The Atmosphere’s Growing Thirst: A Key but Overlooked Factor in Intensifying Droughts
(Sarote Pruksachat/Moment/Getty Images)Droughts are becoming increasingly intense and widespread around the world—but declining rainfall isn’t the only reason. A lesser-known culprit is the atmosphere’s growing demand for water.In a recent Nature study, my colleagues and I found that this increased “atmospheric thirst”—technically known as atmospheric evaporative demand (AED)—has driven around 40% of the worsening...
