Global Drought Outlook 2025
Kartavya Desk Staff
Syllabus: Disaster & Agriculture
Source: OECD
Context: The OECD released its latest report “Global Drought Outlook 2025” warning of worsening drought impacts globally, with 40% of the planet now experiencing more frequent and intense droughts
About Global Drought Outlook 2025:
• What it is: A global assessment of evolving drought trends, impacts, and adaptation policies.
• Published by: OECD — Global Drought Outlook: Trends, Impacts and Policies to Adapt to a Drier World, 2025.
What is Drought and Its Types:
• Definition: Drought is a hydrological imbalance — prolonged periods of “drier-than-normal” conditions affecting soil moisture, surface, and groundwater.
• Types of Droughts: Meteorological Drought: Occurs when an area receives significantly below-average rainfall, leading to prolonged dry conditions. Agricultural Drought: Results when soil moisture becomes insufficient to meet the needs of crops and vegetation, affecting yields. Hydrological Drought: Arises when rivers, lakes, and groundwater levels decline below normal, impacting water supply for ecosystems and human use.
• Meteorological Drought: Occurs when an area receives significantly below-average rainfall, leading to prolonged dry conditions.
• Agricultural Drought: Results when soil moisture becomes insufficient to meet the needs of crops and vegetation, affecting yields.
• Hydrological Drought: Arises when rivers, lakes, and groundwater levels decline below normal, impacting water supply for ecosystems and human use.
Trends in Drought Across the Globe:
• Affected Land: The share of global land exposed to drought has doubled since 1900, due to climate change and land use pressures.
• Current Impact: In 2023, nearly 48% of the world’s land area faced at least one month of extreme drought, severely straining ecosystems and communities.
• Regional Hotspots: Persistent and severe droughts are increasingly common in the Western United States, South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia.
• Water Resources: Around 62% of monitored aquifers show declining trends, with major rivers experiencing reduced flow, threatening water security.
• Future Projections: If global warming reaches +4°C, droughts could become 7 times more frequent and severe by 2100, posing systemic global risks.
Impact of Drought:
• Ecosystem: 37% of global soils show significant drying since 1980. Declining river flows, groundwater depletion.
• 37% of global soils show significant drying since 1980.
• Declining river flows, groundwater depletion.
• Economic: Drought costs rising 3–7.5% annually. Average drought today is twice as costly as in 2000; 35% cost increase projected by 2035. Agriculture hit worst — crop yields can fall 22% in dry years. Trade & Energy: 40% reduction in fluvial trade, 25% decline in hydropower in severe drought.
• Drought costs rising 3–7.5% annually.
• Average drought today is twice as costly as in 2000; 35% cost increase projected by 2035.
• Agriculture hit worst — crop yields can fall 22% in dry years.
• Trade & Energy: 40% reduction in fluvial trade, 25% decline in hydropower in severe drought.
• Social: 34% of disaster-related deaths are drought-driven (only 6% of disasters are droughts). Major driver of hunger, displacement, and migration in Sub-Saharan Africa. Political instability and social unrest linked to resource scarcity.
• 34% of disaster-related deaths are drought-driven (only 6% of disasters are droughts).
• Major driver of hunger, displacement, and migration in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Political instability and social unrest linked to resource scarcity.
Measures to Counter Drought:
• Integrated Water Resource Management: Efficient use, equitable allocation, restoring balance between withdrawal and renewal.
• Nature-based Solutions (NbS): Urban de-sealing, landscape restoration.
• Sustainable Agriculture: Drought-tolerant crops, efficient irrigation — can cut water use by up to 76%.
• Urban Planning: De-sealing cities restores aquifers (US examples show 780 mn m³/yr recovery).
• Early Warning Systems: Better monitoring, risk mapping.
• Policy Integration: Embedding climate adaptation into water policies and land-use planning.
• Cross-Sector Collaboration: Involving energy, transport, construction, health sectors.
• Investment Returns: Every dollar spent on drought resilience yields 2x–10x benefits.
Conclusion:
As climate change escalates, droughts are no longer isolated events but global systemic risks affecting water, food, energy, and human security. The OECD urges nations to adopt proactive, integrated strategies to build resilience. Timely investment and cross-sector action can secure sustainable water futures for coming generations
• Drought has been recognized as a disaster in view of its spatial expense, temporal duration, slow onset and lasting effect on various vulnerable sections. With a focus on the September 2010 guidelines from the National disaster management authority, discuss the mechanism for preparedness to deal with the El Nino and La Nina fallouts in India. (2014)