Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly in California
California: Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly was -4.36 Percentage change in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly in California, 1950–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage change.
Analysis
The most recent figure for historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly in California is -4.36 Percentage change, measured in 2025.
The figure is down 307.1% on the previous year and up 73.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly in California peaked at 23.9 Percentage change in 1983 and was at its lowest, -18.49 Percentage change, in 1976.
California ranks 1983rd of 2975 regions on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | -3.89 Percentage change | -13.63 Percentage change | 2.12 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1960s | -2.44 Percentage change | -8.99 Percentage change | 6.86 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1970s | -3.5 Percentage change | -18.49 Percentage change | 6.51 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.81 Percentage change | -4.65 Percentage change | 23.9 Percentage change | 10 |
| 1990s | -0.1686 Percentage change | -10.33 Percentage change | 14.27 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2000s | -3.94 Percentage change | -12.14 Percentage change | 7.43 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2010s | -3.71 Percentage change | -16.57 Percentage change | 9.08 Percentage change | 10 |
| 2020s | -6.21 Percentage change | -14.54 Percentage change | 4.32 Percentage change | 6 |
More environment data for California
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -3.83 Percentage change (2025)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 0.8111 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 0.0346 Percentage change (2024)
- River flooding exposure — Cropland share exposed to river flooding 16.08 Percentage of agricultural land area (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Grassland 49,362 Square kilometres (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland 3,322 Square kilometres (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces 3,623 Square kilometres (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly in California?
- Historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly in California was -4.36 Percentage change in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly recorded in California?
- The highest recorded value was 23.9 Percentage change in 1983.
- What is the lowest historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly recorded in California?
- The lowest recorded value was -18.49 Percentage change in 1976.
- How does California rank for historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly?
- California ranks 1983rd out of 2975 regions with data for 2025.
- Is historical exposure to drought — cropland soil moisture anomaly rising or falling in California?
- Over the last ten years it is up 73.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this California data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
The dataset provides annual anomalies in land and cropland soil moisture content of the top soil layer (0 to 7 cm) compared to the reference period 1981-2010. Exposure indicators to drought have been prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Please see the working paper for a more complete description of the methods. The datasets span the period 1981-2024 and is the result of the use of a variety of geospatial data sources, including the ERA5-Land averaged monthly data of volumetric soil moisture and ESA CCI land cover data. Average anomalies have been calculated for both land and cropland exposure to drought. The dataset has a global coverage on a national level; on the sub-national TL2 level (i.e. large subnational regions) results are reported for all OECD countries as well as for Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. A number of aggregates are included: Euro area, European Union, Advanced economies, Emerging market economies, G7, G20, OECD, OECD Europe, OECD Asia Oceania, OECD Americas and the LAC region. Data source(s): Copernicus Climate Change Initiative land cover data and Copernicus Climate Data Store monthly soil moisture data based on the ERA5-Land reanalysis dataset. Contact: ENV.Stat@oecd.org