• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

Indiana University Indiana University IU

Open Search
  • Who We Are
    • Leadership
      • Past Leadership
    • Advisory Boards
    • Researchers
      • Affiliates
    • Staff
    • Vision & Mission
    • Annual Reports
    • Careers
  • Who We Work With
    • Businesses and Nonprofits
    • Educators
    • Faculty
    • Local Governments
      • Resilience Cohort
      • Beat the Heat
      • ERI Toolkit
      • Hoosier Resilience Index
      • Indiana Resilience Funding Hub
    • Residents
      • Hoosier Resilience Heroes
    • Students
  • Programs
    • McKinney Climate Fellows
      • Students
      • Hosts
    • Resilience Cohort
    • Indiana Resilience Funding Hub
    • FARMWISE Indiana
    • Educating for Environmental Change
    • Beat the Heat
    • Hoosier Resilience Heroes
  • Research
  • Resources
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • Newsletters
  • Support Our Work
    • Individuals and Families
    • Corporations
    • Foundations
    • Ways to Give
    • Support ISRC
    • Resilient Communities
      • Bloomington
      • Fort Wayne
      • Indianapolis
      • South Bend
    • Contact
  • Study at IU
  • Contact

Environmental Resilience Institute

  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Leadership
    • Advisory Boards
    • Researchers
    • Staff
    • Vision & Mission
    • Annual Reports
    • Careers
  • Who We Work With
    • Businesses and Nonprofits
    • Educators
    • Faculty
    • Local Governments
    • Residents
    • Students
  • Programs
    • McKinney Climate Fellows
    • Resilience Cohort
    • Indiana Resilience Funding Hub
    • FARMWISE Indiana
    • Educating for Environmental Change
    • Beat the Heat
    • Hoosier Resilience Heroes
  • Research
  • Resources
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • Newsletters
  • Support Our Work
    • Individuals and Families
    • Corporations
    • Foundations
    • Ways to Give
    • Support ISRC
    • Resilient Communities
    • Contact
  • Search
  • Study at IU
  • Contact
  • Home
  • News & Events
  • News
  • Archive
  • 2020
  • A rainy drought

A rainy drought

By: Science Node

Monday, April 13, 2020

Decorative - a headshot of Chen Zhu
ERI Researcher Chen Zhu

Much of what you think you know about droughts is probably wrong.

Unless you study hydrological systems, you may think that droughts are caused by a lack of rain. Water stops falling from the sky, and as a result the land dries up. Crops fail, fires kindle more easily, and people starve.

While this is true of many water scarcities, climate change will most likely bring a different kind of aridity to the Wabash River Basin that occupies most of Indiana. In a few decades, Hoosiers will likely experience rain-filled droughts.

This prediction is based on the work performed by Indiana University (IU) Professor Chen Zhu and his post-doctoral colleague Dr. Jennifer Dierauer. Their recent paper relies on a hydrological modeling tool that uses climate change predictions to better understand Indiana’s future water supply. Dierauer and Zhu found that despite rainfall amounts similar to current levels, Indiana’s soil won’t have the same moisture content.

Read the full article

Additional links and resources

Donation button to Give Now to Environmental Resilience Institute
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Indiana University

Accessibility | College Scorecard | Open to All | Privacy Notice | Copyright © 2025 The Trustees of Indiana University