When Heat and Low Rainfall Combine Vegetation Faces Greater Drought Risk
The research group of Dr. Somil Swarnkar, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, IISER Bhopal, developed an approach to assess how low rainfall, extreme heat and their combined occurrence affect vegetation drought across India. Plants need water to remain healthy. When rainfall is scarce, their water supply falls; unusually hot conditions can add further stress. This research examines what happens when these pressures occur together, using a framework that estimates the likelihood of vegetation drought under different climate conditions. The study shows that combined dry and hot extremes can amplify vegetation drought risk disproportionately. In simple terms, assessing rainfall shortages and heat separately can miss the extra risk associated with their interaction. Published in Ecological Indicators, the work highlights why India’s vegetation monitoring and drought assessments should consider heat and rainfall together. The findings can inform agricultural and ecosystem resilience planning and climate adaptation. Anushka Meena and Vikash Peepliwal, both BS-MS students at IISER Bhopal, contributed to the research alongside Saroj Kumar Dash from University of California Davis, USA.For more details, kindly visit https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X26010198
