The 2017 Northern Plains flash drought’s swift onset and severity were not forecasted, and it resulted in fires that burned 4.8 million acres and U.S. agricultural losses in excess of $2.6 billion dollars. Episodes like this have sparked intense interest in flash drought and a clear conceptualization of what it is in both the research community and the end user/applications community

What does drought look like in Alaska? Limited climate data in the state cannot tell us when streams are so low fish cannot pass or when flowing water is insufficient to operate hydropower. These webinars seek to gather local knowledge and better understand the challenges of drought to food security, energy systems, and more.

The four-part webinar series, taking place in February and March, seeks to raise awareness of ecological drought, share actions that strengthen ecosystem resilience and mitigate the impacts of droughts, and discuss research and management needs for future drought planning and preparedness.

The CPO-led National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), has launched a redesigned U.S. Drought Portal to better serve stakeholders, decisionmakers, the media, and the public. 

Building models that can appropriately capture plant-water interactions is critical in order to accurately simulate the onset and evolution of droughts and their cascading impacts throughout the Earth system.