According to a study, a chronic state of incomplete drought recovery may be the reality for the remainder of the 21st century.

This is because the amount of time for an ecosystem to recover from a drought is an important measure of a drought's severity, said researchers from Carnegie Institution for Science in the U.S.

During the 20th century, the total area of land affected by drought increased drastically, and longer recovery times became more common, the researchers said.

It is predicted that more-severe droughts will occur with greater frequency in the remaining 21st century, so understanding the severity of the problem and how ecosystems return to their normal state is very crucial to prepare ourselves for the future.

However, the factors that influence drought recovery have largely been unknown as of now.

The team used various factors to assess drought recovery one of them being the measure of photosynthetic activity. This helped the researchers quantify how long it took for plant productivity to return to normal therefore giving the researchers a better understanding of the longevity of a drought?s effects.

Another finding of the team was that the conditions majorly affecting drought recovery were precipitation and temperature. Better conditions helped to shorten the recovery period. On the other hand, temperature extremes, both hot and cold, lengthened it.

Recovery took the longest in the tropical regions, particularly the Amazon rain forest and Indonesia, and in the arctic regions, especially Alaska and the east of Russia, said researchers.

Various other factors also influenced drought recovery such as carbon dioxide concentrations, pre-drought photosynthetic activity, and biodiversity.

Given the anticipated changes in temperature and projected increases in drought frequency and severity due to climate change in the future years, the study concludes something very worrying that drought recovery will be slower in the future.

The research paper was published in the journal 'Nature'.