ORIGIN: https://www.yourweather.co.uk/news/
A study looking at 120 years of climate data has found that shifting ocean temperatures act as a natural brake on drought, stopping dry conditions from spreading across the world simultaneously
A new study has found that shifting ocean temperatures have prevented drought from spreading across the world’s major land regions at the same time over the past 120 years.Past estimates have suggested that as much as one-sixth of the Earth’s land area could be affected by drought simultaneously, which would be catastrophic for global agriculture.
However, fresh research led by the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar suggests something very different. The team have been through climate records going all the way back to 1901 and found that synchronised droughts only ever covered between 1.8% and 6.5% of the planet’s land area at any one time, which is nowhere close to one-sixth.
The reason that number stays so low, according to the researchers, comes down to what’s happening in the oceans.
How oceans keep droughts regional
Dr Udit Bhatia, who led the study, mapped out drought events globally as
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