During the dog days of summer, I went with a friend to visit the bookshop at a local spiritual retreat center. Since we didn’t plan ahead at all, the bookshop ended up being closed when we ar…

High-altitude desert ecosystems exhibit extreme conditions, including intense UV radiation, strong diurnal temperature shifts, and aridity, shaping bacterial...

Scientists warn that 'drylands,' areas already facing water scarcity, could expand to cover over 40% of the Earth's surface by the end of the century. This alarming projection, detailed in recent stud...

Abstract. Despite extreme heat and limited water availability, invasive plant species are rapidly expanding in arid ecosystems, threatening native biodiver

From the deep, eternal wellspring of the Divine, life-giving grace flows unceasingly to sustain our spirits through every season of aridity.

Drylands are highly vulnerable to climate change, yet their recent spatial redistribution and future evolution remain insufficiently understood. Conventional projections often neglect CO2 effects on potential evapotranspiration (PET), which may yield higher aridity estimates and alter aridity-change hotspot patterns. To address this gap, this study maps the current global distribution of drylands, quantifies historical and future changes in dryland extent, and identifies drying and wetting hotspots under different emission scenarios using a CO2-modified PET framework. Using 1994–2023 as the baseline period, global drylands currently occupy approximately 38.58% of the global terrestrial area. From 1960 to 2023, dryland extent showed a fluctuating but overall increasing trend, with an expansion rate of 3.91 × 104 km2 yr−1. Future projections indicate continued but slower expansion through the 21st century compared with the historical trend. By the end of the 21st century, drylands are projected to cover approximately 40.28% of the global terrestrial area under SSP585. Accounting for rising CO2 effects moderates projected dryland expansion and alters the spatial pattern of drying and wetting hotspots compared with approaches that neglect CO2 effects on PET. Regionally, Australia, Brazil, and northern Africa are projected to remain or emerge as persistent drying hotspots, whereas parts of Northwestern China may maintain wetting trends. Parts of Central Australia may undergo a wetting-to-drying hotspot transition, indicating the emergence of new drying hotspots. These findings provide a climate-based indication of regions where dryland risks may be spatially reconfigured. Future dryland risk assessments should further incorporate land-use and water-resource conditions to better evaluate adaptation and management implications.