Global population hit by extreme drought set to double

PARIS: Available freshwater is on track to decline sharply across two-thirds of Earth's land surface toward the end of the century mostly due to climate change, with the number of people exposed to extreme drought doubling, researchers have reported.

Even under a scenario of moderate decline in greenhouse gas emissions, land area scorched by extreme to exceptional drought conditions increases from three to seven percent, while the population at risk jumps from 230 million to about 500 million, they reported Monday in Nature Climate Change.