downtoearth-subscribe

Dominance of summer monsoon flash droughts in India

Flash droughts intensify rapidly after onset and cause short-term but devastating impacts on agriculture and the ecosystem. However, the drivers and characteristics of flash droughts in India have not been examined. The research show that flash droughts predominantly occur during the monsoon (June to September) in India. More than 80% of the country-level flash droughts occurred during the monsoon season in India. Similarly, four out of six homogeneous precipitation regions experienced more droughts during the monsoon season than the non-monsoon season. The Himalayan and Peninsular regions experience more flash droughts during the non-monsoon season primarily due to precipitation caused by western disturbance and northeast monsoon.