A drought occurs when a large area of land does not get enough rain or snow for a long time. They often happen at the same time as heat waves. Rivers run dry, food crops struggle to grow because they do not have enough water and humans and animals do not have enough water to drink. Droughts are getting longer and more severe because of climate change.
If we stick to the target of stopping the earth getting any warmer than 1.5 degrees Celsius (which was the agreed by 196 countries in 2015 in Paris), we expect the there would be up to 19 extra days of extreme heat each year on average, with warm spells lasting roughly 17 days longer than usual. If this happens, 14% of the world’s population would live through at least one severe heat wave every five years. Europe would have a 47% chance of having summer heat that is worse than ever before each year.
It is likely that we will see more than 1.5 degrees of warming. If the earth warmed by 2 degrees Celsius, there would be around 29 extra days of extreme heat, with warm spells lasting 35 extra days. Europe would have a 59% chance of having summer heat that is worse than ever before each year.
The World Health Organization warns that drought is expected to displace 700 million people by 2030 alone.
For more information about droughts, see the following case studies: