The seasonal monsoon cycle and its interannual fluctuations， together with other climate characteristics， have resulted in China experiencing frequent drought disasters， with most areas of the country located in the monsoon-affected climate zone. While severe drought has long been experienced in northern China， the incidence and severity of drought in the south has increased recently. Large-scale drought disasters have occurred frequently since the 1980s，causing significant losses to the social economy and the lives and property of Chinese residents. It is therefore essential to evaluate the changing features and risk characteristics of drought disasters and to develop countermeasures to drought. The drought issue is related to national food security， ecological security， water security， and even national security. Under the background of climate warming many aspects of drought hazard have become prominent， such as the risk factors of drought disasters， the sensitivity of disaster-prone environments， and the exposure and vulnerability of hostile environments.
　　To improve the capacity for coping with drought disasters， there is a need to research China's drought disasters and their risk characteristics under the background of climate warming， build effective assessment models， and propose countermeasures. In particular， the risks of drought on food production， water resources， and ecological security are critical issues， There is also a lack of synchronization of the drought process and the agricultural processes that are affected by drought， and there are differences in the vulnerability of hostile environments in different regions. Thus， other research areas for the prevention and mitigation of drought disasters include the link between the drought process and agricultural drought， the regional differences and synchronization of drought disasters， and the assessment of countermeasures to agricultural drought in various regions.
　　This book focuses on the changing features and risk characteristics of drought disasters. It summarizes research results in terms of five aspects of drought disasters： 1） a review of drought disasters and the risks they pose，2） monitoring of droughts and their spatial and temporal distribution characteristics， 3） changes in the characteristics of drought hazard factors，4） an assessment of the vulnerability and risk of drought ，and 5）the impact of climate warming on agriculture.