drought meaning essay

Understanding Droughts

Drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather when there is not enough rain.

Biology, Ecology, Earth Science, Meteorology, Geography, Human Geography, Physical Geography, Social Studies, U.S. History, World History, Geology

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Drought  is an extended period of unusually dry  weather  when there is not enough rain. The lack of  precipitation  can cause a variety of problems for local communities, including damage to  crops and a shortage of drinking water. These effects can lead to devastating  economic  and social disasters, such as  famine ,  forced migration  away from drought -stricken areas, and  conflict  over remaining  resources .

Because the full effects of a drought can develop slowly over time, impacts can be underestimated. However, drought can have  drastic  and long-term effects on  vegetation , animals, and people. Since 1900, more than 11 million people have died and more than 2 billion people have been affected by drought . Drought is also one of the costliest weather -related disasters. Since 2014 California has lost at least 2 billion-dollars a year, due to drought .

Defining Drought

Drought is a complicated  phenomenon , and can be hard to define. One difficulty is that drought means different things in different regions. A drought is defined depending on the average amount of precipitation that an area is accustomed to receiving.

For example, in Atlanta, Georgia, the average rainfall is about 127 centimeters (50 inches) a year. If  significantly less rain falls, there may be water shortages and a drought may be declared. However, some arid regions, such as the  deserts of the American Southwest, may receive less than about 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rainfall in a non- drought year. A drought in Atlanta could be a very wet period in Phoenix, Arizona!

Determining the start of a drought can be tricky. Unlike many  natural hazards that bring about sudden and dramatic results—such as  earthquakes ,  tornadoes , and  hurricanes —the onset of a drought can be gradual and subtle. It can take weeks, months, or even years for the full effects of long-term  inadequate  rainfall to become apparent.

The end of a drought can also be difficult to determine. While a single rain storm will provide short-term relief from a drought , it might take weeks or months before levels of precipitation return to normal. The start and end of a drought are often only clear in hindsight .

Causes of Drought

Most droughts occur when regular weather patterns are interrupted, causing  disruption to the  water cycle . Changes in  atmospheric circulation  patterns can cause storm tracks to be  stalled for months or years. This disruption can dramatically impact amounts of precipitation that a region normally receives. Changes in wind patterns can also be disruptive to how moisture is absorbed in various regions.

Scientists have found a link between certain  climate  patterns and drought . El Niño is a weather event where the surface water in the Pacific Ocean along the central South American coast rises in temperature. These warmer waters alter storm patterns and are associated with droughts in Indonesia, Australia, and northeastern South America. El Nino events keep climate scientists guessing, by occurring every two to seven years.

La Niña is the counterpart to El Niño , when the surface water in the Pacific Ocean along the coast of South America decreases in temperature. The cooler waters affect storm patterns by contributing to drier-than-normal conditions in parts of North and South America. El Niño and La Niña both usually last about a year. The effects of La Niña on weather patterns are often more  complex  than El Niño . Two of the most devastating droughts in the history of the United States—the 1930s  Dust Bowl  and the 1988 drought in the Midwest—are associated with the effects of La Niña.

There is still a lot of debate about the connection between drought and  global warming , the current period of  climate change . A 2013 NASA study predicts warmer worldwide temperatures will mean increased rainfall in some parts of the world and decreased rainfall in others, leading to both more flooding and more droughts worldwide. Other scientists question the prediction that there will be more droughts and believe global warming will create a wetter climate around the world.

Impacts of Drought

Trees and other plants have adapted to withstand the effects of drought through various survival methods. Some plants (such as grasses) will slow their growth or turn brown to conserve water. Trees can drop their leaves earlier in the season to prevent losing water through the leaf surface. However, if drought conditions persist, much vegetation will die.

Certain plants have adapted so they can withstand long periods without water. Yuccas, for instance, have deep  root systems that can seek out water with incredible efficiency. Cacti have spiny, hairy spines, spikes, or leaves that limit how much water they lose to  evaporation . Mosses can withstand complete  dehydration . Juniper trees can self- prune  by steering water only to ward the branches required for survival. Other plants only grow when there is enough water to support them. In periods of drought , their seeds can survive under the  soil for years until conditions are favorable again.

However, many organisms cannot adapt to drought conditions, and the environmental effects of extended, unusual periods of low precipitation can be  severe . Negative impacts include damage to  habitats , loss of  biodiversity , soil   erosion , and an increased risk from  wildfires . During the U.S. drought of 1988, rainfall in many states was 50 to 85 percent below normal. Summer thunderstorms produced  lightning  without rain and  ignited fires in dry trees. In Yellowstone National Park 36 percent of the park was destroyed by fire.

Drought can also create significant economic and social problems. The lack of rain can result in crop loss, a decrease in land prices, and  unemployment  due to declines in production. As water levels in rivers and lakes fall, water-supply problems can develop. These can bring about other social problems. Many of these problems are health-related, such as lack of water, poor  nutrition , and famine . Other problems include conflicts over water usage and food, and forced migration away from drought -stricken areas.

While drought is a naturally occurring part of the weather cycle and cannot be prevented, human activity can influence the effects that drought has on a region. Many modern agricultural practices may make land more  vulnerable to drought . While new  irrigation  techniques have increased the amount of land that can be used for farming, they have also increased  farmers ’ dependence on water.

Traditional agricultural techniques allow land to “rest” by rotating crops each season and alternating areas where  livestock graze . Now, with many areas in the world struggling with overpopulation and a shortage of farmland, there is often not enough  arable  land to support  sustainable practices. Over-farming and  overgrazing  can lead to soil being  compacted and unable to hold water. As the soil becomes drier, it is vulnerable to erosion . This process can lead to  fertile  land becoming desert -like, a process known as  desertification . The desertification of the  Sahel  in North Africa is partly blamed on a prolonged drought whose effects were intensified by farming practices that result in overgrazing .

Increased drought conditions in Kenya have been attributed to  deforestation and other human activities. Trees help bring precipitation into the ground and prevent soil erosion . But in 2009, it was reported that one-quarter of a protected forest reserve had been cleared for farming and  logging , leading to drought conditions affecting 10 million people around the country.

Historical Droughts

Scientists often study historical droughts to put modern-day droughts in perspective. Since our  data  from  thermometers and  rain gauges only goes back about 100 to 150 years, scientists must research  paleoclimatology , the study of the atmosphere of prehistoric Earth. Scientists gather paleoclimatic data from  tree rings ,  sediments found in lakes and oceans,  ice cores , and archaeological  features and  artifacts . This allows scientists to extend their understanding of weather patterns for millions of years in the past.

Analyzing paleoclimatic data shows that severe and extended droughts are an  inevitable  part of natural climate cycles. North America has experienced a number of long-lasting droughts with significant effects. It is thought that droughts brought about the decline of the  Ancestral Puebloans  in the Southwest during the 13th century, and the central and Lower  Mississippian societies in the 14th to 16th centuries.

In South America, massive migration out of the once-fertile Atacama Desert 9,500 years ago can be explained by the onset of extreme drought.

In Africa, the Sahel region experienced a dry period from 1400 to 1750 that radically altered the  landscape . The water level in Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana, for instance, fell so low that an entire forest grew on the lake’s edges. Today, visitors can still see the tops of trees growing out of the lake—where the water is now more than 15 meters (50 feet) deep.

What scientists have learned by looking at Earth’s drought history is that periods of severe drought are a regular part of nature’s cycle. As devastating as droughts in the last century have been, they are considered relatively minor compared to the severity of earlier droughts that have lasted more than a century.

Major Droughts in the Past Century

The Dust Bowl of the 1930s is probably the most well-known drought experienced by the U.S. By 1934, 80 percent of the U.S. was struggling with moderate-to- severe drought conditions. The drought lasted nearly a decade and had devastating effects on crop production in the  Great Plains . The combination of lack of rain, high temperatures, and strong winds affected at least 50 million acres of land. Massive clouds of dust and sand formed as unusually strong winds lifted the dry soil into the air. These clouds could block out the sun for days, giving the period the name “ dust bowl .” In 1934, one dust cloud infamously traveled 2,414 kilometers (1,500 miles), from the Great Plains to the eastern U.S.

Mass migration was an indirect effect of the Dust Bowl . Farmers and their families were forced to migrate to other areas in search of work, and by 1940, 2.5 million people had fled the Great Plains . Of those, 200,000 moved to California. The influx of migrants into existing economies already strained by the Great Depression led to a rise in conflict , unemployment , and  poverty .

In the 1950s, severe drought returned to the Great Plains and southwestern United States, affecting half of the continental U.S. Low rainfall and high temperatures caused the production of crops in some areas to drop nearly 50 percent. Hay became too expensive for ranchers, and they had to feed their cattle prickly pear cactus and molasses to keep them alive. By the end of the five-year drought in 1957, 244 of Texas’ 254 counties had been declared  federal   drought disaster areas .

In the late 1980s, the U.S. experienced one of the costliest drought in its history. The three-year spell of high temperatures and low rainfall ruined roughly $15 billion of crops in the  Corn Belt . The total of all the losses in energy, water,  ecosystems , and  agriculture  is estimated at $39 billion. Federal assistance programs were able to help many farmers , but a longer-lasting drought would make it more difficult for the government to provide nationwide aid.

Droughts continue to affect the U.S. Texas has been suffering from drought since 2010, with 2011 ranking as the driest year in the state’s history. A September 2012  National Geographic  magazine article called Texas “The New Dust Bowl.” By 2013, 99 percent of the state was dealing with drought.

Australia is also a frequent victim of drought . The last decade has been especially severe , earning it the name The Big Dry or The Millennium Drought . Much of the country was placed under water restrictions, wildfires spread in the dry weather , and the water level in some  dams fell to 25 percent. In 2007, 65 percent of viable land in Australia was declared to be in a drought . The drought was officially declared over in April 2012.

Droughts that occur in the  developing world  can cause even greater devastation. The Sahel region in Africa, which includes eight countries, endured a series of droughts in the 1970s and 1980s where annual rainfall dropped by about 40 percent. In the early 1970s, more than 100,000 people died and millions of people were forced to migrate. Conditions continue to be critical in the area due to drought , overpopulation, failing crops , and high food prices. Drought emergencies for the region have been declared four times since 2000.

The  Horn of Africa , which includes the countries of Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti, is particularly vulnerable to droughts . Because almost 80 percent of the population is rural and depends on agriculture for food and income, famine often accompanies drought .

Struggles for the region’s limited, remaining resources can lead to conflict and war. In 1984 and 1985, the Horn of Africa suffered one of the worst droughts of the 20th century. The U.N. estimates that in Ethiopia alone, 1 million people died, 1.5 million livestock died, and 8.7 million people were affected by the drought—including being hospitalized, forced to migrate, or forced to change professions. In Sudan, 1 million people died, at least 7 million livestock died, and 7.8 million people were affected.

The cycle of drought-famine-conflict has persisted in the region, with drought conditions returning every few years since 2000. In 2006, drought affected 11 million people across the Horn of Africa, and the resulting crisis killed between 50,000 and 100,000 people and affected more than 13 million.

Forecasting and Measuring Drought

Even though scientists are unable to predict how long a drought will last or how severe it will be, early warning systems and  monitoring tools can  minimize  some of drought ’s damaging impacts. There are a number of tools used to monitor drought across the U.S. Due to the limitations of each system, data from different sources are often compiled to create a more comprehensive  forecast .

The Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), developed in 1965 by the  National Weather Service , is the most commonly used drought monitor . It is a complex measurement system and an effective way to forecast long-term drought . Its limitations are that it does not provide early warnings for drought and is not as accurate for use in mountainous areas because it does not account for snow (only rain) as precipitation . The PDSI is often used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine when to begin providing drought relief.

Information from the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is often used to supplement the PDSI data . The SPI, developed in 1993, is less complex than the PDSI and only measures precipitation —not evaporation or water  runoff . Many scientists prefer using the SPI because the time period being analyzed can easily be  customized . The SPI can also identify droughts many months earlier than the PDSI. The National Drought Mitigation Center uses the SPI to monitor drought conditions around the U.S.

The U.S. Drought Monitor , started in 1999, is a joint effort between three U.S. government agencies—the Department of Agriculture , the Department of Commerce, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Monitor   synthesizes data from  academic  and federal scientists into a weekly map indicating levels of dryness around the country. It is designed to be a blend of science and art that can be used as a general summary of drought conditions around the country. It is not meant to be used as a drought predictor or for detailed information about specific areas.

The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) monitors satellite data of crops and rainfall across Africa and some parts of Central America, the Middle East , and Central Asia. Analysis of the data allows for early intervention to try to prevent drought -induced famine .

Preparing for Drought

People and governments need to adopt new practices and policies to prepare as much as possible for inevitable future droughts . Emergency spending once a crisis has begun is less effective than money spent in preparation. The  Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)  estimates that every $1 spent in planning for a natural hazard will save $4 in the long term.

Many areas are extremely vulnerable to drought as people continue to be dependent on a steady supply of water. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends a series of  conservation  practices to help farmers prepare for drought . Some preventative measures include in stalling an  efficient   irrigation system that reduces the amount of water lost to evaporation , storing water in ditches along fields, regularly monitoring soil moisture, planting crops that are more drought -resistant, and rotating crops to allow water in the soil to increase.

In  urban areas , many cities are promoting water conservation by addressing water usage habits. Some enforce water restrictions, such as limiting days when lawns and plants can be watered, and offering free high-efficiency toilets and kitchen faucets.

Some drought-ravaged cities are taking even more extreme measures to prepare for future droughts. In Australia, the city of Perth is planning for a massive wastewater -recycling program that will eventually provide up to a quarter of the city’s water demands by 2060. Perth has been dealing with a decline in rainfall since the mid 1970s. The city, which is on the edge of a huge desert, is also struggling with its history of over-consumption of water. Water-hungry traditions such as planting large, lush lawns and parks will need to be addressed through conservation measures.

Drought in the USA In August 2012, drought conditions extended over 70 percent of the United States. Counties in 33 states were designated “disaster counties” by the government. In the beginning of 2013, drought still affected more than 60 percent of the country.

Dust Bowl John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath describes the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s: “Every moving thing lifted the dust into the air: a walking man lifted a thin layer as high as his waist, and a wagon lifted the dust as high as the fence tops, and an automobile boiled a cloud behind it. The dust was long in setting back again.”

Yunnan Drought

The ongoing drought in Yunnan Province, China, has forced some families to transport water from more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) away.

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Drought: Everything You Need to Know

Drought affects more people globally than any other natural disaster. Here’s what causes these prolonged dry spells and how we can mitigate their impact.

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Natural disasters usually announce their arrival: Hurricanes uproot trees, tornadoes roar, and wildfires wipe out entire landscapes. These large, sudden events generate destruction on impact—and then they’re gone.

Drought is different. It doesn’t make a big entrance—the start of a drought might even be mistaken for a bit of a dry spell—and its impact builds over time. But while often described as a “ creeping disaster ,” drought leaves a trail of destruction as dangerous and deadly as any other extreme weather event. In fact, drought has affected more people around the world in the past four decades than any other type of natural disaster.

Here’s a look at what drought is, what causes it, and how we can better prepare for its impact.

What is drought?

Types of drought, causes of drought, are droughts increasing, drought prevention and preparation.

Drought is characterized by a lack of precipitation —such as rain, snow, or sleet—for a protracted period of time, resulting in a water shortage. While droughts occur naturally, human activity, such as water use and management, can exacerbate dry conditions. What is considered a drought varies from region to region and is based largely on an area’s specific weather patterns. Whereas the threshold for drought may be achieved after just six rainless days on the tropical island of Bali, annual rainfall would need to fall below seven inches in the Libyan desert to warrant a similar declaration.

Developing nations are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including drought. More than 80 percent of drought-induced economic damage and loss suffered by developing nations from 2005 to 2015 was related to livestock, crops, and fisheries. The economic toll of some $29 billion tells only part of the story. Drought in developing nations is notorious for creating water and food insecurity and exacerbating preexisting problems such as famine and civil unrest. It can also contribute to mass migration, resulting in the displacement of entire populations.

A refugee camp in Kenya

IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation/Flickr

In the United States, drought is the second-most costly form of natural disaster (behind hurricanes), exacting an average toll of $9.6 billion in damage and loss per event, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information. Meanwhile, some level of drought often has some part of the country in its grip. During the historic dry spell of 2012 (the nation’s most extensive since the 1930s ), as much as two-thirds of the country was affected by drought at its peak. U.S. droughts can be persistent as well. From 2012 to 2016, scant rainfall and record-breaking heat in California created what is estimated to have been the state’s worst drought in 1,200 years .

These dry spells take a major toll on the economy, with the drought and extreme heat of 2012 alone resulting in an estimated $17 billion in crop loss es. As in developing nations, they can create conditions of water insecurity and higher food prices. Drought can also lead to regionally specific problems. In California, for example, a large number of native fish populations that depend on the San Francisco Bay–Delta Estuary —from the bellwether delta smelt to the iconic Chinook salmon—have suffered sharp declines due to reduced river flows during the recent historic drought.

Droughts are categorized according to how they develop and what types of impact they have.

Drought damage on the Fresno Harlen Ranch in Fresno, California

Cynthia Mendoza/USDA

Meteorological drought

Imagine a large swath of parched, cracked earth and you’re likely picturing the impact of meteorological drought, which occurs when a region’s rainfall falls far short of expectations.

Agricultural drought

When available water supplies are unable to meet the needs of crops or livestock at a particular time, agricultural drought may ensue. It may stem from meteorological drought, reduced access to water supplies, or simply poor timing—for example, when snowmelt occurs before runoff is most needed to hydrate crops.

Hydrological drought

A hydrological drought occurs when a lack of rainfall persists long enough to deplete surface water—rivers, reservoirs, or streams—and groundwater supplies.

Natural Causes

Droughts have plagued humankind throughout much of our history, and until recently they were often natural phenomena triggered by cyclical weather patterns, such as the amount of moisture and heat in the air, land, and sea.

Fluctuating ocean and land temperatures

Ocean temperatures largely dictate global weather patterns, including dry and wet conditions on land, and even tiny temperature fluctuations can have huge ripple effects on climate systems. Research shows that dramatic and prolonged temperature changes in the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans correspond directly to extreme weather patterns on land, including persistent droughts in North America and the eastern Mediterranean—the latter of which has been described as the region’s worst drought in 900 years . Fluctuating ocean temperatures are also behind El Niño and La Niña weather phenomena, with La Niña notorious for drying out the southern United States . Meanwhile, hotter surface temperatures on land lead to greater evaporation of moisture from the ground, which can increase the impact of drought.

Altered weather patterns

The distribution of rainfall around the world is also impacted by how air circulates through the atmosphere. When there is an anomaly in surface temperatures—particularly over the sea—air circulation patterns are altered, changing how and where precipitation falls around the world. The new weather patterns can throw water supply and demand out of sync, as is the case when earlier-than-usual snowmelt reduces the amount of water available for crops in the summer.

Reduced soil moisture

Soil moisture can impact cloud formation, and hence precipitation. When water from wet soil evaporates, it contributes to the formation of rain clouds, which return the water back to the earth. When land is drier than usual, moisture still evaporates into the atmosphere, but not at a volume adequate to form rain clouds. The land effectively bakes, removing additional moisture and further exacerbating dry conditions.

Manmade Causes

While drought occurs naturally, human activity—from water use to greenhouse gas emissions—is having a growing impact on their likelihood and intensity.

Climate change

Climate change—and global warming , specifically—impacts drought in two basic ways: Rising temperatures generally make wet regions wetter and dry regions drier. For wetter regions, warm air absorbs more water, leading to larger rain events. But in more arid regions, warmer temperatures mean water evaporates more quickly. In addition, climate change alters large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns, which can shift storm tracks off their typical paths. This, in turn, can magnify weather extremes, which is one reason why climate models predict the already parched U.S. Southwest and the Mediterranean will continue to get drier.

Excess water demand

Drought often reflects an imbalance in water supply and demand. Regional population booms and intensive agricultural water use can put a strain on water resources, even tipping the scale enough to make the threat of drought a reality. One study estimates that from 1960 to 2010, the human consumption of water increased the frequency of drought in North America by 25 percent. What’s more, once rainfall dwindles and drought conditions take hold, persistent water demand—in the form of increased pumping from groundwater, rivers, and reservoirs—can deplete valuable water resources that may take years to replenish and permanently impact future water availability. Meanwhile, demand for water supplied by upstream lakes and rivers, particularly in the form of irrigation and hydroelectric dams, can lead to the diminishing or drying out of downstream water sources, which may contribute to drought in other regions.

Drought-stricken Lake Powell, seen from space

Deforestation and soil degradation

When trees and plants release moisture into the atmosphere, clouds form and return the moisture to the ground as rain. When forests and vegetation disappear, less water is available to feed the water cycle, making entire regions more vulnerable to drought. Meanwhile, deforestation and other poor land-use practices, such as intensive farming, can diminish soil quality and reduce the land’s ability to absorb and retain water. As a result, soil dries out faster (which can induce agricultural drought), and less groundwater is replenished (which can contribute to hydrological drought). Indeed, experts believe the 1930s Dust Bowl was caused in large part by poor agricultural practices combined with the cooling of the Pacific and the warming of the Atlantic by as little as a few tenths of a degree.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) did not see a global trend toward increasing dryness or drought across the world in 2013, when it released its most recent assessment. But global temperatures have unequivocally become hotter, and hotter conditions precipitate extreme weather —including severe drought. Hotter conditions also reduce snowpack, which provides a key source of water supply and natural water storage in many regions. Regionally, the driest parts of the earth are getting drier, while the wettest parts are getting wetter. That’s why some areas of the world, such as southern Europe and West Africa, have endured longer and more intense droughts since the 1950s while other regions, such as central North America, have seen droughts become less frequent or less intense. Looking forward, as temperatures continue to rise, the IPCC and other researchers anticipate an intensification of those regional trends.

Cattle farm near Walkaway, western Australia

Jackocage/Flickr

We can’t control the weather. But by limiting our climate change contributions, reducing water waste, and using water more efficiently, we can prepare for—and maybe even curb—future dry spells.

Climate change mitigation

The impact of climate change, including more severe drought, can be mitigated only when countries, cities, businesses, and individuals shift away from the use of climate-warming fossil fuels to cleaner renewable energy sources . The Paris Agreement, which was adopted by nearly every nation in 2015 and aims to limit the earth’s warming over the next century to 2 degrees Celsius, or 1.5 degrees if possible, lays the framework for global climate action. But the current commitments countries made under the pact so far aren’t considered enough to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. It will succeed only if countries go beyond their commitments, and that includes the United States. However, catering to big polluters instead of the will of a majority of Americans, the Trump administration had committed to withdrawing the country from the agreement, as well as from key domestic policies—from the Clean Power Plan to automotive fuel efficiency standards —that would reduce our nation’s carbon emissions. Fortunately, American states and cities , as well as more than 2,000 U.S. businesses, institutions, and universities, are taking the reins on climate action by reducing emissions and increasing energy efficiency. It’s crucial that they do, as research indicates even meeting the agreement’s most ambitious targets will only reduce—not eliminate—the likelihood of extreme weather events.

There’s plenty of room for individuals—particularly Americans, who produce about four times more carbon pollution than citizens elsewhere, on average—to fight climate change as well. Actions include speaking to local and congressional leaders about regional environmental policies and finding ways to cut carbon pollution from your daily life.

Urban water conservation and efficiency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that aging infrastructure—faulty meters, crumbling pipes, leaky water mains—costs the United States an estimated 2.1 trillion gallons in lost drinkable water each year. (That’s about enough to drown Manhattan in 300 feet of water.) Meanwhile, a single leaky faucet—releasing just three drips a minute—wastes more than 100 gallons of water in a year. States, cities, water utilities, businesses, and citizens can curb water waste by investing in climate-smart strategies . These include repairing leaky infrastructure (from utility pipes to the kitchen faucet), boosting water efficiency with the use of water- and energy-efficient technologies and appliances (such as clothes washers ), and adopting landscape design that makes use of drought-tolerant plants and water-efficient irrigation techniques. In California, these strategies alone could reduce water use by as much as 60 percent . For individuals, there are many other ways to conserve water as well.

Water recycling

Recycled water —also called reclaimed water—is highly treated wastewater that can be used for myriad purposes, from landscape irrigation (such as watering public parks and golf courses) to industrial processes (such as providing cooling water for power plants and oil refineries) to replenishing groundwater supplies. Graywater—recycled water derived from sinks, shower drains, and washing machines—can be used on site (for example, in homes and businesses) for non-potable uses such as garden or lawn irrigation. Recycled water can serve as a significant water resource, reducing demand from sources such as rivers, streams, reservoirs, and underground water supplies. According to California’s Department of Water Resources, recycling has the potential to increase water supply in the state by as much as 750 billion gallons a year by 2030.

Stormwater capture

Every year in the United States, about 10 trillion gallons of untreated stormwater washes off paved surfaces and rooftops, through sewer systems, and into waterways. Not only does this create pollution problems (as contaminants from land get flushed into rivers, lakes, and oceans), but it reduces the amount of rainwater that soaks back into the earth to replenish groundwater supplies. The use of green infrastructure —including green roofs, tree plantings, rain gardens, rain barrels, cisterns, and permeable pavement—can increase water supplies substantially. Stormwater capture in urban Southern California and the San Francisco Bay region alone could potentially increase annual water supplies by as much as 205 billion gallons .

Farms affected by drought near Strasburg, Colorado

Lance Cheung/USDA

Agricultural water conservation and efficiency

Agriculture is the largest consumer of the earth’s available freshwater, accounting for 70 percent of withdrawals globally, according to the World Bank. Strategies for better water management in the agricultural sector focus on increased water efficiency and reduced consumption. These include improved irrigation techniques—such as switching from flood to drip irrigation, which alone can cut water use by about 20 percent—as well as more precise irrigation scheduling to adjust the amount of water used at different stages of crop growth. Meanwhile, crop rotation, no-till farming (a method for growing crops with minimal soil disturbance), and the use of cover crops help build soil health, which in turn enables the land to absorb and retain more water. Indeed, the use of cover crops alone on just half the land used to grow corn and soybeans in 10 of America’s highest-producing agricultural states would help the soil retain as much as a trillion gallons of water each year.

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Essay on Drought

Students are often asked to write an essay on Drought in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Drought

Understanding drought.

Drought is a natural event that happens when an area gets less rain than normal. It can last for months or even years.

Causes of Drought

Droughts often occur due to lack of rain. Sometimes, high temperatures can also cause drought by making water evaporate from soil and plants.

Effects of Drought

Drought can make it hard for plants and animals to survive. It can also lead to water shortages for people. In severe cases, drought can cause famine.

Dealing with Drought

People can deal with drought by conserving water, using it wisely, and planning for dry periods.

Also check:

• Paragraph on Drought

250 Words Essay on Drought

Introduction.

Drought is a natural disaster characterized by a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water. It is a complex phenomenon that can have serious ecological, social, and economic impacts.

Droughts are primarily caused by irregularities in global weather patterns. Climate change has been identified as a significant factor, with increasing global temperatures leading to changes in rainfall patterns and increased evaporation rates. Human activities, such as deforestation and overuse of water resources, can also exacerbate drought conditions.

Impacts of Drought

Drought can have severe consequences for both the environment and human societies. It can lead to crop failure, livestock death, and water shortages, impacting food production and access to clean water. This can consequently lead to malnutrition, disease, and death, particularly in vulnerable populations. Economically, droughts can result in increased prices and job losses in agricultural sectors.

Drought Mitigation

Mitigation strategies for drought include water conservation, efficient irrigation techniques, and the development of drought-resistant crops. Additionally, improving climate forecasting can help societies prepare for and manage drought conditions. Policymakers must also prioritize sustainable water management to ensure that water resources are used efficiently and equitably.

Drought is a pressing global issue that requires concerted efforts to mitigate its impacts. By understanding its causes and consequences, we can develop effective strategies to manage drought and reduce its harmful effects on society and the environment.

500 Words Essay on Drought

Drought, a natural disaster characterized by a prolonged period of insufficient rainfall, is a global phenomenon with profound impacts on both human and ecological systems. It is a complex, multi-dimensional issue that involves various aspects of climate, hydrology, and human activities.

Droughts occur when there is an extended period of below-average precipitation. This deficiency of water supply can last for months or even years. Droughts are categorized into three types: meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological. Meteorological droughts are associated with reduced rainfall, agricultural droughts with soil moisture deficits affecting crop production, and hydrological droughts with reduced water availability in streams, reservoirs, and aquifers.

The primary cause of drought is a lack of precipitation over an extended period. This can be due to natural climate variability, such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or changes in atmospheric conditions that suppress the formation of clouds and rainfall. Human activities, such as deforestation and overuse of water resources, can also contribute to the occurrence and severity of droughts.

The impacts of drought are far-reaching and can be devastating. They affect the environment, economy, and society. Environmental impacts include reduced water quality, loss of wildlife habitat, and increased risk of wildfires. Economically, drought can lead to crop failure, livestock death, and increased food prices, affecting food security. Social impacts include displacement of people, health issues due to lack of clean water, and increased conflicts over scarce water resources.

Drought Management and Mitigation

Effective drought management requires a proactive approach, focusing on reducing vulnerability and enhancing resilience. Strategies can include improving water infrastructure, implementing water conservation practices, and developing drought-tolerant crops. At the policy level, it involves developing comprehensive drought management plans, early warning systems, and drought risk insurance. Climate change adaptation strategies also play a crucial role in drought mitigation.

Drought is a significant global challenge that requires concerted efforts to mitigate and adapt. While it is a natural phenomenon, human activities have exacerbated its occurrence and impacts. Therefore, understanding drought, its causes, impacts, and management strategies is essential for sustainable development and resilience. As we move forward, it is crucial that we continue to enhance our knowledge and strategies to better manage and mitigate the effects of droughts.

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Drought

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Drought by Woonsup Choi LAST REVIEWED: 25 September 2023 LAST MODIFIED: 25 September 2023 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199874002-0215

Drought is a natural disaster that has plagued human society throughout history. However, the meaning of drought varies by perspective and academic discipline, and the cause of drought is difficult to pinpoint. Despite the variation in its meaning, drought generally refers to the condition of an abnormally low amount of water for a given climate. Here the water can be precipitation, streamflow, soil moisture, groundwater, reservoir storage, and the like, but the lack of precipitation is a precursor for other types of drought. The lack of precipitation is often associated with anomalous atmospheric conditions such as atmospheric-circulation anomalies, higher-than-normal temperatures, and lower-than-normal relative humidity. Sea surface temperature anomalies may lead to sustained atmospheric-circulation anomalies. Drought defined as a lack of precipitation is often called meteorological or climatological drought. Other drought types can be classified within the context of the affected sectors, such as agricultural, hydrological, and socioeconomic drought. Agricultural drought generally refers to a lack of soil moisture, and hydrological drought refers to a lack of surface and subsurface water (e.g., streamflow and groundwater). Socioeconomic drought hampers human activities such as industry or water supply. As meteorological drought persists, other types of drought can follow. Such definitions of drought are regarded as conceptual definitions, but operational ones are also necessary for quantitative understanding and management of drought events. Operational definitions use quantitative indices to identify the occurrence and characteristics of drought events such as onset, duration, termination, deficit volume, and spatial extent of drought. Much of existing drought research concerns developing, revising, and applying drought indices to investigate spatial and temporal patterns of drought at various geographical scales. Drought research has progressed along several directions, such as causes and drivers of drought, characteristics of drought events, impacts, and mitigation. Each of these directions is represented by the works cited in this article.

One of the most important issues in drought research is how to conceptualize and define droughts. Cook 2019 , Wilhite and Glantz 1985 , and Mishra and Singh 2010 offer a review of drought concepts, definitions, classification, and indices, and Robeson 2008 reviews research topics in drought that are relevant to applied climatology. There are numerous quantitative indices of drought, and the PDSI (Palmer Drought Severity Index) developed in Palmer 1965 and the SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index) developed in McKee, et al. 1993 are widely used as operational definitions of meteorological drought. The authors of Byun and Wilhite 1999 developed the EDI (Effective Drought Index) while criticizing SPI. Yevyevich 1967 suggests a threshold-level approach to defining hydrological droughts. Van Loon 2015 offers a comprehensive review of hydrological drought, and Van Loon, et al. 2016 reframes the approach to drought with regard to human activities. Tallaksen and van Lanen 2004 collects chapters in various aspects of drought in streamflow and groundwater.

Byun, Hi-Ryong, and Donald A. Wilhite. “Objective Quantification of Drought Severity and Duration.” Journal of Climate 12.9 (1999): 2747–2756.

DOI: 10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012<2747:OQODSA>2.0.CO;2

Discusses major existing drought indices and proposes EDI, which diagnoses meteorological drought by using daily precipitation while giving more weight to recent precipitation than precipitation more distant in the past. An authoritative reference for EDI.

Cook, Benjamin I. Drought: An Interdisciplinary Perspective . New York: Columbia University Press, 2019.

DOI: 10.7312/cook17688

A comprehensive and concise volume that explains drought in various perspectives, including hydroclimatology, climate change, land management, and groundwater. One of the best introductions for those who pursue scientific understanding of drought and good as an undergraduate-level textbook.

McKee, Thomas B., Nolan J. Doesken, and John Kleist. “The Relationship of Drought Frequency and Duration to Time Scales.” Proceedings of the 8th Conference on Applied Climatology 7.22 (1993): 179–183.

Defines drought on the basis of standardized precipitation, which is the difference between precipitation for a particular period and the mean divided by the standard deviation. The mean and standard deviation are determined from historical data. The standardized precipitation is expressed as SPI for varying lengths; for example, one month (SPI-1), three months (SPI-3), twelve months (SPI-12), etc. A common reference for SPI.

Mishra, Ashok K., and Vijay P. Singh. “A Review of Drought Concepts.” Journal of Hydrology 391.1–2 (2010): 202–216.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.07.012

Reviews a wide range of issues related to drought, including need for drought research, drought definitions and classification, drought indices, and relationship between drought and large-scale climate indices. One of the best introductions for those who pursue scientific understanding of drought.

Palmer, Wayne C. Meteorological Drought . Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce, 1965.

An authoritative reference for PDSI. Defines drought severity and duration, considering water balance components as well as precipitation. The PDSI numbers are classified by levels of dryness and wetness.

Robeson, Scott M. “Applied Climatology: Drought.” Progress in Physical Geography 32.3 (2008): 303–309.

DOI: 10.1177/0309133308091951

Reviews major research fields in drought from an applied-climatology perspective, focused on monitoring, climate change impacts, and modeling.

Tallaksen, Lena M., and Henny A. J. van Lanen, eds. Hydrological Drought: Processes and Estimation Methods for Streamflow and Groundwater . Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2004.

A collection of chapters addressing drought in streamflow and groundwater. Chapters about the science or management of drought are adequate for entry-level graduate students, but those about drought estimation methods are highly technical.

Van Loon, Anne F. “Hydrological Drought Explained.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water 2.4 (2015): 359–392.

DOI: 10.1002/wat2.1085

Provides a comprehensive review of hydrological drought, including typology and indices and discusses research gaps and challenges.

Van Loon, Anne F., Kerstin Stahl, Giuliano Di Baldassarre, et al. “Drought in a Human-Modified World: Reframing Drought Definitions, Understanding, and Analysis Approaches.” Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 20.9 (2016): 3631–3650.

DOI: 10.5194/hess-20–3631–2016

Emphasizes the impact of humans on drought, particularly hydrological drought, and reframes the way that drought is defined and analyzed in the Anthropocene. Clarifies drought terminology and identifies research gaps in drivers, modifiers, impacts, feedbacks, and baselines of drought.

Wilhite, Donald A., and Michael H. Glantz. “Understanding the Drought Phenomenon: The Role of Definitions.” Water International 10.3 (1985): 111–120.

DOI: 10.1080/02508068508686328

Provides detailed discussion of drought definitions. Suggests subdividing the definitions into four types on the basis of disciplinary perspectives (meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and socioeconomic), and such a classification has been widely adopted in the literature, including the review in Mishra and Singh 2010 .

Yevyevich, Vujica M. “ An Objective Approach to Definitions and Investigations of Continental Hydrologic Droughts .” Hydrology Papers, Colorado State University 23 (1967).

Suggests an “objective” definition of hydrological droughts at continental or large-area scales. It is regarded as the first work that defined droughts by using runs of the sequence of a variable, where droughts are defined in terms of duration, deficit volume, and intensity. Most papers investigating hydrological droughts cite this paper.

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Droughts 101

Droughts can cause a variety of problems to local communities, including damage to ecosystems, crops, and a shortage of drinking water.

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What is drought? Causes, impact & countries most affected

East Africa is facing its worst drought in 40 years, with over 1.4 million people displaced by drought in Somalia alone. Learn more about drought, what causes it, and how we can support those most impacted.

Around the world, droughts are becoming increasingly common due to rising global temperatures — and have serious impacts, leading to crop failures, famine and malnutrition. 

East Africa , for example, is facing its worst drought in years, affecting 40 million people. Many are facing near-famine and malnutrition because of the drought’s impact on food supplies. 

Learn more about drought, what causes it, and what the IRC is doing to help in East Africa. 

Support our work

What is drought .

Drought is caused by a lack of rainfall, causing serious water shortages. It can be fatal.  

More specifically, drought is defined by a period of unusually dry weather caused by low rainfall and high temperatures. It is also defined in terms of the impact on agriculture when crops fail due to lack of moisture in soil, leading to food shortages and serious human impacts such as famine in severe cases. 

Unlike other extreme weather events that are more sudden, like earthquakes or hurricanes, droughts happen gradually. But they can be just as deadly as other weather hazards—if not more so. Drought has affected more people in the last 40 years than any other natural disaster.  

The severity of drought worsens over time. When it arrives, drought can last for weeks, months, or years—sometimes, the effects last decades. 

What causes drought?  

Droughts can be triggered by natural causes such as weather patterns. But increasingly they are caused by human activity. 

Human causes of drought 

Climate change : Global warming makes extreme weather more likely. It can make places drier by increasing evaporation. When land becomes so dry, an impermeable crust forms, so when it does rain, water runs off the surface, meaning sometimes flash flooding occurs. 

Deforestation : Plants and trees capture and release water into the atmosphere, which creates clouds and then rain. Scientists have observed a relationship between deforestation and drought. 

Agriculture : Intensive farming contributes to deforestation in the first instance but can also affect the absorbency of the soil, meaning it dries out much more quickly. 

High water demand : There are several reasons water demand might outweigh the supply, including intensive agriculture and population spikes. Also, high demand upstream in rivers (for dams or irrigation) can cause drought in lower, downstream areas. 

Other natural causes of drought 

Changes in ocean temperatures : El Niño and La Niña are climate patterns that can cause drought in some parts of the world. El Niño is characterized by warmer-than-average ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, which can lead to drought in the southwestern United States and southern Africa. La Niña is characterized by cooler-than-average ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, which can lead to drought in Australia and Indonesia. 

The jet stream : The jet stream is a band of strong winds that flows high in the atmosphere. Changes in the jet stream can cause drought in some areas by bringing in dry air from other parts of the world. 

How are people impacted by drought? 

Risk of famine .

Drought causes food insecurity when crops fail. When a substantial part of the population can no longer access food this is known as famine and results in widespread acute malnutrition, disease and death across the affected region. 

East Africa is currently experiencing widespread food shortages and near-famine, with millions of children under 5 suffering from severe acute malnutrition. 

Malnutrition 

A lack of nutritious food caused by food shortages leads to acute malnutrition. Children suffering from malnutrition are a high risk category. Deprived of essential vitamins and minerals required for their proper growth, they are prone to disease, severe developmental delays and even death.   

Effective treatment for children suffering from malnutrition exists, but often does not reach those most in need. The IRC has developed a simplified process for treating malnutrition in order to reach more children with lower costs. 

Increase in diseases 

Drought affects vital access to clean drinking water. This can lead to people drinking contaminated water, which brings about outbreaks of diseases like cholera and typhoid. These diseases can also spread in places with poor sanitation, another side-effect of having no clean water. 

It can cause wildfires 

Dry conditions can cause wildfires that burn remaining vegetation and endanger homes. Fires can also impact air quality and exacerbate chronic lung conditions. 

People are displaced 

People must travel further to find clean water. This usually falls to women and children, who must sacrifice other work and school to carry out an incredibly physical task. 

Without access to clean water or food, many must permanently leave their homes in order to survive. The World Health Organization states , “Water scarcity impacts 40% of the world’s population, and as many as 700 million people are at risk of being displaced as a result of drought by 2030.” 

Related : Meet the people displaced by drought in Somalia  

It can feed into conflict 

Research has also found that drought exacerbates existing conflicts. People migrating en masse from areas of drought and famine can result in increased political tensions and conflict due to increased competition for resources. There is evidence that drought contributed to the conflict in Syria , for example. 

Flash flooding 

Flooding can also be a risk in the same geographical areas that suffer from drought. 

Rain after a drought sounds like it ought to be a good thing, but after a prolonged period of dryness, sudden heavy rainfall can lead to hazardous flash flooding like that seen in Pakistan.  

This is because droughts leave the ground hard and baked, with little to no plant cover and low soil quality, which prevents rain from saturating the ground. Instead, when waterfalls in a large quantity and at speed—like in a thunderstorm—it runs over the parched ground. 

Which countries are in a drought? 

Droughts can occur all around the world. However, the effects of drought vary by region.  

Droughts bring the most risk to areas with high-pressure weather systems that are already prone to desertification. Developing countries are also more vulnerable to the socio-economic effects of drought due to a large percentage of their population being employed in the agriculture industry.  

East Africa 

In Africa droughts pose a high risk and the following countries in East Africa are severely affected by drought: 

Somalia where drought is leading to near-famine conditions 

Kenya which has experienced a record six below average rainy seasons 

Ethiopia has seen six below average rainy seasons in a drought affecting 31 million people 

Over 40 million people have been impacted by the drought across East Africa. The drought affecting countries like Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia began in October 2020. Throughout these regions, insecurity, severe drought, and an exponential increase in food prices have brought millions to the brink of famine. 

“Somalia is seeing the worst of the crisis, with over 200,000 already living in the most extremes of hunger, but the challenge is regional,” says Abukar Mohamud, IRC’s Deputy Director of Programs for Somalia. “Across East Africa, people are facing the worst drought in 40 years.  

“People are not just dying due to a lack of food. Hunger means their weakened bodies cannot fight off diseases like diarrhea, measles or malaria, so death rates are high. Children are particularly at risk and often die at double the rate of adults. And those who survive will face ill health for the rest of their lives. The 2011 famine saw over 250,000 people die of hunger – half of whom were children.” 

What is the IRC doing to help in East Africa? 

East Africa is home to some of the IRC’s longest-running programs globally. Today, over 2,000 IRC staff in the region are scaling up our programs to address the current drought and rising food insecurity, including expanding to new areas to meet severe needs. 

This includes health programming, food and cash assistance, and providing clean water.  

A new approach to treating malnutrition 

Currently, 80% of malnourished children do not have access to treatment. The IRC has developed a streamlined approach for treatment so that more children can access treatment and recover. We are working to raise funds and remove blocks so that this treatment can be distributed at scale in places like East Africa.  

How can I help?

Around the world, our staff are working around the clock to ensure families can survive, recover and regain control of their futures. Donate now to support our work.

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Drought's Effect on the Economy and You

Erika Rasure is globally-recognized as a leading consumer economics subject matter expert, researcher, and educator. She is a financial therapist and transformational coach, with a special interest in helping women learn how to invest.

• Drought and Climate Change

1930s Drought Worsened the Depression

Southwest drought, midwest drought, drought and wildfires, droughts effects around the world, drought forecast, solutions to man-made droughts, frequently asked questions (faqs), what are the different types of drought, how is drought measured, which states are the worst for drought.

A drought is a reduction in precipitation over an extended period. This creates a water shortage that damages crops, livestock, and the environment. Since droughts adversely impact the agricultural industry, those that depend on the commodities from the industry suffer as well. Food becomes more scarce, and demand exceeds supply. Prices go up, and the commodities markets waiver .

If the economy is already in a state of depression or recession , a drought can increase that state. Climate change can also amplify the effects of a drought. A drought can further cause damage by increasing the risk of large-scale wildfires, and it can cause populations to begin tapping into their emergency reserves of water—the aquifers that collect water underground.

It helps to understand how droughts can deepen the effects of a changing climate, and how they have played a part in environmental and human circumstances in the recent past—so that one day, humans can move past destroying fragile ecosystems and still survive in comfort on the planet.

Key Takeaways

• A drought is a reduction in precipitation over an extended period.
• Droughts damage agriculture and the food supplies.
• Droughts create floods and wildfires.
• Drought worsened the Great Depression.
• Agribusiness is draining the Ogallala Aquifer, which could dry up by 2100.
• Climate change combined with human activity is causing severe drought around the world.

Drought and Climate Change

How does climate change create more severe droughts? It’s a vicious cycle—greenhouse gas emissions trap heat, causing air temperatures to increase. The hot air absorbs more moisture, resulting in less rain. Hotter air also increases evaporation from lakes and rivers, reducing water sources. Reduced rainfall kills the plants that normally retain moisture in the soil, leading to even drier conditions.

Unfortunately, droughts also increase the likelihood of more extreme weather . When it does rain, the hardened dirt and soil cause water to run off the dry land. This keeps the water from being absorbed into the water table.

Since the drought kills plants, there are no roots to retain the soil during rainfall. This runoff creates larger and more frequent flash floods, by creating new flow patterns. Dead vegetation, warmer air, and decreased rainfall also increase the frequency and severity of wildfires .  

In the 1930s, shifting weather patterns over both oceans cause the Pacific to grow cooler, while the Atlantic grew warmer. This combination changed the direction of the jet stream, which usually carries moisture from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Plains, dumping rain when it reaches the Rockies. When the jet stream moved south, the rain never reached the Great Plains. 

This caused the Midwest to sink into a drought. Crops and the agricultural industry depressed, adding to the economic downturn that was already in existence.

The Colorado River basin stretches from Wyoming to Mexico. It provides water for 40 million people and 5 million acres of farmland from Wyoming to California and Mexico. The driest period in the past 1,200 years started in 2000. One recent study estimated that global warming will lower the river’s flow by another 35% by 2100.

The river feeds into Lake Powell on the Utah and Arizona border and then Lake Mead in Nevada. Lake Powell is only 48% full, and Lake Mead is 38% full.  In mid-2018, the water level in Lake Mead had dropped to 1,076 feet above sea level.

California has been experiencing record droughts for some time. Snowmelt from the Sierra Nevadas has become harder to count on due to less snowfall. As a result, farmers are draining the aquifers, many of which aren’t recharging due to a shortened rainy season.

California produces two-thirds of the nations' fruits and nuts, and a third of its vegetables.  The soil and climate are ideal, but the water supply is not, because irrigation uses 40%-80% of the state's water supply.  

The California drought cost the state an estimated $3.8 billion in 2014-2016, the deepest two years of the drought. Almost three-quarters of the losses were in the southern Central Valley.

Agribusiness is draining the groundwater from the Ogallala Aquifer eight times faster than rain is putting it back. The Aquifer stretches from South Dakota to Texas. At the current rate of use, it will dry up within the century. Scientists say it would take 6,000 years for the rain to refill the aquifer. The area is home to a $20-billion-a-year industry that grows one-fifth of U.S. wheat, corn, and beef cattle. 

In 2012, the central Great Plains suffered the worst drought since 1895. It was worse than the driest summers of the 1930s Dust Bowl. It added to the 2010-2011 drought suffered by the southern Great Plains when air currents failed to bring seasonal moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. The dry air created record heat waves, causing corn yields to drop almost as much as they did in the 1930s. The U.S. Department of Agriculture declared a natural disaster for over 2,245 counties covering 71% of the country.

The drought withered crops in the field. As a result, farmers had to slaughter cattle that had become too expensive to feed.

The Midwestern Drought has caused the line that separates the humid east from the dry west, the "100th Meridian," to shift 140 miles eastward. This line runs north to south through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. It separates the humid East from the dry West and now resides on the 98th meridian.

As a result, farmers will have to begin planting drought resistant crops, and portions of once humid east are becoming dryer. This also means that the combination of weather phenomena and human actions that caused the severe dust storms of the Midwest in the 1930s could happen again.

Thanks to rising temperatures, shorter winters, and longer summers, the western U.S. wildfire frequency has increased by 400% since 1970.  Damaging wildfires have occurred in recent years in places like California, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

A drought has been affecting the eastern Mediterranean Levant region since 1998. According to NASA, it's likely the worst in the past 900 years.

From 2006 to 2011, Syria suffered from an extreme drought that climate change made worse. It displaced farmers, helped to create a civil war, resulting in thousands of people migrating to Europe.

Northern Africa and the Sahel, a band of farmland south of the Sahara, are experiencing drought, and the Sahara desert is expanding southward into Sudan and Chad.  Refugees from those regions are close on the heels of Syrian and Afghan migrants moving into Europe. By 2050, there may be more than 140 million climate refugees on the move.

Drought threatens the 8.8 million residents of Mexico City, according to the city's chief resilience office, Arnoldo Kramer. The city pumps drinking water from underground aquifers, which is draining the water table. The portions of the city that rest on clay sink as the water table falls. Many areas of the city must rely on water to be trucked in from elsewhere.

The NOAA publishes a short-term drought outlook, which predicts the U.S. drought conditions for the next month and season. If climate change isn't arrested, the United States will be much drier by 2030. The Midwest will drop to between -0.2 and -0.4 on the Palmer drought scale. In 80 years, areas of the United States, the Mediterranean, and Africa will experience severe drought, from -0.4 to -0.10 on the scale. 

Studies have predicted that by 2050, the American Southwest and Great Plains will experience a megadrought.

The megadrought is predicted to last 50 years, according to scientists at Cornell University. It will be similar to droughts that occurred in the region during the 12th and 13th centuries, but is theorized to be entirely man-made, a consequence of anthropogenic global warming .

Government policies could solve short-term, man-made drought problem. First, they could reverse subsidy policies that encourage thirsty crops like cotton. Instead, the subsidies should be directed toward crops that are less consumptive of water. Second, policies that promote water conservation should be implemented. These could include waste-water recycling, desert landscaping, and low-flow appliances.

In the long-term, the government must stop climate change to solve the on-going drought. Nations must limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the Earth's atmosphere, to reduce heat retention. Once that is done,  carbon emissions trading  and carbon taxes for non-compliance can encourage businesses to adhere to the cap.

They are meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, ecological, and socioeconomic drought.

There are five degrees of drought, from D0 to D4, with D0 being the most minor and D4 being the most widespread and devastating.

Nevada and Arizona are the most drought-prone states.

The Climate Reality Project. “ The Facts About Climate Change and Drought ,”

A. Park Williams, et.al. " Large Contribution From Anthropogenic Warming to an Emerging North American Megadrought ," Science. Vol 368, Page 314-318.

Advancing Earth and Space Science. “ The Twenty-First Century Colorado River Hot Drought and Implications for the Future .”

Make Mead Water Level. " Lake Mead Water Level ."

NOAA Drought Task Force. “ How Severe Has the California Drought Been? ”

California Department of Food and Agriculture. " California Agricultural Production Statistics ."

Congressional Research Service. " California Agricultural Production and Irrigated Water Use ."

Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. " Lessons from California’s 2012–2016 Drought ."

Scientific American. “ The Ogallala Aquifer: Saving a Vital U.S. Water Source ."

Earth System Research Laboratory. “ An Interpretation of the Origins of the 2012 Central Plains Drought, Assessment Report, 20 March 2013 ."

American Meteorological Society. " Whither the 100th Meridian? The Once and Future Physical and Human Geography of America’s Arid–Humid Divide. Part II: The Meridian Moves East ."

Science. " Warming and Earlier Spring Increase Western U.S. Forest Wildfire Activity ."

NASA. “ NASA Finds Drought in Eastern Mediterranean Worst of Past 900 Years ."

American Meteorological Society. " Water, Drought, Climate Change, and Conflict in Syria ."

University of Maryland. " The Sahara Desert is Expanding, According to New UMD Study ."

The World Bank. " Climate Change Could Force Over 140 Million to Migrate Within Countries by 2050: World Bank Report ."

The New York Times. “ Mexico City, Parched and Sinking, Faces a Water Crisis ."

National Weather Service. “ Climate Prediction Center ."

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. “ Climate Change: Drought May Threaten Much of Globe Within Decades ."

Science Advances. " Unprecedented 21st Century Drought Risk in the American Southwest and Central Plains ."

Carbon Tax Center. “ What’s a Carbon Tax? ”

NOAA. " Drought Basics ."

NOAA. " Drought: Degrees of Drought Reveal the True Picture ."

NOAA. " How Drought Prone Is Your State? A Look at the Top States and Counties in Drought Over the Last Two Decades ."

A  natural disaster  is a major adverse event. Disaster results from natural processes of the Earth. Droughts are one of them. Drought is basically the unusual dryness of the soil.

                                                                                                      Droughts

Introduction to Droughts

Drought is shortly the unusual dryness of soil due to the levels of rainfall. Drought occurs when rainfall is significantly below average over a prolonged period. It is an event of shortages in the water supply, surface water, or groundwater. A drought can last for years, months or days.

Shortage of water, Dry and hot winds, rise in temperature, and consequent evaporation of moisture from the ground contribute to conditions of drought. Droughts also result in crop failure too. Droughts have a major impact on the  ecosystem  and agriculture of the affected regions. Also, droughts harm the local economy of the region. Droughts are considered a natural disaster as it disturbs our whole ecosystem.

Drought is considered as the recurring feature of the climate in most parts of the world. These days regular droughts have become more extreme and more unpredictable because of climatic changes. Also, studies based on dendrochronology, confirm that the drought-affected by global warming goes back to 1900.

Millennium Drought in Australia (1997–2009) is a well-known historical drought. The drought led to a water supply crisis across the country. As a result of it, many desalination plants were built for the first time. These plants are meant for the process of removing salt from seawater. The State of Texas in 2011, lived under a drought emergency declaration for the whole year. The state suffered severe economic losses. If ant time drought persists, the conditions surrounding the region gradually worsen and its impact on the local population gradually increases day by day.

Types of Droughts

Meteorological drought.

This type of drought occurs when there is a prolonged time with less than average rainfall. Meteorological drought usually paves the way for other kinds of drought.

Agricultural Drough t

This type of drought affects crop production or the ecology of the range. The conditions of drought can arise independently due to any change in precipitation levels, irrigation, or soil conditions.  Erosion occurs because of poorly planned agricultural attempts. This causes a shortfall in water available to the crops causes drought. However, the traditional drought occurs due to an extended period of below-average rainfall.

Hydrological Drought

This type of drought occurs when the water reserves available to us fall below a significant threshold. These sources are that are aquifers, lakes and reservoirs fall. Hydrological drought tends to show up more slowly.

This slow pace of drought is because it involves stored water that is used but not replenished from sources. Like an agricultural drought, this can be triggered by more than just a loss of rainfall. For example, around 2007 Kazakhstan was given a large amount of money by the World Bank to restore water that had been diverted to other nations from the Aral Sea under Soviet rule.

Causes of Drought

A drought is mainly the cause of drier conditions. It is comparable to normal conditions that eventually lead to water supply problems. Really hot temperatures which eventually cause the moisture to evaporate from the soil can make drought worse. If any region is hot and dry, it doesn’t always mean that it is going through a drought. The dry season greatly increases drought occurrence. It is characterized by its low humidity, with watering holes and cracks, and rivers drying up. Due to the lack of these watering holes, many animals unwillingly migrate. This migration is due to the lack of water in search of more fertile lands.

Land and water temperatures cause droughts. As the temperature increases, more water evaporates and severe weather conditions also increase. Landscapes and crops need more water for their survival and growth and thus the overall demand for water increases gradually. Drought also occurs by air circulation and weather patterns. The water we have today is all the water we ever have now. Water available is moved by the weather patterns in the air all around. This is changing constantly.

Soil moisture levels also lead to drought. There is the evaporation of water for the creation of clouds when the soil moisture depletes. Demand, need, and supply of water issues are also a cause of droughts. The demand for water by people can worsen the situation depending on how the region reacts. Especially when the weather conditions, temperatures, or air patterns push a region toward a drought. Excessive irrigation is excellent for papa contributing to drought.

FAQs on Droughts

Question 1: What are the consequences of drought?

Answer: Some common consequences of drought are:

• Diminished crop growth or yield productions.
• Dust bowls and Dust storms, when drought hits an area suffering from desertification and erosion.
• Habitat damage – affecting terrestrial and aquatic wildlife.
• Hunger– drought provides too little water for food crops and human beings.
• Malnutrition, dehydration and related diseases is a major consequence.
• Mass migration of people in search of food and water is very common.
• Shortages of water for industrial and domestic purposes.
• Fight over natural resources, including water and food.

Question 2: Is drought a natural disaster or a man-made disaster?

Answer: A natural hazard is a threat of a naturally occurring event that has a negative impact on the environment, humans, and their survival. This negative effect is a natural disaster. In simple words when the hazardous threat eventually happens and harms human life, we call the event a natural disaster.

Drought is a natural disaster. Lack of precipitation for a protracted period of time causes drought. This results in a water shortage which affects the ecosystem. While droughts occur naturally, human activity, such as water use and water management, can exacerbate the dry conditions of the region.

Question 3: How to prevent droughts.

Answer: To deal effectively with the drought, here are some measures:

• Interlinking of national water resources (rivers).
• Agriculture and irrigation patterns need change.
• Water transportation channels need to be maintained properly. Leakages are bad.
• Water-intensive industries should be away from water deficit regions.
• Accumulating as much as rainwater we could. Improving rain harvesting infrastructure. Building more check dams, a small run of the river projects, more farm-lakes, improving water table, using mulching techniques in farms.
• Water meters need to be in a place like electricity meters. Asking someone not to consume excess water unnecessarily has not given good results so far. Nobody can count water a water meter will do that.
• Have water trains on standby. Attach them to the units of disaster management teams. As soon as a possibility of drought arises in a region, the water train can reach there.
• We need to prevent deforestation and thus we require afforestation.
• Judicious use of water. Awareness that wasted water won’t come back easily.

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Droughts: Notes for UPSC Geograpahy

Drought is a phenomenon that comes under geography in the strict sense of the word but has reverberations across various fields. This is because droughts affect the livelihood and economies and even lives of people affected by it. Hence, it assumes importance for the UPSC exam. In this article, we talk about droughts for the IAS exam .

Definition of Drought

The term ‘Drought’ in simple words is the absence of water for a long period of time, at a place where it is considered abnormal as compared to its usual conditions. The distribution of water on the earth’s surface is not even. Some places have lots of freshwater e.g. rivers, lakes, lagoons, ponds etc.  and they are continuously replenished by rainfall and water from underground.

If a region that has had lots of rainfall , goes for a couple of weeks without rains, and people, animals and plants begin to experience a bit of dryness, it can be called a drought. Drought can be defined as a relatively long time where there is not enough water than there usually is, as a result of dry weather, to support human, animal and plant life. Droughts become an issue only when it begins to affect water supply for irrigation, municipal, industrial, energy, and ecosystem function. Severe droughts can have serious consequences.

Recently, the government of England has formally declared parts of England. It was declared after a period of prolonged hot and dry weather. 

The declaration of drought serves as a recognition of the water scarcity situation and the need for proactive measures to manage water resources effectively.

Implications of the declaration: The declaration abrings various actions and regulations to address the water scarcity issue and ensure the sustainable use of available water resources.

• Water Companies’ Drought Plans and Restrictions: Water companies are required to have a drought plan in place, outlining the restrictions they may implement on their customers during a drought. These plans serve as guidelines for managing water supplies efficiently and responsibly.
• Drought Orders and Permits for Water Management: During a drought, water companies have the option to apply for drought orders and permits. This helps ensure a more sustainable water supply during times of scarcity.
• Restrictions on Non-Essential Water Use: To conserve water during a drought, restrictions can be imposed on non-essential water use. This includes measures such as limiting water usage in commercial car washes and swimming pools. 
• Restrictions for Farmers: Farmers may face restrictions on water usage for spray irrigation. These measures are intended to balance the water needs of agricultural activities with the overall water availability in drought-affected areas.
• Government Intervention in Industrial and Food Processing Water Use: The government can impose restrictions on water use in industrial manufacturing or food processing sectors.
• Conservation Measures in Dry Conditions: In drought conditions, Natural England, the government’s conservation advisory body, may restrict access to certain areas, such as national nature reserves, if there is a risk of fire caused by dry conditions. These measures aim to protect valuable natural habitats and prevent wildfires, which can be exacerbated during periods of prolonged hot and dry weather.

Types of Drought

There are three types of droughts known to the scientific community:

• Meteorological drought occurs when there is a prolonged time with less than average precipitation. Such type of droughts can be triggered by a high level of reflected sunlight and above-average prevalence of high-pressure systems, winds carrying continental, rather than oceanic air masses.
• Agricultural droughts affect crop production or the ecology of the range. This condition can also arise independently from any change in precipitation levels when either increased irrigation or soil conditions and erosion triggered by poorly planned agricultural activities cause a shortfall in water available to the crops.
• Hydrological drought is brought about when the water reserves available in sources such as aquifers, lakes and reservoirs fall below a locally significant threshold. Hydrological drought tends to show up more slowly because it involves stored water that is used but not replenished. Like an agricultural drought, this can be triggered by more than just a loss of rainfall.
• Socio-Economic Drought  refers to the abnormal water shortage that affects socio economic condition of a region. 

For more notes on UPSC Geography , visit the linked article

• Drought-prone districts in India comprise nearly 1/6th of this country in terms of area. These areas receive an annual rainfall of around 60 cm or less.
• These situations can be attributed to human malpractices such asI recent year drought conditions have become recurring due to reasons as climate change, overuse of water resource, pollution, urbanization, etc. 
• Drought is declared by the respective State Governments taking into account rainfall situation, crop growth, etc.

Consequences of Drought

The effects of droughts can be divided into three groups: environmental, economic and social.

• Environmental effects: Lower surface and subterranean water-levels, lower flow-levels (with a decrease below the minimum leading to direct danger for amphibian life), increased pollution of surface water, the drying out of wetlands, more and larger fires, higher deflation intensity, loss of biodiversity , worse health of trees and the appearance of pests and dendroid diseases.
• Economic losses: Economic consequences include lower agricultural, forests, game and fishing output, higher food-production costs, lower energy-production levels in hydro plants, losses caused by depleted water tourism and transport revenue, problems with water supply for the energy sector and for technological processes in metallurgy, mining industries and disruption of water supplies for municipal economies.
• Social costs include the negative effect on the health of people directly exposed to this phenomenon (excessive heat waves), a possible limitation of water supplies, increased pollution levels, high food-costs, stress caused by failed harvests, etc. This explains why droughts and freshwater shortages operate as a factor which increases the gap between developed and developing countries.

Effects vary according to vulnerability. For example, subsistence farmers are more likely to migrate during drought because they do not have alternative food sources. Areas with populations that depend on water sources as a major food-source are more vulnerable to famine.

Frequently Asked Questions Related to Drought

What are the four types of drought.

As a result, the climatological community has defined four types of drought:

1) Meteorological drought 2) Hydrological drought 3) Agricultural drought 4) Socioeconomic drought.

Is a drought a natural disaster?

Droughts – UPSC Notes:- Download PDF Here

To get more  topics to visit the UPSC Syllabus page   and for more of UPSC-related preparation materials visit the linked articles:

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Essay on droughts in india: meaning, incidences and impact.

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What is Drought?

In simple terms, a ‘drought’ is a condition of dryness due to lack or shortage of water over an extended period. It can be defined according to meteorological, hydrological or agricultural criteria.

In meteorological terms, a drought is “a sustained and regionally extensive deficiency in precipitation”. According to the definition of meteorological drought adopted by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), a drought is a situation when the deficiency of rainfall at a meteorological sub-division level is 25 per cent more of the long-term average (LTA) of that sub­division for a given period. If the deficiency is between 26 per cent and 50 per cent, the drought is considered ‘moderate’, and if the deficiency is over 50 per cent, the drought is termed ‘severe’.

In India, the south-west monsoon accounts for most (about 70-80 per cent) of the rainfall and is the main source of water. The monsoon rainfall above 19 per cent of the normal value is termed as excess rain. When the rainfall departure is within 19 per cent it is known as normal rain, below 19 per cent it is deficient rain and scanty if the rainfall is below 59 per cent.

The meteorological drought is only a representation of the rainfall distribution pattern and statistics.

The hydrological drought is the manifestation of critically low groundwater tables and a marked reduced river and stream flow, causing severe shortage of water for livestock and human needs.

An agricultural drought results when soil moisture and rainfall are inadequate during the crop growing season to support healthy crop growth to maturity. The National Commission ‘on Agriculture has defined an agricultural drought as a period of four consecutive weeks (of severe meteorological drought) with a rainfall deficiency of more than 50 per cent of the LTA or with a weekly rainfall of 5 cm or less during the period from mid-May to mid-October (the kharif season) when 80 per cent of the country’s total crop is planted, or six such consecutive weeks during the rest of the year.

The intensity of drought is guided by several factors, viz., the degree of rainfall deficiency, the length of dry periods, the size of the affected area, and the availability of various facilities including irrigation. Of late the “Palmer Drought Severity Index” is commonly brought into use for expressing the severity of drought.

The index ranges from +6 (very much wetter than normal conditions) to -6 (severe drought). The index measures the relative dryness of local weather within successive periodic intervals. It considers the differences of actual precipitation from the minimum amount of precipitation required in normal conditions to sustain evapo-transpiration, run off and storage of moisture in a given climatic region.

In India, drought remains a recurrent phenomena in spite of its vast water resources. India has several major, medium, and minor rivers. The annual rainfall and snowfall is about 114 cm which creates 4000 cu km of water per annum.

Even after evaporation and other losses, about 1870 cu km of water-should remain as excess. But, in reality, only 700 cu km surface water reserve remains usable owing to topographical and hydrological bottlenecks.

Out of about 6 million villages of India about 2,31,000 are called ‘problem villages’. In these ‘problem villages’ water is not available within a 1.6 km radius. Almost 68 per cent of the sown area is dependent upon rainfall. Rainfall distribution grossly varies in more than 35 meteorological subdivisions of India.

For example, Cherrapunji receives about 118.70 cm of rainfall in comparison to about 10 mm or less rain received in the western part of Rajasthan. The most drought-prone regions is located in West Rajasthan, Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kachchh, Maharashtra, Telengana, Rayalaseema, Bihar and some parts of Orissa, such as Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput.

Major Incidences of Drought in India:

The worst drought experienced by India occurred in 1877. The rainfall departure in 1877 was -79 per cent which had a spread of over 66.8 per cent of the area. In recent times droughts have occurred in 1979, 1982, and as close as 2000.

The drought of 1979 had an adverse impact on about 200 million people in Eastern Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. The drought of 1982 was characterised by monsoon departure of -13.7 per cent and having an adverse affect on 46.4 per cent of the area and almost 100 million people of Rajasthan, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

A ‘phenomenal’ drought took place in 1987 when the departure of rainfall was -19.3 per cent and the area suffering from deficient rainfall was 64.3 per cent. Among the victims were about 285 million people and 168 million cattle in 15 States and 6 Union Territories. Saurashtra, Kachchh, Diu, the western part of Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana suffered tremendously.

The occurrence of drought does not always have a link with the occurrence of rainfall in a particular region. In recent years, Cherrapunji which receives the highest amount of rainfall in the world was also facing drought conditions due to lack of water harvesting methods.

In the first quarter of the year 2000, large parts of the country were hit by drought. Some fourteen states reported drought or drought-like conditions of varying magnitude. The worst hit were Rajasthan (in which 2.6 crore people in 23,000 villages in 26 districts were affected), Andhra Pradesh (3 crore people in 17,000 villages in 18 districts) and Gujarat (2.5 crore people in 8,000 villages in 17 districts). Parts of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura also came under some stress, as did some districts of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and West Bengal which reported severe scarcity of water.

A Major Factor: Excessive Groundwater Depletion:

Strictly speaking, the meteorological factor has been a cause of a “severe drought” only in the Kachchh region of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Other regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh have suffered from a severe hydrological drought rather than a meteorological drought. Of grave concern is the fact that the hydrological drought is not just the natural result of the meteorological drought.

Rather, it is more the result of a lack and/or failure of water management practices and planning in traditional water-scarce areas. It points to the fact that withdrawal of water from various resources of such regions—which get recharged only by rainfall— has been unsustainably high in recent times leading to a drastic depletion of these resources.

Many analysts feel the situation that occurred in early 2000 should be described by the term ‘water scarcity rather than a ‘drought’. While drought is a natural phenomenon, water scarcity is caused by human mismanagement through populism and poor governance and will keep worsening until management improves.

R. Ramachandran pointed out in an article in Frontline that almost 90 per cent of the drinking water needs are met from groundwater but only 5 per cent of the total groundwater extracted is needed for domestic use. Irrigation accounts for 83 per cent, and the remaining 10 per cent is used by other sectors, including industries. The rapid increase in groundwater-based irrigation using tube wells that are more than 150 metres deep and high-power pumps in recent times is one of the many reasons for groundwater depletion and the drop in the groundwater table.

The area covered by groundwater-based irrigation has increased from 6.5 million hectare (mha) in 1950- 51 to 40 mha. An annual decline in the water table of up to 2 m is considered normal and can cope with even a deficient rainfall the following year. A decline of up to 4 m is a cause for concern and above 4 m is a stress situation. However, there were reports that unregulated overdraft has resulted in water tables dropping 10 to 20 m in several areas in Gujarat.

Technology development in deep drilling and pumping methods (even up to 250 m), on the one hand, and populist policies of free or low-cost electricity for irrigation purposes, on the other, have contributed greatly to this massive exploitation of groundwater for irrigation purposes. Coupled with the highly anomalous policy that vests rights to groundwater with the owner of the land, there is no legal limit on the volume of water that a landowner can extract.

Unregulated exploitation by rich farmers with large land holdings, who can afford large pumps, leave the poor and the marginal farmers without access to even basic water needs. Landlords become water loads, resulting in inequity and social conflicts in rural communities.

Industries, too, exploit groundwater in an unregulated manner. Industries are located where groundwater is indicated and groundwater gets consumed within the industrial premises for different purposes, including dilution of effluent waste. This rapid groundwater depletion has not only reduced water availability but also affected its quality in terms of excess fluoride and arsenic content and brackishness.

It has been pointed out that nearly 90 per cent of groundwater exploitation occurs through private hands. Though a model bill to regulate the development of groundwater has been circulated to all the states, no state, except Maharashtra, has enacted this legislation.

Absence of Effective Long-term Planning:

What heightens the impact of the drought is the failure on the part of the state governments concerned to respond early to the crisis. The partial failure of the south-west monsoon (and other rainfall) should impel governments into evolving an action plan for the impending tragedy.

For regions like Saurashtra and Kachchh as well as western Rajasthan, even the normal pattern of living for people is known to be exacting (with water scarcity being a perpetual ordeal). Given this background, the failure of the state governments to get ready with a substantive contingency plan to grapple with drought can only be termed as an appalling breach of duty.

Most of the regions struck with drought are arid regions where water scarcity is a norm. On each occasion water scarcity becomes alarming, the respective governments react with crisis management techniques. There has been no comprehensive study of specific developments that the regions require.

In general, a drought has a devastating impact on crops, leading to food scarcity, malnutrition, epidemics, forced migration, economic destabilisation, loss of lives and social conflicts.

Fortunately enough, a drought in modern times does not lead to famines. There is enough stock of food-grains with the Food Corporation of India. Also, in present times, food-grains can be easily moved and people can access them. Provided, of course, they have the money to spend on it because of the precarious employment opportunities and vast under-employment and under-payment that is more a practice than exception in rural areas.

While there may be negligible short-term impact of the drought on the economy, the long- term effects cannot be overlooked. The social and the ecological/environmental damages are often not quantifiable; further, they are irreversible, so their impacts remain for years together. There are changes in settlement pattern, and the social and living styles. Even a partial failure of crops prompts irrigation that causes pressure on urban centres; creating pressure on urban infrastructure.

There are significant ecological effects— decreased scrub growth, increase in erosion of soils and increased desertification.

Related Articles:

• Speech on Droughts: Effects and Control
• Essay on Drought Prone Areas of India (1456 Words)

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The Orlando dead;  the  ribbons  and signs on the rotary’s fence.  My mind fringed  like  that,  bitten  by  heat,  sky-kicking.  At  work the  soil  was  thin  and  the  land was  lent;  long  rows for  kids to  play  at  tending.  There  to help,  I  once  allowed the lettuce plants to fry to lace in minutes, like a joke. I cut my braids into the sink and     thought     about     you    on     the     bus.    Tomatoes     bubbled    overnight, stovetop    unattended.  What   profusion   I   found   I   made   a   little   dangerous. The  corn I’d  spaced  or planted  badly  called out  touch me ,  lonely  perfect tassels to   the   wind.   When   we    shucked   the   first   ripe   one,   only   half   filled   out, even  the  cruel   twins   left   the  shed  and   pressed   to  look  and   touch  the  ear. Its freak pearls, its cool thread. 

Copyright © 2023 by Isabel Neal. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 7, 2023, by the Academy of American Poets. 

They tell me that she spent her days staring at the eyes of peonies, the fragile skin of day lilies, the open mouths of daffodils, the waxy and waning winks and pinks of peace lilies. I’m telling you this woman knew flowers. They say she was driving to work when she saw him, or did they say she was delivering a bouquet of fresh cut flowers to someone on their birthday, or had just come from the door of some sweet couple’s fiftieth anniversary? I can’t remember all of that right now. All I can think about is what she must have known about flowers before this moment began.

The Cabbage Butterfly

The human brain wants to complete—

The poem too easy? Bored. The poem too hard? Angry. What’s this one about? Around the block the easy summer weather, the picture-puff clouds adrift in the blue sky that’s no paint-by-numbers.

Confessional

Maybe a bit dramatic, but I light candles with my breakfast, wear a white gown  around the house like a virgin. Right or wrong, forgive me? No one in this town  knows forgiveness. Miles from the limits if I squint, there’s Orion. If heaven exists I will be there in a minute

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/la-nina-is-on-its-way-back-an-atmospheric-scientist-explains-what-to-expect

La Nina is on its way back. An atmospheric scientist explains what to expect

One of the big contributors to the record-breaking global temperatures over the past year – El Nino – is nearly gone , and its opposite, La Nina, is on the way.

Whether that’s a relief or not depends in part on where you live. Above-normal temperatures are still forecast across the U.S. in summer 2024 . And if you live along the U.S. Atlantic or Gulf coasts, La Nina can contribute to the worst possible combination of climate conditions for fueling hurricanes .

Pedro DiNezio, an atmosphere and ocean scientist at the University of Colorado who studies El Nino and La Nina, explains why and what’s ahead.

What is La Nina?

La Nina and El Nino are the two extremes of a recurring climate pattern that can affect weather around the world.

READ MORE: Zimbabwe declares state of disaster as El Nino-linked drought devastates southern Africa

Forecasters know La Nina has arrived when temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean along the equator west of South America cool by at least half a degree Celsius (0.9 Fahrenheit) below normal. During El Nino, the same region warms instead.

Those temperature fluctuations might seem small, but they can affect the atmosphere in ways that ripple across the planet.

How La Nina and El Nino form. Video by NOAA

The tropics have an atmospheric circulation pattern called the Walker Circulation , named after Sir Gilbert Walker, an English physicist in the early 20th century. The Walker Circulation is basically giant loops of air rising and descending in different parts of the tropics.

Normally, air rises over the Amazon and Indonesia because moisture from the tropical forests makes the air more buoyant there , and it comes down in East Africa and the eastern Pacific. During La Nina, those loops intensify, generating stormier conditions where they rise and drier conditions where they descend. During El Nino, ocean heat in the eastern Pacific instead shifts those loops, so the eastern Pacific gets stormier.

During La Nina, the Walker Circulation intensifies, triggering stronger storms where the air rises. Graphic by Fiona Martin/NOAA via Climate.gov

During El Nino, the Walker Circulation shifts eastward, so more storms form off California as warm air rises over the warmer waters of the eastern Pacific. Graphic by Fiona Martin/NOAA via Climate.gov

El Nino and La Nina also affect the jet stream , a strong current of air that blows from west to east across the U.S. and other mid-latitude regions.

During El Nino, the jet stream tends to push storms toward the subtropics , making these typically dry areas wetter. Conversely, mid-latitude regions that normally would get the storms become drier because storms shift away.

This year, forecasters expect a fast transition to La Nina – likely by late summer. After a strong El Nino, like the world saw in late 2023 and early 2024, conditions tend to swing fairly quickly to La Nina. How long it will stick around is an open question. This cycle tends to swing from extreme to extreme every three to seven years on average , but while El Ninos tend to be short-lived, La Ninas can last two years or longer.

How does La Nina affect hurricanes?

Temperatures in the tropical Pacific also control wind shear over large parts of the Atlantic Ocean.

Wind shear is a difference in wind speeds at different heights or direction. Hurricanes have a harder time holding their column structure during strong wind shear because stronger winds higher up push the column apart.

READ MORE: This new satellite mission could change how we study hurricanes

La Nina produces less wind shear, removing a brake on hurricanes. That’s not good news for people living in hurricane-prone regions like Florida. In 2020, during the last La Nina, the Atlantic saw a record 30 tropical storms and 14 hurricanes, and 2021 had 21 tropical storms and seven hurricanes.

Forecasters are already warning that this year’s Atlantic storm season could rival 2021 , due in large part to La Nina. The tropical Atlantic has also been exceptionally warm, with sea surface temperature-breaking records for over a year. That warmth affects the atmosphere, causing more atmospheric motion over the Atlantic, fueling hurricanes.

Does La Nina mean drought returns to the U.S. Southwest?

The U.S. Southwest’s water supplies will probably be OK for the first year of La Nina because of all the rain over the past winter. But the second year tends to become problematic. A third year, as the region saw in 2022, can lead to severe water shortages .

Drier conditions also fuel more extreme fire seasons in the West, particularly in the fall , when the winds pick up.

During La Nina, the jet stream tends to be farther north, causing drier conditions across the U.S. Southwest. Map provided by NOAA via Climate.gov

What happens in the Southern Hemisphere during La Nina?

The impacts of El Nino and La Nina are almost a mirror image in the Southern Hemisphere.

Chile and Argentina tend to get drought during La Nina, while the same phase leads to more rain in the Amazon. Australia had severe flooding during the last La Nina. La Nina also favors the Indian monsoon , meaning above-average rainfall. The effects aren’t immediate, however. In South Asia, for example, the changes tend to show up a few months after La Nina has officially appeared.

La Nina is quite bad for eastern Africa , where vulnerable communities are already in a long-term drought .

Typical La Nina climate impacts, though conditions aren’t always like this. Map provided by NOAA via Climate.gov

Is climate change affecting La Nina’s impact?

El Nino and La Nina are now happening on top of the effects of global warming. That can exacerbate temperatures, as the world saw in 2023, and precipitation can go off the charts.

Since summer 2023, the world has had 10 straight months of record-breaking global temperatures. A lot of that warmth is coming from the oceans, which are still at record-high temperatures .

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Pedro DiNezio is an associate professor of atmospheric and ocean sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

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Cool waters, the jet stream and La Niña: What South Carolina could see this winter

As South Carolinians prepare to usher in summer, they’ll also likely see La Niña forming in the Pacific Ocean after 2023’s El Niño.

While each La Niña event is different, it can often mean South Carolina is at risk of a drier winter and potentially stronger hurricanes.

La Niña is part of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle , which occurs when sea surface temperatures in parts of the Pacific Ocean are warmer or cooler than normal. It’s a climate pattern that occurs every two to seven years and can affect weather across the globe, including precipitation and temperature.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, El Niño is expected to wrap up this month . Experts expect La Niña to develop between June and September following a short neutral cycle.

When fully formed, La Niña events have historically increased drought and hurricanes in South Carolina. However, state climatologist Hope Mizzell said it can be harder to predict La Niña's impact on the Upstate.

“I do think it's important to emphasize that the signal is less for the Upstate than it is for the Midlands and the coast,” she said.

What is La Niña?

Fishermen from Peru initially observed warmer-than-usual water temperatures off the coast of South America. Typically, the warm water would build around Christmas, prompting them to name it El Niño or “little boy.”

La Niña, meaning “little girl,” is the cooling phase of ENSO. Intensified trade winds , which blow east to west, can push warm water back toward Asia. As the warm water moves, cold water wells up toward the surface, causing a cooling effect on the ocean’s surface.

Those cooler temperatures typically shift the winds over the United States.

Cooler Pacific temperatures impact the jet stream, which is strong, eastward-flowing winds about 30,000 feet in the air. Warm air from the south meets cold air from the north, combining to form a strong wind, often called a “river of air.”

The jet stream: South Carolina’s moisture delivery system

South Carolina sits between the subtropical jet stream and the mid-Atlantic jet stream.

The jet stream helps move moisture across the country, said University of South Carolina Geology Professor Greg Carbone.

“In general, if you want it to rain, you need a moisture source and you need something to lift it,” Carbone said.

Lifting is the process that creates clouds and precipitation .

During La Niña, the subtropical jet stream tends to be less prominent, so less moisture makes its way to South Carolina.

“When that weakens during the La Niña year, it means two things. One, you get a diminished moisture delivery, but you also diminish the number of storms coming through that will lift that moisture,” Carbone said.

Both El Niño and La Niña events usually develop between April and June. They tend to reach their maximum strength between October and February, so the impact is typically strongest during the winter. ENSO events usually last from about nine months to one year, though they can be longer – from 2020-2023, the world experienced a rare “triple-dip” La Niña, meaning conditions persisted for three consecutive years .

How does La Niña impact the Upstate? Does it lead to drought?

Shifts in the jet stream impact regions of the U.S. in different ways.

While the North is often stormier and colder, the southern part of the country tends to see fewer storms and less rainfall. In the Southeast , temperatures can also be warmer than usual.

Mizzell and other scientists will watch for lower precipitation as this year’s La Niña forms.

However, lower precipitation doesn’t automatically mean South Carolina will be in a drought . La Niña tends to have the greatest impact during the winter months, with very little to none during the summer, Mizzell said. Conditions this summer will help scientists and climatologists predict whether La Niña could help cause a drought.

During the winter, lower temperatures mean slower evaporation . Many plants are dormant, so there’s less demand for water resources. In the summer, one month of below-average rainfall could lead to a drought, Mizzell said, but below-average rainfall in December might not be as impactful.

“We may be more concerned about drought if we have a very dry summer, a very dry fall,” Mizzell said. “If it’s very dry, for whatever reason, and then all of a sudden we're going into a La Niña winter, I'll be more concerned about drought. But we’re not going to know that for many months.”

While La Niña might not be the sole cause of a drought, it can increase the likelihood of one.

From 2010-2013, the Southern United States faced severe drought caused by a strong La Niña in the summer of 2010.

Read more: An Upstate drought ended in January. For farmers, the ramifications lasted for months.

“Certainly, across the United States, a really cold Pacific often will lead to North American drought and drier conditions,” Carbone said.

The time of year La Niña forms is also important, Mizzell said.  

“If we see it forming before and it's in place and strengthening by the time we get to next fall and winter, then that’s when we would expect the impact. But say it doesn't develop until late October, November – it may have less impact on our winter,” Mizzell said.

Does La Niña make hurricanes worse?

The timing of a La Niña can also impact hurricane season.

Hurricane season in the Atlantic lasts from June 1 to November 30. A La Niña that strengthens earlier could mean less frequent and intense storms.  

Another effect of the weakened subtropical jet stream is weakened vertical wind shear. Wind shear is a change in the speed or direction of wind, which helps keep hurricanes from growing larger.

As warm water evaporates and rises into the atmosphere, it cools and forms cumulonimbus clouds. Cumulonimbus are huge, multi-level clouds often associated with storms.

When vertical wind shear is strong enough, it can blow parts of the clouds apart and keep hurricanes from growing taller. The taller a hurricane develops, the more severe it will become.

Carbone compared the concept of hurricane growth to a professional athlete. He said it’s like making $60 million each year but being very frugal with spending causes that wealth to continue to build.

“That's what a hurricane is like. It’s gaining enormous amounts of energy with this warm water at the surface through evaporation, and it's losing really low amounts of energy at top. The taller they can grow without interruption, the less energy is lost,” he said.

When wind shear meets the massive clouds, it can cut or slant them, keeping them from growing.

“When you have wind shear, it's kind of blowing the tops of those cumulonimbus clouds and scaling them making them not vertical anymore,” Carbone said. “That's the punch line to wind shear, it will weaken hurricanes.”

La Niña’s impact is tied to the timing

If the La Niña is strong and in place during hurricane season , weaker wind shear could mean more intense hurricanes and storms.

During the previous La Niña, the U.S. saw a record-breaking hurricane season , with 30 named storms and 11 that made landfall. Nearly half were hurricanes.

South Carolina faced impacts from eight of the storms that made landfall in 2020, including hurricanes Isaias and Sally , according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources . The only storm to hit South Carolina first was Tropical Storm Bertha , which made its first landfall near the Isle of Palms in South Carolina in late May.

Warmer-than-normal Atlantic temperatures also contribute to a more active hurricane season. This May, temperatures in the Atlantic near Charleston are about one degree warmer than they are on average.

While scientists can look back on previous La Niña events for guidance, the impact depends on when this year’s La Niña is formed and strongest. Even then, other climate factors, like a shift in a different jet stream, can make the outcome unpredictable. Because of weaker signals in the Upstate, it’s even harder to predict the outcome in this region.

“I can say that, based on our research here in South Carolina, there is higher confidence in the impacts of El Niño and La Niña, as you move out of the Upstate, more so in the Midlands and the coast,” she said.

Predictions for the upcoming La Niña are on the NOAA Climate Prediction Center website.

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Guest Essay

Don’t Slam the Door on Inexpensive Chinese Electric Vehicles

By Gernot Wagner and Conor Walsh

Dr. Wagner and Dr. Walsh are economists at Columbia Business School.

President Biden came out swinging this week when he announced a series of steep tariffs on Chinese imports, including 25 percent on certain steel and aluminum products, 50 percent on semiconductors and solar panels and 100 percent on electric vehicles.

The administration’s official reason for the policy is simple: Chinese imports are undercutting American manufacturers in swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. And Mr. Biden wants to protect them from competition, as he pours huge amounts of government money into building up the manufacturing of electric vehicles and solar panels that can eventually compete with China’s inexpensive offerings. But the truth is, these new tariffs on electric vehicles are little more than a handout to legacy car companies like General Motors and Ford. Middle-class Americans should have access to these cars, and because of these tariffs, they will remain a luxury, available mainly to the rich.

With more cash and better credit, wealthy Americans are the only ones who can afford the electric vehicles currently on the market, which cost over $55,000 on average. A recent survey found that 83 percent of E.V. drivers in the United States had a household income above $75,000, which is the median in the country ; 57 percent had incomes above $100,000.

Low-cost Chinese models that lower- and middle-income Americans could afford — like BYD’s Seagull, which runs for less than $10,000 — aren’t currently sold here largely because of tariffs over 25 percent. The new tariffs of 100 percent will make it even harder for these cars to compete in the U.S. market.

The hope is that one day, U.S. automakers can offer Americans the low-cost electric cars they have long promised. But that’s still a long way off, in part because the companies (with the exception of Tesla) have been slow to scale up their E.V. production to the point where the costs could come down. (And Tesla, too, has scrapped plans to sell a car under $35,000.) Every electric vehicle sold still cuts into the profits they make from selling gasoline-powered vehicles, and General Motors and Ford together sold fewer than 150,000 E.V.s in 2023, a tiny fraction of the 15 million new cars sold in the United States last year.

It is clear that American car manufacturers need to catch up to the competition, and fast . The problem with using tariffs to protect them from competition is that the companies then have less incentive to invest in new technologies. Chinese companies will continue making huge strides , selling their cars abroad while cutting off opportunities for American companies to export their own products to foreign markets. What’s more, Chinese cars could still enter the United States through the back door, if companies like BYD set up manufacturing plants in Mexico or Southeast Asia.

We’ve been here before. In the 1980s, the Reagan and Bush administrations worried about the fact that Japan was dumping cheap cars onto our market. The response then was voluntary export quotas, which allowed Japanese entry into the market in a way the new tariffs will not. Japanese competition ultimately forced U.S. car manufacturers to innovate. This time around, Chinese competition could have had a similar effect.

This isn’t to say that the United States shouldn’t consider tariffs at all. There is a different kind of tariff focused on the greenhouse gas emissions created in making imported goods that would protect America’s nascent green economy and give consumers access to the cheaper clean cars and solar panels from China they want. The European Union will apply such carbon tariffs beginning in 2026, with prices now around $75 per ton of carbon dioxide, which will set an equal playing field for domestic manufacturers and importers alike. We could do the same in the United States.

Carbon tariffs create all the right incentives : They encourage foreign manufacturers to decarbonize their products, leading to a virtuous cycle of lower prices and emissions. They also enjoy bipartisan support in the United States, from senators such as Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, and Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana. Both have introduced bills that would collect tariffs based on the carbon intensity of imports.

The Biden administration is right that climate policies must work for the people of Detroit and Pittsburgh as much as they work for well-off Tesla drivers. But to accomplish these goals, it ought to be taxing China for its soaring carbon emissions, not for its electric vehicles and solar panels, which for now, at least, the United States needs badly. Given China’s soaring carbon emissions , carbon tariffs will be tough on the country, but for the right reasons.

Gernot Wagner is a climate economist at Columbia Business School. Conor Walsh is a macroeconomist at the school.

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