Management of drought risk under global warming

Drought is a serious ecological problem around the world, and its impact on crops and water availability for humans can jeopardize human life. Although drought has always been common, the drought risk has become increasingly prominent because of the climatic warming that has occurred during the past century. However, it still does not comprehensively understand the mechanisms that determine the occurrence of the drought risk it poses to humans, particularly in the context of global climate change. In this paper, we summarize the progress of research on drought and the associated risk, introduce the principle of a drought “transition” from one stage to another, synthesize the characteristics of key factors and their interactions, discuss the potential effect of climatic warming on drought risk, and use this discussion to define the basic requirements for a drought risk management system. We also discuss the main measures that can be used to prevent or mitigate droughts in the context of a risk management strategy.