Projection of drought-inducing climate conditions in the Czech Republic according to Euro-CORDEX models

As is shown in several studies in this CR Special, drought constitutes a potential threat to people's livelihoods and socioeconomic development, including in the Central European region (e.g. Brzdil et al. 2016, this issue). Compared to hazards such as floods, drought tends to occur less frequently. However, when it does occur, it generally affects a broad region for seasons or years at a time (UNISDR 2009). Drought originates from a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time, usually a season or more. This deficiency can result in water shortage for some activities, groups or environmental sectors. Drought is different from other hazards in that it develops slowly, sometimes over years, and its onset can be masked by a number of factors. Drought is an issue concerning all European Union (EU) countries. Ac cording to Spinioni et al. (2016) the drought epi sodes affected, on average, 15% of the EU territory and 17% of the EU population from 2006 to 2010. This caused considerable damages and economic losses that were esti-