Europe and parts of China have experienced extreme temperatures this summer, dry conditions in Africa have put millions at risk of starvation, and the American West continues to see a persistent lack of rainfall.
Scientists say warmer and drier seasons are likely to become the norm, but have these past few months been the driest on record?
How dry is the earth?
One measure of drought conditions used by scientists is based on the level of moisture in the soil as measured by satellite imagery.
We have compared these dry conditions over the past three months to average conditions since the beginning of this century, to build up a picture of how extreme recent weather patterns have been.
This data is based on both soil conditions and temperature data to create what is known as a soil moisture anomaly map.
We can see that most of Europe has experienced much drier weather this summer than the average for the period 2001 to 2016.
Elsewhere, the west of China has been very dry, with many areas experiencing extreme drought. Parts of sub-Saharan Africa and the US are also experiencing critically dry conditions.
Europe drought ‘worst in 500 years’
In Europe, this summer’s drought may be the worst the continent has experienced in 500 years, according to the EU’s environmental programme Copernicus.
At the peak of the dry spell in late August, almost half of Europe suffered from a “soil moisture deficit”.
Scientists say climate change means Europe will continue to experience more frequent and persistent droughts, and the dry conditions this year have affected agriculture, transport and energy generation.
The Rhine, a major river and cargo route, dropped to critically low levels this summer, causing shipping disruption
he period between June and August was the hottest on record, and a report by the EU in August predicted at least three more months of “warmer and drier” days.
Europe has experienced droughts in the past, but recent years have seen increasingly hot summers with many high temperature records set.
“We have now had consecutive droughts for the last five years, and this year is the worst Europe-wide drought in hundreds of years,” says Dr Fred Hattermann, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
“It’s not just less rain, it’s also that it’s got much warmer, so the overall soil moisture has decreased.”
China’s droughts and floods
This summer, China experienced an extended period of high temperatures that lasted more than two months, the longest since records began in the 1960s, according to China’s Meteorological Administration.
