Anthropogenic Drought: Definition, Challenges, and Opportunities

TLDR

Traditional drought definitions focus on deficits in water‑related variables caused by natural variability beyond local control, whereas anthropogenic drought incorporates human‑induced changes. The authors argue that drought in coupled human‑water systems should be defined as a dynamic process and identify research gaps and opportunities for better understanding, modeling, and management. They define anthropogenic drought as a compound, multidimensional phenomenon driven by natural variability, climate change, human decisions, and altered micro‑climate, incorporating land‑atmosphere interactions and water‑energy balance feedbacks. This process widens the water supply‑demand gap, potentially causing water bankruptcy worldwide, and has significant implications for short‑ and long‑term water resource planning, governance, and policymaking.

Abstract

Abstract Traditional, mainstream definitions of drought describe it as deficit in water‐related variables or water‐dependent activities (e.g., precipitation, soil moisture, surface and groundwater storage, and irrigation) due to natural variabilities that are out of the control of local decision‐makers. Here, we argue that within coupled human‐water systems, drought must be defined and understood as a process as opposed to a product to help better frame and describe the complex and interrelated dynamics of both natural and human‐induced changes that define anthropogenic drought as a compound multidimensional and multiscale phenomenon, governed by the combination of natural water variability, climate change, human decisions and activities, and altered micro‐climate conditions due to changes in land and water management. This definition considers the full spectrum of dynamic feedbacks and processes (e.g., land‐atmosphere interactions and water and energy balance) within human‐nature systems that drive the development of anthropogenic drought . This process magnifies the water supply demand gap and can lead to water bankruptcy, which will become more rampant around the globe in the coming decades due to continuously growing water demands under compounding effects of climate change and global environmental degradation. This challenge has de facto implications for both short‐term and long‐term water resources planning and management, water governance, and policymaking. Herein, after a brief overview of the anthropogenic drought concept and its examples, we discuss existing research gaps and opportunities for better understanding, modeling, and management of this phenomenon.