by Matteo Cavallito<\/p>\n
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Flash drought, the phenomenon of sudden water shortage<\/strong>, is reportedly becoming more frequent on a global scale due to climate change, says a study by a group of Chinese researchers led by National Natural Science Foundation of China<\/strong> professor Xing Yuan and published<\/a> in the journal Science. These phenomena, the researchers point out, are progressively replacing their long-term counterparts, implicitly posing special prediction and management difficulties.<\/p>\n The investigation looked at soil moisture data worldwide from 1951 to 2014<\/strong> and calculated the rate of soil drying at the beginning and end of critical periods. According to the researchers, human-induced global warming<\/strong> remains the main cause of this trend, which is characterized by the onset of more extreme heat waves in comparison with those occurring during seasonal droughts.<\/p>\n