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UrduResearch from Washington University in St. Louis shows that a practice of purposeful water management, or irrigation, was adopted in northern China about 4,000 years ago as part of an effort to grow new grains that had been introduced from southwest Asia. But the story gets more complex from there. Wheat and barley arrived on the scene at about the same time, but early farmers only used water management techniques for wheat.
Tag: Drought
Timely study on rising groundwater offers hope for drought-stricken East Africa
New research indicates better groundwater supply management could hold the key to help combat the impact of climate change in East Africa, where countries are currently facing the worst drought and food insecurity in a generation.
Where should the water go? A national look at prioritizing water optimization
Symposium features the latest techniques and science on water optimization priorities and methods in various areas of the United States
How to keep your garden up in the middle of a drought
KINGSTON, R.I. – August 1, 2022 – For backyard gardeners, mild droughts and water ban restrictions common during the summer months can be a cause for concern. Kate Venturini Hardesty, a program administrator and educator with the University of Rhode Island’s Cooperative Extension, offers some tips for backyard gardeners who are feeling the heat.
How long does a tree or ecosystem remember a drought?
A team of NAU scientists, led by SICCS professor Kiona Ogle, won a $3.6 million grant from the NSF to study the legacy of extreme climate events on ecosystems in the American West; they hope to not only know how long an extreme event influences ecosystems but also figure out how to better forecast such effects.
Latest discovery out of Lake Mead highlights unprecedented water levels amid megadrought
A World War II-era vessel recently surfaced amid the shrinking waters of Lake Mead, the latest example of the historically low water levels of the reservoir on the Arizona-Nevada border. The unprecedented decline stems from a prolonged megadrought in the…
Céline Bonfils : Then and Now / 2012 Early Career Award Winner
Physicist Céline Bonfils studies the multiple influences affecting climate change. Her team identified these “fingerprints” in historical climate simulations to help separate the signals from the noise in observations.
‘Overdrawing the system’: Western water supply lags demand
With severe drought impacting the Western U.S. — including the Colorado River and its reservoirs — the federal government announced this week it is keeping more water in one of the river’s reservoirs, Lake Powell, instead of releasing it downstream…
DROUGHT EXPERTS: University of Oregon researchers available to comment on the ongoing drought
University of Oregon researchers are available to comment on the ongoing drought. More academic experts can be found on the Oregon Experts page. Adell Amos Clayton R. Hess Professor of Law Adell Amos is an academic expert in water drought, natural…
Modeling Study Projects 21st Century Droughts Will Increase Human Migration
Drought and the potential increase in the number of droughts worldwide due to climate change remains a concern for scientists. A recent study led by Stony Brook University researchers suggests that human migration due to droughts will increase by at least 200 percent as we move through the 21st Century.
During Historic Drought, Higher Temperatures Helped Beetle Kill More California Pine Trees
Increased temperatures during an historic drought in California contributed to the death of large numbers of giant pine trees speeding up the life cycle of a tree-killing beetle.
To solve Brazil’s energy and food crisis: store more water
Storing greater amounts of water in Brazil’s reservoirs could increase precipitation and river flow, alleviating the water and energy supply crisis in Brazil.
Sesame cultivation: expansion versus temperature stress
Increasing genetic diversity protects against total crop failure
California’s carbon mitigation efforts may be thwarted by climate change itself
Irvine, Calif., July 22, 2021 – To meet an ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2045, California’s policymakers are relying in part on forests and shrublands to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, but researchers at the University of California, Irvine warn that future climate change may limit the ecosystem’s ability to perform this service.
Why Remote Work Might Worsen Southwest Water Woes
As concerns flare over record-low water levels at Lake Mead, a new UNLV study shows that COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders — and a subsequent societal shift to remote work — may be exacerbating the problem.
Drought affects aspen survival decades later, new NAU study finds
Research specialist Melissa Boyd and Regents’ professor Michelle Mack from Northern Arizona University led the study, which demonstrated the long-term effects of climate change on this vegetation.
PIRE Research Connects Air Pollution to Worst Taiwanese Drought in Nearly 60 Years
The study, published in the Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, analyzed 13 years of satellite and surface to better understand how aerosols impact cloud lifecycle and precipitation during the autumn months over northern Taiwan.
Climate change is driving plant die-offs in Southern California, UCI study finds
Irvine, Calif., June 21, 2021 – A shift is happening in Southern California, and this time it has nothing to do with earthquakes. According to a new study by scientists at the University of California, Irvine, climate change is altering the number of plants populating the region’s deserts and mountains. Using data from the Landsat satellite mission and focusing on an area of nearly 5,000 square miles surrounding Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the research team found that between 1984 and 2017, vegetation cover in desert ecosystems decreased overall by about 35 percent, with mountains seeing a 13 percent vegetation decline.
Johns Hopkins Expert Available to Discuss Heat Wave in U.S. West
As triple-digit temperatures scorch millions in California and the Desert West, stoking wildfires and exacerbating drought conditions, Johns Hopkins experts can discuss the environmental and health impacts of the heat wave, and how officials can better prepare for the rest…
Expert: The ‘silver bullet’ to the West’s water crisis lies not in Lake Mead but in what we feed our cattle
With water levels in Lake Mead dropping at an alarming rate, the western United States needs to look to other solutions to meet its water needs. That solution can be as simple as changing the way farmers fallow land, which…
Decisions, Decisions: Climate Change and Water
PNNL’s Framework for Assessment of Complex Environmental Tradeoffs (FACET) is designed to navigate and rigorously evaluate competing environmental, economic, and social impacts to help make decisions more equitable. In an example scenario prepared using publicly available data, FACET was applied to predict tradeoffs facing the Colorado River and to balance competing demands of river flow and temperature, along with withdrawals for cities, crop irrigation, and power generation.
Single gene boosts climate resilience, yield and carbon capture in crops
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered a single gene that simultaneously boosts plant growth and tolerance for stresses such as drought and salt, all while tackling the root cause of climate change by enabling plants to pull more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions are lengthening and intensifying droughts
Irvine, Calif., May 17, 2021 — Greenhouse gases and aerosol pollution emitted by human activities are responsible for increases in the frequency, intensity and duration of droughts around the world, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine. In a study published recently in Nature Communications, scientists in UCI’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering showed that over the past century, the likelihood of stronger and more long-lasting dry spells grew in the Americas, the Mediterranean, western and southern Africa and eastern Asia.
SA hub will help build resilience to drought
The University of Adelaide, as part of an extensive collaboration with industry and the South Australian Government, will lead a new drought resilience hub in South Australia. Announced today, the hub will undertake research, development, extension, adoption and commercialisation activities to improve drought resilience and preparedness on SA farms.
Colorado River basin due for more frequent, intense hydroclimate events
In the vast Colorado River basin, climate change is driving extreme, interconnected events among earth-system elements such as weather and water.
Ag experts available as spring planting approaches
Chad Hart, professor of economics and grain markets specialist, Iowa State University 515-294-9911, [email protected] Corn and soybean prices have risen 50-60% from where they’ve been over the past few years, and Hart said that will incentivize farmers across the country…
Study exposes global ripple effects of regional water scarcity
An integrated model of climate and human activity suggests water scarcity can have economic ripple effects across the globe – sometimes amplifying economic harm, sometimes even providing benefits to distant regions. The model informs the management of regional water resources and economic adaptation
Why our rivers are running drier
An international team of researchers including the University of Adelaide has demonstrated that climate change is responsible for the changes in the flow and water volume of rivers globally, with major implications for Australia.
UCI researchers: Climate change will alter the position of the Earth’s tropical rain belt
Irvine, Calif., Jan. 18, 2021 — Future climate change will cause a regionally uneven shifting of the tropical rain belt – a narrow band of heavy precipitation near the equator – according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions. This development may threaten food security for billions of people.
@UCIrvine scientists are available to address news that 2020 was the hottest year on record
Below is contact information for University of California, Irvine researchers who are available to provide expert commentary on Earth’s climate and temperature extremes in light of the recent finding by NASA that 2020 was the hottest year on record. Amir…
New climate change study: Number of people suffering extreme droughts will double
Michigan State University is leading a global research effort to offer the first worldwide view of how climate change could affect water availability and drought severity in the decades to come.
By the late 21st century, global land area and population facing extreme droughts could more than double — increasing from 3% during 1976-2005 to 7%-8%, according to Yadu Pokhrel, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in MSU’s College of Engineering, and lead author of the research published in Nature Climate Change.
Tepary beans – a versatile and sustainable native crop
This drought and heat tolerant crop can provide nutrition, even when grown in harsh environments.
Cooperation across boundaries and sectors could boost sustainable development in South Asia
A new analysis of food, energy, water, and climate change in the Indus Basin shows how a cross-boundary and multi-sectoral perspective could lead to economic benefits and lower costs for all countries involved.
How Did Red Algae Survive in Extreme Environments?
Red algae have persisted in hot springs and surrounding rocks for about 1 billion years. Now, a Rutgers-led team will investigate why these single-celled extremists have thrived in harsh environments – research that could benefit environmental cleanups and the production of biofuels and other products.
Fuels, not fire weather, control carbon emissions in boreal forest, new study finds
Northern Arizona University researcher Xanthe Walker is the lead author on research published this week that found that the amount of carbon stored in soils was the biggest predictor of how much carbon would combust and that soil moisture also was significant in predicting carbon release.
Droughts are threatening global wetlands: new study
University of Adelaide scientists have shown how droughts are threatening the health of wetlands globally. Published in the journal Earth-Science Reviews, the scientists highlight the many physical and chemical changes occurring during droughts that lead to severe, and sometimes irreversible, drying of wetland soils.
Researchers Use Satellite Imaging to Map Groundwater Use in California’s Central Valley
Researchers at the University of California San Diego report in a new study a way to improve groundwater monitoring by using a remote sensing technology (known as InSAR), in conjunction with climate and land cover data, to bridge gaps in the understanding of sustainable groundwater in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
UAH gets $600,000 to create more accurate analysis of soil moisture
A $600,000 grant to create a more accurate analysis of soil moisture for drought depiction, agricultural assessments and flood potential has been awarded to the interim dean of the College of Science at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
UCI and international institutions link Southeast Asia megadrought to drying in Africa
Irvine, Calif., Aug. 21, 2020 – Physical evidence found in caves in Laos helps tell a story about a connection between the end of the Green Sahara – when once heavily vegetated Northern Africa became a hyper-arid landscape – and a previously unknown megadrought that crippled Southeast Asia 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. In a paper published today in Nature Communications, scientists at the University of California, Irvine, the University of Pennsylvania, William Paterson University of New Jersey and other international institutions explain how this major climate transformation led to a shift in human settlement patterns in Southeast Asia, which is now inhabited by more than 600 million people.
UCI engineers evaluate snow drought in different parts of the world
Irvine, Calif., Aug. 3, 2020 — Environmental engineers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a new framework for characterizing snow droughts around the world. Using this tool to analyze conditions from 1980 to 2018, the researchers found a 28-percent increase in the length of intensified snow-water deficits in the Western United States during the second half of the study period.
Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Tropical Storm Fay in N.J.
New Brunswick, N.J. (July 10, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick climatologist David A. Robinson is available for interviews on Tropical Storm Fay as it approaches New Jersey. “Tropical Storm Fay could deposit several inches of rain across a good portion of the…
Water-Saving Alternative Forage Crops for Texas Livestock
With increasing drought conditions in the Texas High Plains, researchers test sorghum and pearl millet as alternatives to corn
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Dry, Warm June in N.J., Potential Drought
New Brunswick, N.J. (July 8, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick climatologist David A. Robinson is available for interviews on the dry, unusually warm June in New Jersey, the dry and very warm first six months of 2020 and the potential for drought…
Greenhouse gas and particulate pollution emissions drive regional drying around the globe
Despite devastating impacts of drought on human and natural systems, the reasons why long-term regional drying occurs remain poorly understood.
Research led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have identified two signatures or “fingerprints” that explain why arid conditions are spreading worldwide, and why the Western United States has tended towards drought conditions since the 1980s while the African Sahel has recovered from its prolonged drought. The research appears in the July 6 edition of Nature Climate Change.
Why do we need to know harvest yield during crop growth?
Using technology is essential for predicting tuber crop yields in drought-heavy regions
Know the risks of investing in forests
Some governments are counting on planted forests as offsets for greenhouse gas emissions—a sort of climate investment. But as with any investment, it’s important to understand the risks. If a forest goes bust, researchers say, much of that stored carbon could go up in smoke.
Forests can be best deployed in the fight against climate change with a proper understanding of the risks to that forest that climate change itself imposes.
Steady Streams: Bringing Safe Water to California Communities
With a mix of research and outreach, the CSU is addressing one of California’s greatest challenges by securing access to safe drinking water for some of the state’s most vulnerable populations.
New Biosensor Visualizes Stress in Living Plant Cells in Real Time
Plant biologists have developed a nanosensor that monitors mechanisms related to stress and drought. The new biosensor allows researchers to analyze changes in real time involving specific kinases, which are known to be activated in response to drought conditions.
With shrinking snowpack, drought predictability melting away
New research from CU Boulder suggests that during the 21st century, our ability to predict drought using snow will literally melt away.
Researchers study the intricate link between climate and conflict
New research from the University of Notre Dame is shedding light on the unexpected effects climate change could have on regional instability and violent conflict.