Description

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Context:

Global climate patterns in 2023 and 2024 set the stage for severe drought impacts worldwide that are continuing into 2025.

Details:

The UN and U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), in partnership with UNCCD and the International Drought Resilience Alliance, released a comprehensive report on July 2, 2025. It identifies critical “drought hotspots” from 2023–2025, underscoring intensifying droughts worldwide fueled by climate change and the 2023–2024 El Niño event.

Driving Factors:

Climate Change & Rising Temperatures: Global temperature rises have made drought conditions more severe and frequent.
El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO): The 2023–2024 El Niño amplified dryness and heat, especially in Africa, the Amazon, and Latin America.

Key Drought Hotspots

Region	Affected Countries/Areas	Key Impacts
Africa (Eastern & Southern)	Somalia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia	- Over 90 million facing acute hunger - 68 million in Southern Africa needing food aid by August 2024
	Zimbabwe	- Corn crop down 70% - Maize prices doubled- 9,000 cattle died
	Zambia	- Zambezi River fell to 20% of average - Kariba Dam at 7% capacity → 21-hour blackouts
	Somalia	- 2021–2023 drought caused ~43,000 excess deaths- 4.4 million people facing crisis-level food insecurity
Latin America & Amazon Basin	Amazon River Basin (Brazil, Peru, Colombia, etc.)	- Record-low river levels → mass fish & dolphin deaths - Disruption in transport & drinking water for hundreds of thousands
	Rio Negro	- Dropped to the lowest level in a century (Nov 2023)
	General (South America)	- Severe drought triggered wildfires in early 2025
Mediterranean & Middle East	Spain, Morocco, Turkey	- Spain: Olive crop down 50%, olive oil prices doubled - Morocco: Sheep population declined 38% since 2016 - Turkey: Groundwater depletion caused sinkholes
Southeast Asia	Thailand, India, others	- Drought affected rice, coffee, sugar crops - Triggered global rise in sugar/sweets prices

Layered Impacts

Food & Water Security: Acute hunger across Africa; crop losses (maize, wheat) threaten livelihoods .
Energy & Infrastructure: Hydropower failures in Zambia; blackouts impacting hospitals and factories.
Ecosystems & Wildlife: Mass wildlife mortality in Africa (elephants, hippos, lions) and Amazon (fish, river dolphins).
Humanitarian & Socioeconomic: Rising child marriage rates, school dropouts, forced migration, and disrupted global trade (e.g., Panama Canal).

Policy & Resilience Measures

Early Warning & Monitoring: Calls for stronger real-time drought monitoring systems globally.
Nature-Based Solutions: Emphasis on watershed restoration and indigenous farming practices.
Infrastructure & Aid Scaling: Investment in resilient infrastructure, off-grid energy, water technologies, and humanitarian support.
Global Collaboration: Coordinated global financing and preparation as drought becomes a driver of economic shocks and ecosystem collapse.

The 2023–2025 drought hotspots report signals a stark warning: droughts driven by climate change and El Niño are converging with vulnerabilities, leading to hunger, ecosystem collapse, economic shutdowns, and social crises. This compounds the imperative for the UN, national governments, and civil societies to adopt anticipatory, holistic, and resilient drought preparedness strategies and mitigate escalating planetary risk.

Source: unccd.int

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q."Climate-induced droughts are not merely environmental events but multidimensional crises impacting food security, livelihoods, energy systems, and ecosystems." In the light of the recent UN-NDMC report on global drought hotspots (2023–2025), examine the socio-economic and ecological consequences of drought. (250 words).