The Role of Climate and Vegetation in Regulating Drought-Heat Extremes

Abstract

Droughts cause serious environmental and societal impacts, often aggravated by simultaneously occurring heat waves. Climate and vegetation play key roles in the evolution of drought-associated temperature anomalies, but their relative importance is largely unknown. Here, we present the hottest temperature anomalies during drought in subhumid and tree-dominated regions using observation-based, global data over 2001-15. These anomalies are mainly driven by a drought-related net radiation surplus and further amplified by forests' water-saving strategies that result in diminished evaporative cooling. By contrast, in semiarid and short-vegetation regions, drought-related temperature increases are smaller. The reduction of evaporative cooling is weak and net radiation increases only marginally due to high albedo over drought-stressed vegetation. Our findings highlight the importance of considering all interacting factors in understanding diverse mechanisms of concurrent drought-heat extremes across different climate regimes. Significance StatementClimate and vegetation have a strong influence in regulating temperature anomalies during drought. However, the physical mechanisms behind drought-heat events across different climate-vegetation regimes are not always accurately described in physically based models. Here we use global-scale, observation-based datasets to show the spatial variation of temperature anomalies during drought, with the largest anomalies in subhumid and tree-dominated regions. Further, we present observational evidence for the relative roles of climate and vegetation in shaping drought-heat extremes across space. Our study provides valuable inputs to better understand the drought-heat pathways and their spatial variations, which can inform drought adaptation and mitigation efforts.