[MCN] Drought research : What is drought? The current definition doesn't get the job done

[Lance Olsen]

Redefining Drought Could Lead to Better Preparation
A team of USGS and partner researchers have proposed a new definition of drought that looks beyond drought’s human-centric impacts to account for the high cost of drought on nature and ecosystem services. 

This novel “ecological drought” approach may help decision makers better prevent and respond to drought impacts, especially as drought risk rises in the 21st century. 

Learn more >> <https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/content/redefining-drought-could-lead-better-preparation>
https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/content/redefining-drought-could-lead-better-preparation <https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/content/redefining-drought-could-lead-better-preparation>

Excerpt [bold added]

“Ecological drought impacts are important,” said Shelley Crausbay, a researcher on the project conducted by the Ecological Drought Expert Working Group with support from the U.S. Geological Survey National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center and the Science for Nature and People Partnership. “But so far, they have not easily fit under the existing drought definitions long used by the drought community and, as a result, ecosystem responses to drought remain largely absent from most drought-planning efforts.”

The new definition, which was presented in the  <http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0292.1>Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society <http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0292.1> [open access] <<http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0292.1 <http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0292.1>>>, describes ecological drought as a deficit in available water to the point that ecosystems are irreversibly altered, affecting benefits people typically gain from nature, such as food, water, clean air or recreation. The lack of benefits, in turn, triggers new reactions in both natural and human systems.



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"Conservationists must therefore assess both current and future distributions of species.”

Araújo and Rahbek. How does climate change affect biodiversity? Science 2006).
 
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“Using a meta-analysis, we estimated that the distributions of species have recently shifted to higher elevations at a median rate 
of 11.0 meters per decade, and to higher latitudes at a median rate of 16.9 kilometers per decade. These rates are approximately 
two and three times faster than previously reported”

Chen et al. Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High Levels of Climate Warming. Science 2011).
 
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“The rate of warming implies …  range shifts of up to several kilometers per year, raising the prospect of daunting challenges for ecosystems …”

Diffenbaugh and Field. Changes in Ecologically Critical Terrestrial Climate Conditions. Science. 2013
 
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At a time when the world is anticipating unprecedented increases in human population growth and demands, the ability of natural ecosystems 
to deliver ecosystem services is being challenged by the largest climate-driven global redistribution of species since the Last Glacial Maximum.”

Pecl et al. Biodiversity redistribution under climate change: Impacts on ecosystems and human well-being. Science 2017


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