Hypothesis
– Land feedbacks may be crucial for the occurrence of meteorological drought events –
As rainfall deficits dry out soil and vegetation, the evaporation of land water is reduced.
Then the local air becomes too dry to yield rainfall, which further enhances drought conditions.
But this may not be just a 'local’ feedback.
The rainfall in remote regions may rely on evaporated water transported by winds from the drought-affected region, leading to teleconnected feedbacks.
Following this rationale, droughts may be able to self-propagate and self-intensify. This is the central hypothesis and core subject of investigation of DRY–2–DRY.
