Climate change will lead to abrupt shifts in dryland ecosystems, study warns
Friday, February 14, 2020 - 09:40
in Earth & Climate
Drylands cover about 41% of the Earth's land surface and host one in three humans inhabiting our planet. In these areas, life is highly influenced by aridity, i.e. the balance between the amount of rainwater and the water lost by evaporation. In this sense, aridity is increasing worldwide as a result of climate change. A study conducted by the Dryland Ecology and Global Change Lab at the University of Alicante (UA) led by Fernando T. Maestre and published in Science revealed for the first time that as aridity increases, dryland ecosystems on the planet undergo a series of abrupt changes.