Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado4245

Droughts are increasing in frequency and severity worldwide as climate warms. The question is, are the longest-lasting and most severe of these, called “megadroughts,” also happening more often and, if so, where? Chen et al. used a morphological approach to identify megadroughts globally over the past 40 years and applied drought and plant-greenness indices to determine their impacts on vegetation (see the Perspective by Hoover and Smith). The authors concluded that megadroughts also are increasing in occurrence, frequency, and severity on a global scale, and identified the regions where the vegetation is highly susceptible to these episodes. —Jesse Smith