Erschienen in:Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
Sprache:
Englisch
DOI:
10.5194/nhess-20-2979-2020
ISSN:
1684-9981
Entstehung:
Anmerkungen:
Beschreibung:
<jats:p>Abstract. Droughts are multidimensional hazards that can lead to substantial
environmental and societal impacts. To understand causes and impacts,
multiple perspectives need to be considered. Many studies have identified
past drought events and investigated drought propagation from meteorological
droughts via soil moisture to hydrological droughts, and some studies have
included the impacts of these different types of drought. However, it is not
certain whether the increased frequency and severity of drought events in
the past decade is unprecedented in recent history. Therefore, we analyze
different droughts and their impacts in a regional context using a
multidisciplinary approach. We compile a comprehensive and long-term dataset to investigate possible temporal patterns in drought occurrence and
place recent drought events into a historical context. We assembled a
dataset of drought indices and recorded impacts over the last 218 years in
southwestern Germany. Meteorological and river-flow indices were used to
assess the natural drought dynamics. In addition, tree-ring data and
recorded impacts were utilized to investigate drought events from an
ecological and social perspective. Since 1801, 20 extreme droughts have been identified as common extreme events when applying the different indices. All
events were associated with societal impacts. Our multi-dataset approach
provides insights into similarities but also the unique aspects of different
drought indices.
</jats:p>