The Slovak Meteorological institute has given details on the results of a pilot program to monitor droughts which began last year. The data shows that the institute will now be issuing warnings not only against strong wind, high temperatures and frost but also against droughts. "We presume an increase in droughts due to increasing vapour", informed the head of the Slovak Meteorological institute Martin Benko.
As he added, the character of rainfalls has changed in Slovakia. The increase in water vapour is linked to rise in average temperatures as part of climatic changes. Pilot data from the past year shows that the eastern Slovak plain is the area being the hardest hit by droughts. According to climatologist Lívia Labudová, droughts need not necessary repeat every year. Nevertheless, studies and assumptions define the south of Slovakia and the Záhorská plain with its sandy ground as the areas mostly to be affected by this problem. "That does not mean, however, that areas in the northern Slovak Podtatranská basin might not be hit by serious droughts", warns Lívia Labudová, adding that the mountain area has started to be involved in intensive agriculture.
The monitoring of droughts now requires higher levels of attention due to changes in the climate, posing even higher threats than that of floods. The Slovak Meteorological institute collects data about dry soil and meteorological droughts and plans to start hydrological droughts monitoring too.
