Abstract
Drought and floods affect the structure, composition, and the function
of global environments and thus human societies. Although several
studies exist on both droughts and floods, studies on whether droughts
can be a means to cause floods or vice versa are lacking in the
literature. However, it has been repeatedly said that after a severe
drought season, there is heavy rainfall and thus flooding. Using
different global terrestrial ecosystems from across the globe,
understanding the underlying mechanisms, evolutions, and drivers of how
droughts can abruptly cause flooding or vice versa on a global scale
representing drought-flood hotspot regions from both the Northern and
Southern Hemispheres is indispensable. Considering drought hotspot areas
across the globe such as the 2000s Australia’s Millennium drought, and
the 2010/11 Horn of Africa drought that experienced large-scale flooding
in the aftermath of drought is crucial. Subject to analysis and
interpretations, the study findings of drought-flood underlying
interactions reveal major contributions to the growing field of drought
hydrology for future policymaking.