Episode 20: Dryness, drought and the atmosphere’s thirst
Alongside the heat, dry spells and droughts have been among the defining weather topics of this summer. But what exactly distinguishes a dry spell from a drought? Does it all depend solely on rainfall? And what is the difference between meteorological and hydrological drought?
Our ‘drought expert’ Klaus Haslinger takes us on a journey through the various facets of dry spells and droughts. This isn’t just about current weather conditions, but also about the astonishing long-term memory of major rivers – and what mammoth bones can tell us about them.
As always, we’ll also be looking at the links to climate change: how are aridity and drought changing? What lies ahead for us? And above all: what measures can we take to ensure we’re not so at the mercy of aridity in future?
An episode about water scarcity, rivers, climate change and the question of how we can cope better with drought.
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The dryness of the soil is plain to see in many places. © GeoSphere Austria/De Wit.
On our climate monitoring portal, you can track the (annual) total precipitation almost in real time:
