Related topics: climate change , weather
Drought
hideA drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region. Although droughts can persist for several years, even a short, intense drought can cause significant damage and harm the local economy. This global phenomenon has a widespread impact on agriculture. The United Nations estimates that an area of fertile soil the size of Ukraine is lost every year because of drought, deforestation, and climate instability. Lengthy periods of drought have long been a key trigger for mass migration and played a key role in a number of ongoing migrations and other humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel.
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News tagged with drought
Scientists reveal secrets of drought resistance
Oct 22, 2009 |
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A team of biologists in California led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California, San Diego has solved the structure of a critical molecule that helps plants survive during droughts. ...
Global warming may dent El Nino's protective shield from Atlantic hurricanes, increase droughts
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- El Niño, the periodic eastern Pacific phenomenon credited with shielding the United States and Caribbean from severe hurricane seasons, may be overshadowed by its brother in the central Pacific ...
Synthetic chemical offers solution for crops facing drought
Apr 30, 2009 |
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Crops and other plants are constantly confronted with adverse environmental conditions, lowering yield and costing farmers billions of dollars annually. Plants use specialized signals, called stress hormones, ...
Scientists publish complete genetic blueprint of key biofuels crop
Biology /
Jan 28, 2009 |
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Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and several partner institutions have published the sequence and analysis of the complete genome of sorghum, a major food and ...
El Nino intensifies Latin America drought
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 20, 2009 |
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From a devastating food crisis in Guatemala to water cuts in Venezuela, El Nino has compounded drought damage across Latin America this year.
Research spawns new discoveries showing how crops survive drought
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Breakthrough research done earlier this year by a plant cell biologist at the University of California, Riverside has greatly accelerated scientists' knowledge on how plants and crops can ...
Cave study links climate change to California droughts
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 10, 2009 |
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California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to a new study by UC Davis doctoral student Jessica Oster and geology professor ...
Drought resistance explained
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Much as adrenaline coursing through our veins drives our body's reactions to stress, the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is behind plants' responses to stressful situations such as drought, but how it does ...
Beijing's first snow of season 'artificially induced'
Nov 01, 2009 |
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Chinese meteorologists covered Beijing in snow Sunday after seeding clouds to bring winter weather to the capital in an effort to combat a lingering drought, state media reported.
Research May Help Plants, Humans Survive Stress, Disease
Oct 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New technology to analyze gene expression at the level of different cell types offers new insights in the ways that plants and animals react to the environment and how they change when they ...
Researchers develop genetic map for cowpea, accelerating development of new varieties
Oct 13, 2009 |
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Cowpea, a protein-rich legume crop, is immensely important in many parts of the world, particularly drought-prone regions of Africa and Asia, where it plays a central role in the diet and economy of hundreds ...
'Killer' Southeast drought low on scale, says study
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 01, 2009 |
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A 2005-2007 dry spell in the southeastern United States destroyed billions of dollars of crops, drained municipal reservoirs and sparked legal wars among a half-dozen states—but the havoc came not from exceptional ...
Scientists map potato genome, hope to improve crop yield
Sep 24, 2009 |
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It's been cultivated for at least 7,000 years and spread from South America to grow on every continent except Antarctica. Now the humble potato has had its genome sequenced.
The Sky Is Not Falling: Pollution in eastern China cuts light, useful rainfall
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 14, 2009 |
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New research shows that air pollution in eastern China has reduced the amount of light rainfall over the past 50 years and decreased by 23 percent the number of days of light rain in the eastern half of the country. The results ...
Dry autumns and winters may lead to fewer tornadoes in the spring
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 24, 2009 |
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Global warming will likely mean more unpredictable weather, scientists say, and a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia pins down, possibly for the first time, how drought conditions in an ...
