Spring is a season that turns our world green, but olives trees in the hills of Andalusia in southern Spain have never been so pale. For local farmers it is yet another difficult year.

News of increased desertification has made headlines. Yet this process is not well understood.

Many African regions are prone to droughts. Advances in forecasting and early warning for these phenomena are now becoming available to help mitigate their consequences on vulnerable societies.

The EU’s driest region is Murcia in Spain. But it is also an area of intensive agriculture for such arid land.

Drought, low precipitation and global warming are all problems threatening Mediterranean regions, but other causes, such as intensive agricultural use, might affect desertification.