A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions that can last for days, months or years, and is a recurring feature of climate in most parts of the world that has become more extreme and less predictable under climate change. Annual dry seasons in the tropics raise the chances of a drought developing, and heat waves can worsen a drought by increasing evapotranspiration, which dries out vegetation further and increases the fuel available for wildfires. Regions with markedly elevated drought risk include the Amazon basin, Australia, the Sahel and India, and the 2020-2022 Horn of Africa drought surpassed the 2010-2011 drought in both duration and severity.
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The Dust Bowl was precipitated by a severe multi-year drought across the American Great Plains.
La Nina conditions are strongly associated with drought in many regions, including the southwestern United States and eastern Africa.
Prolonged drought dries vegetation into fuel and is a well-documented driver of wildfire frequency and severity.
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Sources
Wikidata: Drought
Drought (Wikipedia)
In Group: Extreme Weather and Drought, Lead sentenceQuote, In Group: Extreme Weather and Drought, Lead sentence
A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.
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