There’s no debate, climate change worsens drought. Here’s how..

We sourced the facts from verified experts.

Australia is currently going through one of the worst droughts on record Farmers are really struggling. Droughts are normal. Controlled by low rain and soil moisture.

Many claim recent climate change isn’t linked to drought so we asked a FACT-CHECK: Is recent global warming making droughts worse? 100% ‘Yes’, based on answers from 13 independent global climate experts

Facts: Evaporation depends on temperature.Warmer temperatures mean more evaporation and worsening droughts.

Answers: “Yes, recent global warming is making droughts worse.” says Dr Anthony Ambrose, University of California, Berkeley. “Increasing temperatures are increasing the evaporative demand of the atmosphere, which dries the soil and plants out more than would otherwise occur, and exacerbate times of low precipitation” he explains.

“Climate change is causing surface temperatures to warm nearly everywhere. This results in more evaporation and less soil moisture, making any drought more severe.” says Dr Philip Duffy, Woods Hole Research Center.

This results in more evaporation and less soil moisture, making any drought more severe

“Even if precipitation did not change, drought would become more common.” says Peter Douglas, McGill University.

What about for Australian droughts?

“The answer will vary bet ween areas” says Dr Andrew King, University of Melbourne. “In southwestern Australia, there’s been a substantial decline in winter rainfall in the last 60 years, it is likely that droughts are getting worse and human-caused climate change is contributing to this” he says “In eastern Australia, there is little evidence of rainfall decline in most places, greater evaporation under warmer conditions may be contributing to slightly worse droughts.”

Learn the facts from all experts here at metafact.io