Assessing recent droughts and their ecological and social impacts

Abstract der Sitzung

Droughts hamper nature’s ability to deliver ecosystem services, leading to a wide range of environmental, economic, and social impacts. Drought is used as a common term in different contexts, with different perceptions and consequences. Maximizing our ability to mitigate the escalating burden of drought impacts relies on our knowledge about its potential consequence for the vulnerable sectors. Therefore, studying historical droughts can provide scientific data for testing our past strategies and learning how to get prepared for mitigating the impact of future events. Furthermore, climate change/variability is increasing the frequency and magnitude of droughts in many parts of the world. Over the past decades, we have witnessed several severe droughts all around the world which construct an information pool for developing drought mitigation strategies as well as for drought risk assessment. For example, Europe has experienced several severe droughts within the last decade (2015, 2018, 2019, and 2022). The same is true for many other parts of the world (e.g., the United States). However, their impacts are different due to different levels of exposure and vulnerability in different areas and sectors. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the ecological and social impacts of drought is vital for policymaking.

Quite naturally, each community attempts to look at and solve problems from its own point of view, even though there are strongly interwoven relationships between them. This session aims to remove this barrier by bringing together experts from different perspectives to share their findings on drought preparedness as well as identifying challenges. We invite contributions to assess droughts and their impacts during the past decades, covering any aspect from quantitative to qualitative assessment and both operational and research viewpoints.

The session will be held in English. Looking forward to seeing you there!