Severe droughts are becoming hotter, longer, and increasingly devastating to ecosystems as climate change accelerates, according to a new study, which reports that temperate grasslands, including in parts of the United States, are facing the worst effects. The findings provide a global quantitative understanding of multiyear droughts (MYDs) – prolonged events lasting years or decades – and offer a benchmark for understanding their global trends and impacts. As droughts become more frequent worldwide, the likelihood of MYDs rises, posing severe threats to both natural ecosystems and human systems. These events deplete soil moisture and reduce streamflow, potentially causing irreversible damage, with consequences that include widespread crop failures, increased tree mortality, diminished ecosystem productivity, and reduced water supplies. Recent MYDs, like the Western U.S. drought (2000–2018) and Chile's ongoing drought (since 2010), have drawn significant concern due to their devastating impacts. However, less prominent MYDs, with fewer perceived consequences, may have gone unnoticed, highlighting the need for comprehensive knowledge of their occurrence and effects. To address this need, Liangzhi Chen and colleagues mapped the global distribution of 13,176 MYDs from 1980 to 2018 using the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), which measures drought severity based on the balance between precipitation and potential evaporative demand. Chen et al. also assessed these events’ impacts on vegetation through remotely sensed greenness data. The findings show that over the last 40 years, MYDs have occurred on nearly every continent and have become increasingly widespread, hotter, and drier, with global land affected by these events increasing by 49,279 ±14,771 square kilometers annually. What’s more, the authors report that the ecosystem impacts of MYDs varied significantly, with temperate grasslands exhibiting greater declines in greenness compared to subtropical and tropical forests. While grasslands demonstrated low resistance to drought, they often displayed rapid recovery following drought events, highlighting their unique resilience dynamics. In a related Perspective, David Hoover and William Smith discuss the study and its findings in greater detail.

Seven Australopithecus specimens uncovered at the Sterkfontein fossil site in South Africa were herbivorous hominins who did not eat substantial amounts of meat, according to a new study by Tina Lüdecke and colleagues. Lüdecke et al. analyzed organic nitrogen and carbonate carbon isotopes extracted from tooth enamel in the fossil specimens to determine the hominin diets. Some researchers have hypothesized that the incorporation of animal-based foods in early hominin diets led to increased brain size, smaller gut size, and increased stature – all key events in human evolution. Cut and scraped bones and some stone tools from the same time period (around 3.7 million years ago) offer hints that australopithecines were eating some meat, but there has been a lack of direct evidence for an animal diet. The researchers analyzed enamel nitrogen isotope measurements from 43 animal fossils, including the australopithecines, and modern African mammals to characterize these isotopes in known carnivores and herbivores. They found a clear separation in the enamel isotopes between the two groups, with the Australopithecus enamel significantly similar to that of the herbivore group. It’s possible, the researchers note, that the australopithecines were eating energy-rich foods with low nitrogen isotope ratios, like legumes or possibly termites. But it’s unlikely that they were eating enough meat to drive changes in brain size and other characteristics that are hallmarks of human evolution, Lüdecke et al. conclude.

 

A segment of Science's weekly podcast with Tina Lüdecke, related to this research, will be available on the Science.org podcast landing page [http://www.science.org/podcasts] after the embargo lifts. Reporters are free to make use of the segments for broadcast purposes and/or quote from them – with appropriate attribution (i.e., cite "Science podcast"). Please note that the file itself should not be posted to any other Web site.

Beneath sandy beaches, microbes filter chemicals from groundwater and safeguard ocean health. A Stanford-led study reveals that sneaker waves provide a lens to explore the impending impacts of sea level rise on beach hydrology, chemistry, and microbiology.