Historic droughts inventory of references from British broadsheet newspapers 1990-2014

Mentions of the word "drought"* in articles published by British broadsheet newspapers between 1990-2014. The asterisk (*) is a wildcard to indicate that the search considered different forms of the search term: drought, droughts, hyphenated words (e.g. drought-resistant), or adjectival occurrences (droughty). The following newspapers are included, in their weekday or Sunday publications: The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian/The Observer, The Independent, The Herald, The Scotsman. <p>Historic Droughts was a four year (2014 – 2018), £1.5m project funded by the UK Research Councils, aiming to develop a cross-disciplinary understanding of past drought episodes that have affected the United Kingdom (UK), with a view to developing improved tools for managing droughts in future.
Drought and water scarcity (DWS) events are significant threats to livelihoods and wellbeing in many countries, including the United Kingdom (UK). Parts of the UK are already water-stressed and are facing a wide range of pressures, including an expanding population and intensifying exploitation of increasingly limited water resources. In addition, many regions may become significantly drier in future due to environmental changes, all of which implies major challenges to water resource management. However, DWS events are not simply natural hazards. There are also a range of socio-economic and regulatory factors that may influence the course of droughts, such as water consumption practices and abstraction licensing regimes. Consequently, if DWS events are to be better managed, there is a need for a more detailed understanding of the links between hydrometeorological and social systems during droughts.
With this research gap in mind, the Historic Droughts project aimed to develop an interdisciplinary understanding of drought from a range of different perspectives. Based on an analysis of information from a wide range of sectors (hydrometeorological, environmental, agricultural, regulatory, social and cultural), the project characterised and quantified the history of drought and water scarcity events since the late 19th century.
The Historic Droughts project involved eight institutions across the UK: the British Geological Survey the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Cranfield University, the University of Exeter, HR Wallingford, Lancaster University, the Met Office, and the University of Oxford.
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本数据集统计了1990年至2014年间，英国严肃大报刊发文章中"干旱（drought）"一词的提及情况。其中星号（*）为通配符，代表本次检索覆盖该检索词的所有变体：包括单数形式drought、复数形式droughts、带连字符的复合词汇（如drought-resistant，即抗旱的），以及形容词形式droughty（即干旱的）。本次纳入统计的报纸涵盖其平日版与周日版，具体包括：《泰晤士报》（The Times）、《每日电讯报》（The Daily Telegraph）、《卫报/观察家报》（The Guardian/The Observer）、《独立报》（The Independent）、《先驱报》（The Herald）、《苏格兰人报》（The Scotsman）。<p>"Historic Droughts"项目是一项为期四年（2014年至2018年）、由英国研究理事会资助、预算达150万英镑的跨学科研究项目，旨在系统解析影响英国（UK）的历次历史干旱事件，以期开发优化未来干旱管理的实用工具。
干旱与水资源短缺（Drought and Water Scarcity，以下简称DWS）事件对包括英国在内的诸多国家的民生与福祉构成显著威胁。英国部分区域已面临水资源紧张问题，并正面临多重压力，包括人口增长与对日益稀缺的水资源的开发强度提升。此外，受环境变化影响，诸多地区未来可能显著干旱化，这一切均为水资源管理带来重大挑战。然而，DWS事件并非单纯的自然灾害，还存在一系列社会经济与监管因素可能影响干旱进程，例如用水习惯与取水许可制度。因此，若要更好地管理DWS事件，需更深入理解干旱期间水文气象系统与社会系统之间的关联。
鉴于这一研究空白，"Historic Droughts"项目旨在从多维度视角建立对干旱的跨学科认知。该项目通过分析水文气象、环境、农业、监管、社会与文化等多个领域的信息，对19世纪末以来的干旱与水资源短缺事件的历史进行了特征刻画与量化分析。
"Historic Droughts"项目联合了英国境内8家合作机构：英国地质调查局（British Geological Survey）、生态与水文中心（Centre for Ecology & Hydrology）、克兰菲尔德大学（Cranfield University）、埃克塞特大学（University of Exeter）、HR沃林福德（HR Wallingford）、兰卡斯特大学（Lancaster University）、英国气象局（Met Office）以及牛津大学（University of Oxford）。</p>