Drought Early Warning: Theory and Practice, a book written by Chris Funk and Shrad Shukla, provides a comprehensive overview of drought-related scientific research, describes the available tools and techniques, and informs readers on how to use these tools and techniques to effectively identify, predict and communicate potential drought-related disasters. Throughout the book, the authors incorporate "climate change" as a pragmatic component of effective drought early warning, dealing explicitly with climate non-stationarity, increased climate variability, and the impacts of air temperature extremes. This comprehensive resource simultaneously addresses the physical, social and information management aspects of drought early warning. The book is available for purchase here.
A blog about climate science and making a difference.
Publications
2024
Anderson, W., Shukla, S., Verdin, J., Hoell, A., Justice, C., Barker, B., Slinski, K., Lenssen, N., Lou, J., Cook, B. I., & McNally, A. (2024a). Preseason maize and wheat yield forecasts for early warning of crop failure. Nature Communications, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51555-8
Williams, E., Funk, C., Peterson, P., & Tuholske, C. (2024). High resolution climate change observations and projections for the evaluation of heat-related extremes. Scientific Data, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03074-w
Cook, B. I., Anderson, W., Slinski, K., Shukla, S., & McNally, A. (2024). Investigating the strength and variability of El Niño–Southern Oscillation teleconnections to hydroclimate and maize yields in southern and East Africa. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 25(1), 257–275. https://doi.org/10.1175/jhm-d-23-0098.1
Peterson, S., Husak, G., Shukla, S., & McNally, A. (2024). Crop area change in the context of civil war in Tigray, Ethiopia. Environmental Research: Food Systems, 1(1), 015003. https://doi.org/10.1088/2976-601x/ad3559
Kelley, C. P., Shukla, S., & Grace, K. (2024). A typology of subseasonal rainfall evolution during the southern Niger monsoon. PloS one, 19(4), e0299771. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299771
Funk, C. (n.d.). Dataset - frequent but predictable droughts in East Africa driven by a walker circulation intensification. Dryad. https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.25349/D9T034
Cook, B. I., Anderson, W., Slinski, K., Shukla, S., & McNally, A. (2024a). Investigating the strength and variability of El Niño–Southern Oscillation teleconnections to hydroclimate and maize yields in southern and East Africa. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 25(1), 257–275. https://doi.org/10.1175/jhm-d-23-0098.1
Peterson, S., Husak, G., Shukla, S., & McNally, A. (2024a). Crop area change in the context of civil war in Tigray, Ethiopia. Environmental Research: Food Systems, 1(1), 015003. https://doi.org/10.1088/2976-601x/ad3559
Shukla, S., Zaheer, F., Hoell, A., Anderson, W., Jayanthi, H., Husak, G., Lee, D., Barker, B., Pervez, S., Slinski, K., Justice, C., Rowland, J., McNally, A. L., Budde, M., & Verdin, J. (2024). Enso-based outlook of droughts and agricultural outcomes in Afghanistan. Weather and Climate Extremes, 45, 100697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2024.100697
Geleta, T. D., Dadi, D. K., Garedew, W., & Worku, A. (2024). Feasibility of urban-based climate change adaptation strategies in urban centers of Southwest Ethiopia: From local climate action perspective. Atmosphere, 15(5), 595. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15050595
Geleta, T. D., Dadi, D. K., Garedew, W., Worku, A., & Debesa, G. (2024). Analyzing Urban Centers’ Vulnerability to Climate Change Using Livelihood Vulnerability Index and IPCC Framework Model in Southwest Ethiopia: -. Journal of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, 2(1), 46–59. https://doi.org/10.20372/afnr.v2i1.1017
2023
Mugiyo, H., Magadzire, T., Choruma, D. J., Chimonyo, V. G., Manzou, R., Jiri, O., & Mabhaudhi, T. (2023). El Niño’s effects on Southern African agriculture in 2023/24 and anticipatory action strategies to reduce the impacts in Zimbabwe. Atmosphere, 14(11), 1692. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14111692
Hobbins, M., Jansma, T., Sarmiento, D. P., McNally, A., Magadzire, T., Jayanthi, H., Turner, W., Hoell, A., Husak, G., Senay, G., Boiko, O., Budde, M., Mogane, P., & Dewes, C. F. (2023). A global long-term daily reanalysis of reference evapotranspiration for drought and food-security monitoring. Scientific Data, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02648-4
Funk, C., Fink, A. H., Harrison, L., Segele, Z., Endris, H. S., Galu, G., Korecha, D., & Nicholson, S. (2023). Frequent but predictable droughts in East Africa driven by a walker circulation intensification. Earth’s Future, 11(11). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ef003454
Gebrechorkos, S. H., Peng, J., Dyer, E., Miralles, D. G., Vicente-Serrano, S. M., Funk, C., Beck, H. E., Asfaw, D. T., Singer, M. B., & Dadson, S. J. (2023). Global high-resolution drought indices for 1981–2022. Earth System Science Data, 15(12), 5449–5466. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5449-2023
Su, L., Cao, Q., Shukla, S., Pan, M., & Lettenmaier, D. P. (2023, April 6). Evaluation of subseasonal drought forecast skill over the coastal Western United States. AMETSOC. https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/hydr/aop/JHM-D-22-0103.1/JHM-...
Hazra, A., McNally, A., Slinski, K., Arsenault, K. R., Shukla, S., Getirana, A., Jacob, J. P., Sarmiento, D. P., Peters-Lidard, C., Kumar, S. V., & Koster, R. D. (2023). NASA’s NMME-based S2S hydrologic forecast system for food insecurity early warning in Southern Africa. Journal of Hydrology, 617, 129005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.129005
Brooks, N., Grace, K., Kristiansen, D., Shukla, S., & Brown, M. E. (2023). Investigating the relationship between growing season quality and childbearing goals. Global Environmental Change, 80, 102677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102677
Tolosa, A. A., Dadi, D. K., Mirkena, L. W., Erena, Z. B., & Liban, F. M. (2023). Impacts of climate variability and change on sorghum crop yield in the Babile District of eastern ethiopia. Climate, 11(5), 99. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11050099
Gemeda, D. O., Korecha, D., & Garedew, W. (2023). Climate change perception and vulnerability assessment of the farming communities in the southwest parts of Ethiopia. Climate, 11(9), 183. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11090183
Williams, E. L., Funk, C., & Shukla, S. (2023). Anthropogenic climate change negatively impacts vegetation and forage conditions in the greater four corners region. Earth’s Future, 11(7). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ef002943
Anderson, W., Cook, B. I., Slinski, K., Schwarzwald, K., McNally, A., & Funk, C. (2023a). Multiyear La Niña events and multiseason drought in the Horn of Africa. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 24(1), 119–131. https://doi.org/10.1175/jhm-d-22-0043.1
Funk, C., Harrison, L., Segele, Z., Rosenstock, T., Steward, P., Anderson, C. L., Coughlan de Perez, E., Maxwell, D., Endris, H. S., Koch, E., Artan, G., Teshome, F., Aura, S. M., Galu, G., Korecha, D., Anderson, W., Hoell, A., Damerau, K., Williams, E., … Hughes, D. (2023). Tailored forecasts can predict extreme climate informing proactive interventions in East Africa. Earth’s Future, 11(7). https://doi.org/10.1029/2023ef003524
2022
Geleta, T. D., Dadi, D. K., Funk, C., Garedew, W., Eyelade, D., & Worku, A. (2022). Downscaled climate change projections in urban centers of southwest Ethiopia using CORDEX Africa simulations. Climate, 10(10), 158. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10100158
Adloff, M., Singer, M. B., MacLeod, D. A., Michaelides, K., Mehrnegar, N., Hansford, E., Funk, C., & Mitchell, D. (2022). Sustained water storage in Horn of Africa drylands dominated by seasonal rainfall extremes. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(21). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022gl099299
Lala, J., Lee, D., Bazo, J., & Block, P. (2022). Evaluating prospects for subseasonal-to-seasonal forecast-based anticipatory action from a global perspective. Weather and Climate Extremes, 38, 100510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2022.100510
Weston Anderson, Benjamin I. Cook, Kim Slinski, Kevin Schwarzwald, Amy McNally, and Chris Funk. Multi-year La Niña events and multi-season drought in the Horn of Africa. Journal of Hydrometeorology. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-22-0043.1.
Tamuka Magadzire, Andrew Hoell, Catherine Nakalembe, and Mphethe Tongwane. Recent advances in agrometeorological analysis techniques for crop monitoring in support of food security early warning. Frontiers in Climate. 2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.950447.
Katharine Vincent, Emma RM Archer, Marta Bruno Soares, Andrew J Dougill, Chris Funk. Extreme Events in the Developing World. Frontiers in Climate. 2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.867505.
Shraddhanand Shukla, Eunjee Lee, Randal D. Koster, L. E. Ott, Joanna Joiner, Fan‐Wei Zeng, Jana Kolassa, Rolf Reichle, Kristi R. Arsenault, and Abheera Hazra. Skillful Seasonal Forecasts of Land Carbon Uptake in Northern Mid- and High Latitudes. Geophysical Research Letters. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL097117.
Jonathan Lala, Donghoon Lee, Juan Bazo, and Paul Block. Evaluating prospects for subseasonal-to-seasonal forecast-based anticipatory action from a global perspective. Weather and Climate Extremes. 100510. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2022.100510.
Donghoon Lee, Frank Davenport, Shraddhanand Shukla, Greg Husak, Chris Funk, Laura Harrison, Amy McNally, Michael Budde, James Rowland, James Verdin. Maize yield forecast using Earth observation and machine learning for Sub-Saharan Africa. Global Food Security. 100643. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2022.100643
Harrison, L., Landsfeld, M., Husak, G. et al. Advancing early warning capabilities with CHIRPS-compatible NCEP GEFS precipitation forecasts. Sci Data 9, 375 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01468-2
Markus Adloff, Michael Bliss Singer, David A MacLeod, Katerina Michaelides, Nooshin Mehrnegar, Eleanor Hansford, Chris Funk, Daniel Mitchell. Sustained water storage in Horn of Africa drylands dominated by seasonal rainfall extremes. Geophysical Research Letters 2022. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099299.
Donghoon Lee, Jia Yi Ng, Stefano Galelli, & Paul Block. Unfolding the relationship between seasonal forecast skill and value in hydropower production: A global analysis. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 26, 2431–2448. 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2431-2022.
W Turner, G Husak, C Funk, DA Roberts, C Jones. An improved climatological forecast method for projecting end-of-season Water Requirement Satisfaction Index. Journal of Hydrometeorology DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-21-0184.1 (online only)
2021
Davenport, F. M., S. Shukla, W. Turner, C. Funk, N. Krell, L. Harrison, G. Husak, D. Lee, and S. Peterson. Sending out an SOS: using start of rainy season indicators for market price forecasting to support famine early warning. Environmental Research Letters 1748-9326. 2021. DOI: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac15cc/meta.
D. Lee, H. Ahmadul, J. Patz, & P. Block. Predicting Social and Health Vulnerability to Floods in Bangladesh. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-1807-2021.
Jessie Pinchoff, William Turner, Kathryn Grace. The association between agricultural conditions and multiple dimensions of undernutrition in children 6–23 months of age in Burkina Faso. IOP Science: Enviromental Research. 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ac07f5.
Colin Keating, Donghoon Lee, Juan Bazo, Paul Block. Leveraging multi-model season-ahead streamflow forecasts to trigger advanced flood preparedness in Peru. EGU: Natural Hazards Earth System Science. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-2215-2021.
Andrew Hoell, Andrea E. Gaughan, Tamuka Magadzire, Laura Harrison. The Modulation of Daily Southern Africa Precipitation by the El Niño Southern Oscillation Across the Summertime Wet Season. AMS Journal of Climate. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0379.1.
Shraddhanand Shukla, Martin Landsfeld, Michelle Anthony, Michael Budde, Gregory J. Husak, James Rowland, Chris Funk. Enhancing the Application of Earth Observations for Improved Environmental Decision-Making Using the Early Warning eXplorer (EWX). Frontiers in Climate. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2020.583509.
Shraddhanand Shukla, Greg Husak, William Turner, Frank Davenport, Chris Funk, Laura Harrison, Natasha Krell. A slow rainy season onset is a reliable harbinger of drought in most food insecure regions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Plos One. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242883.
2020
2019
2018