Global floods and droughts worsening with warming, study suggests

People travel by boat in a flooded street in Trizidela do Vale in the state of Maranhao, Brazil (Andre Penner/AP)

The intensity of extreme drought and rainfall has “sharply” increased over the past 20 years, according to a study.

These are not merely tough weather events, they are leading to extremes such as crop failure, infrastructure damage and even humanitarian crises and conflict, according to the research published in the journal Nature Water.