Details zur Publikation

Kategorie Textpublikation
Referenztyp Zeitschriften
DOI 10.1038/s41561-024-01559-2
Lizenz creative commons licence
Titel (primär) Direct and lagged climate change effects intensified the 2022 European drought
Autor Bevacqua, E. ORCID logo ; Rakovec, O. ORCID logo ; Schumacher, D.L.; Kumar, R. ORCID logo ; Thober, S.; Samaniego, L. ORCID logo ; Seneviratne, S.I.; Zscheischler, J. ORCID logo
Quelle Nature Geoscience
Erscheinungsjahr 2024
Department CHS; CER
Band/Volume 17
Heft 11
Seite von 1100
Seite bis 1107
Sprache englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Supplements https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41561-024-01559-2/MediaObjects/41561_2024_1559_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
Abstract In 2022, Europe faced an extensive summer drought with severe socioeconomic consequences. Quantifying the influence of human-induced climate change on such an extreme event can help prepare for future droughts. Here, by combining observations and climate model outputs with hydrological and land-surface simulations, we show that Central and Southern Europe experienced the highest observed total water storage deficit since satellite observations began in 2002, probably representing the highest and most widespread soil moisture deficit in the past six decades. While precipitation deficits primarily drove the soil moisture drought, human-induced global warming contributed to over 30% of the drought intensity and its spatial extent via enhanced evaporation. We identify that 14–41% of the climate change contribution was mediated by the warming-driven drying of the soil that occurred before the hydrological year of 2022, indicating the importance of considering lagged climate change effects to avoid underestimating associated risks. Human-induced climate change had qualitatively similar effects on the extremely low observed river discharges. These results highlight that global warming effects on droughts are already underway, widespread and long lasting, and that drought risk may escalate with further human-induced warming in the future.
dauerhafte UFZ-Verlinkung https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=29696
Bevacqua, E., Rakovec, O., Schumacher, D.L., Kumar, R., Thober, S., Samaniego, L., Seneviratne, S.I., Zscheischler, J. (2024):
Direct and lagged climate change effects intensified the 2022 European drought
Nat. Geosci. 17 (11), 1100 - 1107 10.1038/s41561-024-01559-2