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Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1038/s41558-018-0138-5
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Title (Primary) Anthropogenic warming exacerbates European soil moisture droughts
Author Samaniego, L. ORCID logo ; Thober, S.; Kumar, R. ORCID logo ; Wanders, N.; Rakovec, O. ORCID logo ; Pan, M.; Zink, M.; Sheffield, J.; Wood, E.F.; Marx, A.
Source Titel Nature Climate Change
Year 2018
Department CHS
Volume 8
Issue 5
Page From 421
Page To 426
Language englisch
Supplements https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41558-018-0138-5/MediaObjects/41558_2018_138_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
UFZ wide themes RU5;
Abstract Anthropogenic warming is anticipated to increase soil moisture drought in the future. However, projections are accompanied by large uncertainty due to varying estimates of future warming. Here, using an ensemble of hydrological and land-surface models, forced with bias-corrected downscaled general circulation model output, we estimate the impacts of 1–3 K global mean temperature increases on soil moisture droughts in Europe. Compared to the 1.5 K Paris target, an increase of 3 K—which represents current projected temperature change—is found to increase drought area by 40% (± 24%), affecting up to 42% (± 22%)
more of the population. Furthermore, an event similar to the 2003 drought is shown to become twice as frequent; thus, due to their increased occurrence, events of this magnitude will no longer be classified as extreme. In the absence of effective mitigation, Europe will therefore face unprecedented increases in soil moisture drought, presenting new challenges for adaptation across the continent.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=20184
Samaniego, L., Thober, S., Kumar, R., Wanders, N., Rakovec, O., Pan, M., Zink, M., Sheffield, J., Wood, E.F., Marx, A. (2018):
Anthropogenic warming exacerbates European soil moisture droughts
Nat. Clim. Chang. 8 (5), 421 - 426 10.1038/s41558-018-0138-5