THE EFFECT OF PRECIPITATION VARIABILITY AND CHANGE ON THE INCREASING DROUGHT RISK IN SOME CLIMATIC REGIONS IN SYRIA DURING THE PERIOD 1958-2018

Monthly precipitation values for six meteorological stations representing different climatic regions in Syria were used to estimate the change in drought characteristics during the period 1958-2018 by applying the Precipitation Anomaly Index (RAI) on different time scales. Trends were used with Mann-Kendall test to detect significant changes in drought index, and the number and duration of dry periods. Descriptive statistical analysis with T-test was also used to compare the values of the drought index between the periods 1958-1988 and 1988-2018.Results showed increasing annual drought severity related to decreasing tendency in drought index values especially in spring and winter in all regions, and increment in extreme drought frequency versus diminishing frequency of extreme moisture.These changes to drier conditions in all studied regions will negatively affect water resources availability, agricultural production, and ecosystems stability and productivity, which threaten water and food security, and will Pose grand challenges to manage environmental resources in the future.