New data from Nasa has revealed a dramatic rise in the intensity of weather events such as droughts and floods over the past five years. The study shows that such extreme events are becoming more frequent, longer-lasting and more severe, with last year’s figures reaching twice that of the 2003-2020 average. The steepness of the rise was not foreseen. The researchers say they are amazed and alarmed by the latest figures from the watchful eye of Nasa’s Grace satellite, which tracks environmental changes in the planet. They say climate change is the most likely cause of the apparent trend, even though the intensity of extremes appears to have soared even faster than global temperatures. A Met Office expert said increases in extremes have long been predicted but are now being seen in reality. He warned that people were unprepared for such weather events, which would be outside previous experience.

Other climate and drought research news:

• ABC News: Global land affected by drought has doubled since 1900: Report
• DW (Bonn, Germany): Drought has many faces and many impacts
• American Association for the Advancement of Science: Ancient groundwater records reveal regional vulnerabilities to climate change