Hitzewellen, die schädliche Dürren auslösen, kommen immer häufiger vor. In den 1980er-Jahren erfasste ein solcher Extremfall jedes Jahr nur etwa 2,5 % der Landfläche der Erde. Im Jahr 2023, dem letzten von den Forschern untersuchten Jahr, waren es bis zu 16,7 %, mit einem 10-Jahres-Durchschnitt von 7,9 %.

Heatwaves that lead to sudden and damaging drought are spreading across the globe at an accelerating rate, highlighting how climate change-fuelled extremes can build dangerously off each other, a new study found.

Researchers from South Korea and Australia looked at compound extreme weather – a one-two punch of heat and drought – and found it increasing as the world warms. But what’s rising especially fast is the more damaging type when the heat comes first and that triggers the drought.

In the 1980s, that kind of extreme covered only about 2.5 per cent of Earth’s land each year. By 2023, the last year the researchers studied, it was up to 16.7 per cent, with a 10-year average of 7.9 per cent.

The average has likely gone even higher with 2024’s record global heat and a 2025 that was nearly as warm, the study’s authors said.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aea3038