'Flash drought' frequency increasing due to climate change: study

'Flash drought' frequency increasing due to climate change: study
By Lucie AUBOURG
Washington (AFP) April 13, 2023

Dry-spells known as flash droughts, with a surprisingly rapid onset and often devastating impact, are becoming more frequent as human activity warms the planet, according to a study published Thursday.

Though droughts are generally thought of as long-term phenomena, some can occur quite suddenly, in a matter of weeks, when the conditions are right.

Global warming is a recipe for increasing those special conditions around the world, creating in certain areas a decrease in precipitation and increased evaporation, which dries out the soil more quickly.

For the study, published in the journal Science, researchers analyzed a combination of satellite data and ground moisture readings from a period of over 60 years (1951-2014).

"Both flash and slow droughts are increasing" as global temperatures rise, lead author Xing Yuan told AFP.

But flash droughts are increasing more quickly "especially over Europe, North and East Asia, Sahel and west coast of South America," he said.

The researcher, based out of China's Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), warned that the rapid onset of flash droughts gives humans little time to adapt, such as by diverting water resources or preparing for wildfires.

"The vegetation do not have enough time to adapt either," he added.

Yuan's team used climate modeling to forecast how flash droughts will change under several possible greenhouse gas emission scenarios.

Even if emissions are moderate, flash droughts will continue to become more frequent across practically all regions. Under higher emissions scenarios, the trend would be more drastic.

Yuan also said the data showed a general increase in drought onset speeds, with his team finding a "robust transition at global scale" of slow to flash droughts.

"We believe the reduction in emission can slow down this transition," he told AFP.

The concept of flash drought emerged in the early 21st century, but has received more attention since the summer 2012 drought in the United States, which set in particularly quickly and caused more than $30 billion in economic losses.

A commentary piece by two professors in the Netherlands, also published in Science, said the study's warning "should be taken seriously" as the threat "may be even greater than they suggest."

David Walker of Wageningen University and Anne Van Loon of Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, both of whom were not involved in Yuan's work, underlined that most of the "hot spot regions" determined by the study were particularly low-income areas.

"These regions generally have more vulnerable populations and lower financial resources for coping mechanisms," they said.

The pair also added that current methods for detecting droughts, often month-by-month data analyses, must be updated to "operate on shorter time scales," due to the increase in flash droughts which "may build and trigger outcomes in just weeks."

Three electrocuted in Iraq floods
Hilla, Iraq (AFP) April 13, 2023 - At least three people have been electrocuted in central Iraq after torrential rain played havoc with the war-ravaged country's dilapidated power grid, a medical official said Thursday.

The three deaths happened in separate incidents in the central province of Babil, said Dr Ahmed Sabbah, director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in the provincial capital Hilla.

The dead were aged 16, 22 and 30 and one of them was a woman, Sabbah told AFP.

They had all gone outside to switch off the main supply to their homes during Wednesday's storm, for fear that power fluctuations would damage their household electrical appliances.

The storm brought disruption to large parts of Iraq, not just Babil province, south of Baghdad.

Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani ordered civil servants to stay home nationwide on Thursday, except for key staff and security personnel.

In the northern Kurdistan region, the rains sent a river of mud pouring through the village of Khabat, with several shops suffering water damage, an AFP photographer reported.

Florida downpour leaves many stranded, shuts down airport
Fort Lauderdale, United States (AFP) April 13, 2023 - Torrential rain has drenched much of greater Miami, leaving cars stranded and forcing the closure of schools and Fort Lauderdale's airport until at least Friday.

The downpour on Wednesday dumped 635 millimeters (25 inches) of rain in 24 hours on Fort Lauderdale, a coastal city of 180,000 people, the National Weather Service said.

That was almost twice the amount of water that set the previous record in 1979. Fort Lauderdale is about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Miami.

The rain caused scores of traffic jams and flooded roads leading to Fort Lauderdale's busy international airport, leaving many people stranded and forcing cancellation of numerous flights until the airport was closed altogether.

Authorities had hoped to reopen it Thursday but said a further delay until Friday was needed to remove all the water and debris from the runways.

"This is pure stupidity," a tourist named Rob Gourley told the Sun Sentinel newspaper. He was angry because his flight to the Bahamas for him and his wife was scrapped because of the storm in Fort Lauderdale.

"It's the first time out in five years because of COVID and everything. We're ready to just drive home and forget it," said Gourley, who lives in Sarasota, on Florida's Gulf coast.

The city declared a state of emergency and asked people to be patient as it worked to reopen flooded roads.

Forecasters warned of possible flooding in metropolitan Miami because more rain was forecast for Thursday and the ground is already soaked.

UK police recover body from Channel after Storm Noa
London (AFP) April 13, 2023 - British police on Thursday said a body had been found washed up on a southern English beach, following heavy winds from Storm Noa that have battered the UK and France.

Coastguard helicopters and lifeboats launched a rescue effort on Wednesday afternoon after a report of a person in the sea off the coast of the city of Brighton, in East Sussex.

"An extensive search of the area took place throughout the evening until 9:00 pm (2000 GMT) in challenging conditions," a coastguard spokeswoman said.

Local police said a body was then discovered at 8:15am on Thursday.

"An investigation into the circumstances is ongoing and further updates will be provided in due course," Sussex police said.

It follows a separate emergency services' search off Brighton beach on Tuesday afternoon, after a woman was spotted in the water.

Sussex police confirmed her body had also been found and the woman's next of kin informed.

"Her death is not being treated as suspicious," the force said.

Storm Noa, which was named by France's meteorological service, has caused havoc on both sides of the Channel, with strong winds leaving hundreds of homes without power, felling trees and disrupting travel services in England.