Discover real natural events happening around our amazing planet right now!
Real-time drought and water scarcity data from NASA EONET satellite monitoring
View on Globe →A drought is a long stretch of time — weeks, months, or even years — without enough rain. When there isn't enough water, crops die, rivers and lakes shrink, and animals struggle to find enough to drink. Droughts can affect millions of people by making food and water scarce.
Unlike sudden disasters, droughts develop slowly and silently. NASA satellites track the earliest warning signs — declining soil moisture, shrinking lakes, falling groundwater levels — allowing scientists to identify drought conditions months before they become emergencies.
NASA's GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On) satellite pair measures tiny changes in Earth's gravitational field caused by shifts in water storage — including groundwater depletion that is invisible to any other instrument. When regions pump more groundwater than rainfall replenishes, GRACE-FO detects the difference, providing a crucial early warning of long-term water stress.
The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite measures the amount of water in the top 5 cm of soil across the entire globe every 2–3 days. Low soil moisture is one of the earliest signs that a drought is developing — and it directly affects how much water crops can absorb. NASA's MODIS instrument monitors vegetation health, tracking how plants green up with rain and turn brown during drought.
These observations combine with the Climate Prediction Center's drought monitors and EONET to give scientists and farmers the most complete picture possible of where drought is developing and how severe it has become.
Earth Explorer displays drought events tracked by NASA's EONET monitoring network. Significant drought conditions affecting large regions worldwide appear on the interactive globe, updated as events are reported and assessed.
View Live Drought Events →Drought is caused by prolonged below-normal rainfall combined with higher temperatures that increase evaporation. It develops slowly over months or years, unlike sudden disasters. Natural climate patterns like El Niño and La Niña can trigger regional droughts by shifting rainfall away from certain areas. Climate change is making droughts more frequent, longer, and more intense in many parts of the world.
A dry season is a predictable, normal part of a region's annual weather cycle — plants and animals are adapted to it. A drought is an abnormal shortage of water relative to what that region normally expects at that time of year. When a dry season is far more severe or lasts much longer than normal, it becomes a drought.
Without enough water, crops wither before harvest, livestock lose access to pasture and water, and food prices rise worldwide — even if the drought is in just one region that exports food. In the worst cases, prolonged droughts cause famines. Droughts also cause rivers and reservoirs used for hydroelectric power to shrink, causing electricity shortages in countries that depend on hydro power.
Sub-Saharan Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, southern Australia, the American Southwest, and parts of South America are the most drought-prone regions. Climate change is expanding drought risk to previously unaffected areas including southern Europe and the Mediterranean, where unprecedented droughts have struck in recent years.
Fix leaky taps, take shorter showers, and only run appliances like washing machines when full. Water gardens at night or early morning to reduce evaporation. Choose drought-resistant native plants. Avoid watering lawns during restrictions. Support community water recycling schemes. Every drop saved collectively makes a real difference to community water supplies during a drought.
GRACE-FO satellites measure groundwater depletion by detecting tiny gravity changes. SMAP measures soil moisture globally every 2–3 days — the earliest sign of developing drought. MODIS monitors vegetation health and greenness, turning brown landscapes into data. Together these instruments give scientists a complete picture of drought severity and extent across the entire planet.