Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aea8452
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Warming and vegetation greening drive recent surge in flash droughts
Author Li, J.; Zhang, Y.; Bevacqua, E. ORCID logo ; Jiang, S.; Yuan, X.; Zhou, S.; Qiu, J.; Wang, Z.; Zscheischler, J. ORCID logo ; Wang, K.; Piao, S.
Source Titel Science Advances
Year 2026
Department CER
Volume 12
Issue 22
Page From eaea8452
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.48436/1k7aj-bdz35
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19561808
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4700264
Supplements Supplement 1
Abstract Flash droughts have become more frequent, yet their underlying mechanisms of such changes remain unclear. Using an explainable artificial intelligence–based clustering framework with reanalysis products and Earth system models, we show that the major driving mechanisms of global flash droughts have shifted from precipitation dominance to a compound effect of temperature, transpiration, and precipitation. This transition drives a surge in flash droughts over the past decade, with more rapidly developing, severe, and enduring soil droughts. Anthropogenic warming and vegetation greening are the main drivers of the observed surge. The transition, which has emerged beyond natural climate variability since 2017 and is mainly detected in Eurasia, Amazon, and Africa, exposes ~650 million people under threat and reduces gross primary productivity by 0.15 Â± 0.1 petagrams of carbon per year. Our results demonstrate that biosphere and atmosphere responses to anthropogenic forcing have altered flash drought drivers, emphasizing the urgent need for targeted mitigation strategies.
Li, J., Zhang, Y., Bevacqua, E., Jiang, S., Yuan, X., Zhou, S., Qiu, J., Wang, Z., Zscheischler, J., Wang, K., Piao, S. (2026):
Warming and vegetation greening drive recent surge in flash droughts
Sci. Adv. 12 (22), eaea8452
10.1126/sciadv.aea8452