Drought is a \u201ccreeping disaster\u201d that devastates regions in slow motion. It kills livestock, ruins harvests, and has knock-on effects across the economy that force people to flee their homes. How worried should we be about drought \u2013 and can we do anything about it?<\/p>\n
What is drought?<\/p>\n
Droughts are long spells of unusually dry weather. They are defined based on local conditions \u2013 drought in a rainy country looks very different to drought in an arid one \u2013 and where in the water cycle the deficit hits.<\/p>\n
Meteorological drought means a lack of rain. That can lead to hydrological drought (low water levels in streams and reservoirs) and agricultural drought (plant stress from low soil moisture) depending on factors such as how much water evaporates or runs off.<\/p>\n
How bad are droughts?<\/p>\n
Droughts can be extremely deadly. In Somalia, one of the countries most scarred by drought in recent history, doctors estimate<\/a> 71,000 people died because of drought between January 2022 and June 2024, with children under the age of five making up more than one in three deaths. Droughts are also thought to have contributed to several armed conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.<\/p>\n In rich countries, droughts are unlikely to kill people but do staggering damage to the economy. In Europe, a recent study<\/a> found drought has cost an average of \u20ac11bn (\u00a39.6bn) a year over the past few decades. Farmers are hit hardest, but the effects stretch to hydropower dams and nuclear power plants, as well as inland shipping companies and the businesses that rely on them for trade.<\/p>\n Are droughts getting worse?<\/p>\n The share of the Earth\u2019s land affected by drought has roughly doubled since 1900, according to analysis<\/a> by the OECD, with dry spells becoming more common and more intense on all continents. Since the 1950s the picture has been mixed, with some regions having dried out, such as the Mediterranean and the Amazon, while others, such as large parts of North America, have grown wetter.<\/p>\n Is climate change making drought worse?<\/p>\n