Climate security

 

Mega-Droughts are Tipped to Increase Due to Climate Change

According to a study headed by the University of Queensland, mega-droughts, or droughts that persist for more than twenty years or even longer, are expected to increase due to climate change.

Hamish McGowan, a Professor from the University of Queensland, stated that the results indicated climate change would result in decreased winter snow cover, increased water scarcity, wind erosion, and more frequent bushfires.

The discovery came following an analysis of geological records from the Eemian Period—129,000 to 116,000 years ago—which provided a proxy of what people could anticipate in a hotter and drier world.

We found that, in the past, a similar amount of warming has been associated with mega-drought conditions all over south eastern Australia. These drier conditions prevailed for centuries, sometimes for more than 1000 years, with El Niño events most likely increasing their severity.

Hamish McGowan, Professor, University of Queensland

The research team was occupied in paleoclimatology—the study of historical climates—to analyze how the world will appear due to global warming over the following 20 to 50 years.