Abstract
Drought is one of the natural hazard risks which badly affects both agricultural and socio-economic sectors. Hungary, which is located in Eastern Europe has been suffering from different drought cycles; therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse the rainfall data obtained from ten metrological stations (Békéscsaba, Budapest, Debrecen, Győr, Kékestető, Miskolc, Pápa, Pécs, Szeged, Siófok, Szolnok) between 1985 and 2016, by using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI).
 The results showed that 2011 was recorded as the worst drought cycle of the studied period, where the SPI ranged between -0.22 (extreme drought) in Siófok, and 0.15 (no drought) in Miskolc. In a similar vein, the study highlighted the year 2010 to be the best hydrological year, when the SPI reached 0.73 (mildly wet) on average. Interestingly, the Mann-Kendall trend test for the drought cycle showed no positive trends in the study area. Finally, more investigation should be conducted into the climate change spatial drought cycle in Europe.
Highlights
Day by day, clues to the existence of climate change (CC) and global warming have become more and more of a reality
Agricultural activities are the main source of CC, where more than 14% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from agricultural sectors and approximately 17% from land use changes (Paul et al, 2018)
Many parts of the world have been affected by global warming, which has had a catastrophic impact on natural resources, resulting in decreasing rainfall, and more intense and frequent dry spells, which worsen droughts in many regions of the globe (Naumann et al, 2018; Touma et al, 2015; Prudhomme et al, 2014)
Summary
Clues to the existence of climate change (CC) and global warming have become more and more of a reality. Agricultural activities are the main source of CC, where more than 14% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from agricultural sectors and approximately 17% from land use changes (Paul et al, 2018). This rapid increase in GHG emissions has altered global climate and led to more extreme weather events (Alter et al, 2018; Bento et al, 2018; IPCC, 2007; Snyder et al, 2009; Hoerling and Kumar, 2004; Spinoni et al, 2018). As CC progresses, future drought will occur under warmer temperature conditions (Breshears et al, 2005; Hoerling and Kumar, 2004; IPCC, 2001 ) and will have massive effects on vegetation cover (Allen et al, 1998; Kelly and Goulden, 2008; IPCC, 2007; He et al, 2018)
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