Wang et al. (2025) Hidden deep soil moisture droughts

Identification

• Journal: Nature Climate Change
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-14
• Authors: Yunqiang Wang, Zimin Li
• DOI: 10.1038/s41558-025-02493-w

Research Groups

• State Key Laboratory of Loess Science, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, China
• National Observation and Research Station of Earth Critical Zone on the Loess Plateau, Xi’an, China
• Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

Short Summary

Anthropogenic climate change exacerbates global soil moisture droughts, which are now revealed to also occur in deeper layers, and are projected to become longer lasting and more severe in a warming climate.

Objective

• To highlight the global occurrence of soil moisture droughts in deeper layers and project their increased duration and severity under future anthropogenic climate change.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global
• Temporal Scale: Current conditions and future projections under anthropogenic climate change.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not specified in this News & Views article.
• Data sources: Not specified in this News & Views article.

Main Results

• Global soil moisture droughts are frequently observed in deeper soil layers, not solely at the surface.
• Under a warming climate, these deep soil moisture droughts are projected to become both longer lasting and more severe.

Contributions

• This article highlights the critical importance of considering deep soil moisture droughts, which are often overlooked in studies primarily focusing on surface layers.
• It emphasizes the projected exacerbation of these deep droughts in terms of duration and severity due to anthropogenic climate change, providing a more comprehensive understanding of future drought impacts.

Funding

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 42525706 and U24A20629)

Citation

@article{Wang2025Hidden,
  author = {Wang, Yunqiang and Li, Zimin},
  title = {Hidden deep soil moisture droughts},
  journal = {Nature Climate Change},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1038/s41558-025-02493-w},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02493-w}
}

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