Pang et al. (2025) Amplified contrasts in evapotranspiration between wet and dry regions caused by compound drought-hot events

Identification

• Journal: Global and Planetary Change
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-10-07
• Authors: Yuting Pang, Zengchao Hao, Yang Chen, Ruitong Yang, Yitong Zhang, Vijay P. Singh
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105108

Research Groups

• College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
• State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, China
• Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

Short Summary

This study investigates the response of evapotranspiration (ET) to concurrent drought and hot extremes (CDHEs) compared to individual droughts, revealing an amplified contrast where CDHEs lead to stronger negative ET anomalies in arid regions and stronger positive anomalies in humid regions. This "less for less and more for more" paradigm is driven by more severe meteorological conditions during CDHEs.

Objective

• To compare the response of evapotranspiration (ET) to individual droughts and concurrent drought-hot extremes (CDHEs), and to identify the underlying drivers causing the observed differences.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global, covering regions such as North America, South America (Argentina, eastern Brazil, northern South America), Africa (southern/eastern Africa, central Africa), Asia (central Asia, southeast China, southeast Asia), and Australia.
• Temporal Scale: Long-term, focusing on the warm season.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not explicitly stated, but the study leverages long-term reanalysis data, which are products of atmospheric and land surface models.
• Data sources: Long-term reanalysis data.

Main Results

• Both individual droughts and CDHEs result in negative ET anomalies in southwest North America, Argentina, eastern Brazil, southern/eastern Africa, central Asia, and Australia, and positive ET anomalies in northern South America, central Africa, southeast China, and southeast Asia, compared to the entire warm season.
• CDHEs amplify these contrasts: arid regions experience stronger negative ET anomalies (−24.61 %) under CDHEs compared to individual droughts.
• Humid regions experience stronger positive ET anomalies (39.69 %) under CDHEs compared to individual droughts.
• This "less for less and more for more" ET response paradigm under CDHEs is associated with even lower precipitation, enhanced radiation, higher temperature, and increased vapor pressure deficit compared to droughts alone.

Contributions

• Provides a novel comparison of evapotranspiration responses to individual droughts versus concurrent drought-hot extreme events.
• Identifies and quantifies an amplified "less for less and more for more" paradigm in ET anomalies under compound extreme events.
• Pinpoints the key meteorological drivers (precipitation, radiation, temperature, vapor pressure deficit) contributing to the differential ET response.
• Underscores the critical importance of considering compounding drought-hot stresses for understanding ET anomalies in a warming climate, offering implications for water resource management, ecosystem conservation, and climate change adaptation strategies.

Funding

• Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Pang2025Amplified,
  author = {Pang, Yuting and Hao, Zengchao and Chen, Yang and Yang, Ruitong and Zhang, Yitong and Singh, Vijay P.},
  title = {Amplified contrasts in evapotranspiration between wet and dry regions caused by compound drought-hot events},
  journal = {Global and Planetary Change},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105108},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105108}
}