2002–2016 GRACE satellite observations of terrestrial water storage reveals substantial changes in freshwater resources globally, which are driven by natural and anthropogenic climate variability and human activities.
Journal ArticleDOI
Remote sensing of drought: Progress, challenges and opportunities
Amir AghaKouchak,A. Farahmand,Forrest Melton,João Paulo Teixeira,Martha C. Anderson,Brian D. Wardlow,Christopher Hain +6 more
TL;DR: A review of current and emerging drought monitoring approaches using satellite remote sensing observations from climatological and ecosystem perspectives is presented in this paper, where the authors argue that satellite observations not currently used for operational drought monitoring, such as near-surface air relative humidity data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder mission, provide opportunities to improve early drought warning.
Journal ArticleDOI
Drought in the Anthropocene
Anne Van Loon,Tom Gleeson,Julian Clark,Albert van Dijk,Kerstin Stahl,Jamie Hannaford,Giuliano Di Baldassarre,Adriaan J. Teuling,Lena M. Tallaksen,Remko Uijlenhoet,David M. Hannah,Justin Sheffield,Mark Svoboda,Boud Verbeiren,Thorsten Wagener,Sally Rangecroft,Niko Wanders,Henny A. J. Van Lanen +17 more
TL;DR: In this human-influenced era, we need to rethink the concept of "drought" to include the human role in mitigating and enhancing drought as mentioned in this paper, which is not fully understood.
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