Flash droughts reduce national-scale crop yields in the United States

Flash droughts can lead to more severe reductions in crop productivity compared to slow-onset droughts. However, the diverse pathways of flash drought impact on crop yield remains unclear. Here, we assessed the effects of flash drought on crops in the United States, and disentangled the soil moisture and atmospheric stress pathways. Four datasets consistently identify intensified and prolonged flash droughts reduce yield with the sensitivity from −0.52%/% to −0.19%/%. Notably, remote sensing dat