Red kites (Milvus milvus) born during a period of drought are disadvantaged throughout their lives, according to a study of a population of red kites in the Doñana National Park. The research is published in Nature Communications.
The lack of rainfall and the decrease in available water resources have caused 47% of European territory to be on drought pre-alert and 17% to be on alert. The lesser experience of northern countries in managing this phenomenon and the high vulnerability of southern regions mean that this drought is having a major impact on various economic sectors, in addition to supply cuts.
A study published in Nature shows that, in the face of climate events such as extreme droughts and floods, which are likely to increase as a result of climate change, risk management strategies may not be sufficient. The study analyses 45 pairs of data on such events with an average of 16 years between them, including the Barcelona floods of 1995 and 2018.