Articles | Volume 22, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2201-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2201-2022
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
29 Jun 2022
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 29 Jun 2022

Lessons from the 2018–2019 European droughts: a collective need for unifying drought risk management

Veit Blauhut, Michael Stoelzle, Lauri Ahopelto, Manuela I. Brunner, Claudia Teutschbein, Doris E. Wendt, Vytautas Akstinas, Sigrid J. Bakke, Lucy J. Barker, Lenka Bartošová, Agrita Briede, Carmelo Cammalleri, Ksenija Cindrić Kalin, Lucia De Stefano, Miriam Fendeková, David C. Finger, Marijke Huysmans, Mirjana Ivanov, Jaak Jaagus, Jiří Jakubínský, Svitlana Krakovska, Gregor Laaha, Monika Lakatos, Kiril Manevski, Mathias Neumann Andersen, Nina Nikolova, Marzena Osuch, Pieter van Oel, Kalina Radeva, Renata J. Romanowicz, Elena Toth, Mirek Trnka, Marko Urošev, Julia Urquijo Reguera, Eric Sauquet, Aleksandra Stevkov, Lena M. Tallaksen, Iryna Trofimova, Anne F. Van Loon, Michelle T. H. van Vliet, Jean-Philippe Vidal, Niko Wanders, Micha Werner, Patrick Willems, and Nenad Živković

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Cited articles

Aldunce, P., Araya, D., Sapiain, R., Ramos, I., Lillo, G., Urquiza, A., and Garreaud, R: Local perception of drought impacts in a changing climate: The mega-drought in central Chile, Sustainability, 9, 205, https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112053, 2017. 
Bachmair, S., Stahl, K., Collins, K., Hannaford, J., Acreman, M., Svoboda, M., Knutson, C., Smith, K. H., Wall, N., Fuchs, B., and Crossman, N. D.: Drought indicators revisited: the need for a wider consideration of environment and society, Wiley Interdisciplin. Rev. Water, 3, 516–536, 2016. 
Bakke, S. J., Ionita, M., and Tallaksen, L. M.: The 2018 northern European hydrological drought and its drivers in a historical perspective, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 5621–5653, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5621-2020, 2020. 
Barker, L. J., Hannaford, J., Parry, S., Smith, K. A., Tanguy, M., and Prudhomme, C.: Historic hydrological droughts 1891–2015: systematic characterisation for a diverse set of catchments across the UK, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 4583–4602, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-4583-2019, 2019. 
Baruth, B., Bassu, S., Bussay, A., Ceglar, A., Cerrani, I., Chemin, Y., De Palma, P., Fumagalli, D., Lecerf, R., Manfron, G., Nisini Scacchiafichi, L., Panarello, L., Ronchetti, G., Seguini, L., Toreti, A., Van Den Berg, M., Zajac, Z., Zucchini, A., and Biavetti, I.: Crop monitoring in Europe, in: JRC MARS Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 9, edited by: Van Den Berg, M., Baruth, B., Niemeyer, S., Van Der Velde, M., and Manfron, G., Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, JRC120746, https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC120746 (last access: 1 April 2022), 2020. 
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Executive editor
I agree with the assessment of the handling editor: hot topic, excellent analysis, holistic perspective, clear relation to impacts and stakeholders. Therefore, I agree it qualifies as a potential highlight paper for NHESS. Best regards, Joaquim Pinto
Short summary
Recent drought events caused enormous damage in Europe. We therefore questioned the existence and effect of current drought management strategies on the actual impacts and how drought is perceived by relevant stakeholders. Over 700 participants from 28 European countries provided insights into drought hazard and impact perception and current management strategies. The study concludes with an urgent need to collectively combat drought risk via a European macro-level drought governance approach.
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