{"id":279003,"date":"2023-09-16T14:38:48","date_gmt":"2023-09-16T12:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=279003"},"modified":"2023-09-16T14:39:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T12:39:04","slug":"claim-climate-change-is-causing-floods-and-flash-droughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=279003","title":{"rendered":"Claim: Climate Change is Causing Floods and \u201cFlash Droughts\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by Eric Worrall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to University of Melbourne academics, climate change is disrupting rainfall and affecting farmers. But strangely this alleged disruption isn\u2019t showing up in global food production statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Faster disaster: climate change fuels \u2018flash droughts\u2019, intense downpours and storms<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published: September 12, 2023 4.59pm AEST<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew King<\/a> Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, The University of Melbourne
Andrew Dowdy<\/a> Principal research scientist, The University of Melbourne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The run of extreme weather events around the world seems to be never-ending. After the northern summer of extreme heat and disastrous fires, we\u2019ve seen more exceptional autumn weather over Europe with record-breaking heat<\/a> in the UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, record-breaking rain and intense flash floods struck Greece<\/a> before the same storm devastated Libya<\/a>, with thousands dead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost 20% of Africa is estimated to be in drought<\/a>, and drought conditions are returning<\/a> to parts of Australia. To top it off, we\u2019ve seen several hurricanes intensify unusually quickly<\/a> in the Atlantic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know climate change underpins some of the more extreme weather we\u2019re seeing. But is it also pushing these extreme events to happen faster? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer? Generally, yes. Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flash droughts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We usually think of droughts as slowly evolving extreme events which take months to form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s no longer a given. We\u2019ve seen some recent droughts develop unexpectedly quickly, giving rise to the phrase \u201cflash drought<\/a>\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flash droughts tend to be short, so they don\u2019t tend to cause the major water shortages or dry river beds we\u2019ve seen during long droughts in parts of Australia and South Africa<\/a>, for example. But they can cause real problems for farmers. Farmers in parts of eastern Australia<\/a> are already grappling<\/a> with the sudden return of drought after three years of rainy La Ni\u00f1a conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we continue to warm the planet, we\u2019ll see more flash droughts and more intense ones. That\u2019s because dry conditions will more often coincide with higher temperatures as relative humidity falls across many land regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/a>Read more: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/faster-disaster-climate-change-fuels-flash-droughts-intense-downpours-and-storms-213242<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The obviously solution to any drought is to pipe in more water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa is on the brink of being a failed state<\/a>, and Libya is a militia trouble spot, so it is no mystery why those countries are having trouble managing national water supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is no such excuse for Australia\u2019s lack of investment in water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, in 2018 the ABC reported the CSIRO has surveyed 3 major river systems which could provide an enormous increase in available agricultural water<\/a>. But so far these detailed plans have seen very little action \u2013 Aussie state and federal governments are too busy frittering all their spare cash on green fantasies, renewable grid upgrades and pumped hydro schemes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the scientists are right, and \u201cflash droughts\u201d become a problem, I would suggest better water infrastructure is a higher priority than green energy fantasies. But I\u2019m not losing any sleep over their prediction, given the complete lack of evidence that adverse growing conditions are impacting yields in the agriculture sector.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If the scientists are right, and \u201cflash droughts\u201d become a problem, I would suggest better water infrastructure is a higher priority than green energy fantasies. But I\u2019m not losing any sleep over their prediction, given the complete lack of evidence that adverse growing conditions are impacting yields in the agriculture sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":279007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691822654,691822653],"class_list":["post-279003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-climate-change","tag-flash-drought","tag-university-of-melbourne-academics","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0crop-yields-1024x723-2.webp?fit=1024%2C723&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1aA3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":253333,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=253333","url_meta":{"origin":279003,"position":0},"title":"Droughts developing more rapidly says global study","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/17\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I am quite sure that Dr Wu and his colleagues are perfectly aware of all of this. That is why they have invented flash droughts, which with some dodgy computer modelling has enabled them to claim something which does not exist.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0vector-a-drought-landscape-scene.webp?fit=1200%2C752&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0vector-a-drought-landscape-scene.webp?fit=1200%2C752&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0vector-a-drought-landscape-scene.webp?fit=1200%2C752&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0vector-a-drought-landscape-scene.webp?fit=1200%2C752&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0vector-a-drought-landscape-scene.webp?fit=1200%2C752&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":257725,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=257725","url_meta":{"origin":279003,"position":1},"title":"Note to Yale Climate Connections \u2013 There Is no Link Between Droughts and Climate Change","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/16\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A May 11, 2023 opinion piece in Yale Climate Connections (YCC) titled, \u201cClimate change and droughts: What\u2019s the connection?\u201d link climate change and droughts in the United States. The opinion is provably false. There is no evidence climate change is making droughts in the United States worse.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00110122_Editor_1600.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00110122_Editor_1600.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00110122_Editor_1600.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00110122_Editor_1600.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00110122_Editor_1600.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":440550,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=440550","url_meta":{"origin":279003,"position":2},"title":"No External Shock Required: Internal Variability Drove Classic Maya Megadroughts","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/20\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A major new climate modeling study published in Quaternary Science Reviews (2026) delivers a powerful reminder: Earth's climate system is perfectly capable of generating severe, multi-decadal megadroughts through its own internal variability\u2014without any external \u201cshock\u201d from volcanoes, solar minima, or human greenhouse gases.","rel":"","context":"In \"Classic Maya period (roughly 800\u20131000 CE)\"","block_context":{"text":"Classic Maya period (roughly 800\u20131000 CE)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=classic-maya-period-roughly-800-1000-ce"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-No-External-Shock-Required-Internal-Variability-Drove-Classic-Maya-Megadroughts.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-No-External-Shock-Required-Internal-Variability-Drove-Classic-Maya-Megadroughts.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-No-External-Shock-Required-Internal-Variability-Drove-Classic-Maya-Megadroughts.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-No-External-Shock-Required-Internal-Variability-Drove-Classic-Maya-Megadroughts.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":430495,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=430495","url_meta":{"origin":279003,"position":3},"title":"Sorry, The New Republic, Climate Change Isn\u2019t Causing Somali Migration. Blame Civil Strife and Poverty.","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/11\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The New Republic (TNR) posted an article titled \u201cSomali Immigrants Fled Climate Change. Now They\u2019re Facing ICE,\u201d claiming that Somali migrants in the United States have been driven out of their country by climate-change caused drought. This is false, or at least incomplete. Drought is a natural part of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"civil war\"","block_context":{"text":"civil war","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=civil-war"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-drought-severity-in-Horn-of-Africa1.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-drought-severity-in-Horn-of-Africa1.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-drought-severity-in-Horn-of-Africa1.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0-drought-severity-in-Horn-of-Africa1.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":424610,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=424610","url_meta":{"origin":279003,"position":4},"title":"No, Al-Jazeera, Climate Change Hasn\u2019t Altered African Flood and Drought Patterns","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/04\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Al Jazeera (AJ) recently published an article titled \u201cDrought in the east, floods in the south: Africa battered by climate change\u201d by Haru Mutasa, in which the reporter details recent experiences of drought in East Africa and flooding in southern Africa, asserting that those weather events are proof that climate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Al Jazeera (AJ)\"","block_context":{"text":"Al Jazeera (AJ)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=al-jazeera-aj"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-04-113652.png?fit=1101%2C1016&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-04-113652.png?fit=1101%2C1016&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-04-113652.png?fit=1101%2C1016&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-04-113652.png?fit=1101%2C1016&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Screenshot-2026-02-04-113652.png?fit=1101%2C1016&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":293081,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=293081","url_meta":{"origin":279003,"position":5},"title":"Wrong, Kansas City Star, Climate Change Isn\u2019t Worsening Weather in Kansas or Missouri","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/29\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0Kansas City Star\u00a0ran an opinion piece claiming climate change is already making weather more extreme in Kansas and Missouri. This is false. There is no data supporting the claim that either flooding or drought, two specific extreme weather events cited in the story, are worse now than they have been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Kansas-City.jpeg?fit=1200%2C530&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Kansas-City.jpeg?fit=1200%2C530&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Kansas-City.jpeg?fit=1200%2C530&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Kansas-City.jpeg?fit=1200%2C530&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Kansas-City.jpeg?fit=1200%2C530&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=279003"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279008,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279003\/revisions\/279008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/279007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=279003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=279003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=279003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}