causes of drought essay

Essay on Drought for Students and Children

500+ words essay on drought.

Drought is a dangerous condition which decreases the quality of life. It is termed as a natural disaster with harmful effects. A drought usually occurs when a region faces a shortage of water. This is mainly due to lesser rainfalls. In addition, droughts have proven to be fatal for mankind and wildlife as well.

Moreover, drought is the most dangerous for a farmer. As they do not have an ample supply of water, their crops dry out. This becomes a reason for worry as it is their sole income. Furthermore, drought also leads to various other problems for the environment and mankind.

Causes of Drought

Drought is caused due to various reasons. One of the main reasons is deforestation . When there will be no trees, the water on land will evaporate at a faster rate. Similarly, it lessens the soil capacity to hold water resulting in evaporation. Moreover, lesser trees also mean lesser rainfall which eventually leads to drought.

Furthermore, as the climate is changing, the water bodies are drying up. This results in a lower flow of surface water. Therefore, when the rivers and lakes will dry out, how will the people get water? In addition, global warming is a major cause of this. The greenhouse gas emitted causes the earth’s temperature to rise. Thus, it results in higher evaporation rates.

Subsequently, excessive irrigation is also a great cause of droughts. When we use water irresponsibly, the surface water dries up. As it does not get ample time to replenish, it causes drought.

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Impact of Drought

Drought is a serious disaster which impacts the whole of mankind, wildlife, and vegetation greatly. Moreover, a region which experiences drought requires a lot of time to recover from the disaster. It is a severe condition which interferes with the quality and functioning of life.

Most importantly, the agriculture sector suffers the most at the hands of drought. For instance, farmers face a loss of crop production, livestock production. Moreover, they experience plant disease and wind erosion. Similarly, they also have to face heavy financial losses. Their financial condition worsens and they end up in debt. This also leads to higher rates of depression and suicides.

Furthermore, wildlife also suffers. They do not get sources of water to drink from. In addition, when forest fires happen due to droughts, they also lose their habitats and life. Just like any natural disaster , droughts also result in inflation of prices. The basic products become expensive. The poor people do not get access to essential foods due to high rates. Subsequently, droughts also degrade the quality of the soil. This result in poor or no yielding of crops.

In short, drought is definitely one of the most catastrophic natural disasters. It causes loss of life, vegetation and gives rise to other deadly problems like famine. The citizens and government must join hands to prevent droughts to save thousands of lives. This joint effort can help save the world from such a catastrophe.

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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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What are the causes of drought?

A drought is a severe shortage of water in a particular location. A combination of factors causes droughts.

Meteorological causes of drought

Meteorological factors can cause an area to get less rainfall than average. Changes in global atmospheric circulation can mean it doesn’t rain much in an area. For example, the drought in Australia in the 2000s was made worse by changing air and ocean currents in the Pacific Ocean.

Changes in atmospheric circulation can also affect rainfall patterns. In the past, monsoon rains in India had failed to appear when they were due.

High-pressure systems can block low-pressure systems that bring rainfall to the UK. This can lead to drought conditions.

Hydrological causes of drought

A lack of water in stores such as rivers, lakes, reservoirs and aquifers (water stored underground naturally) can lead to drought. Areas that rely on rainfall and surface water are more likely to experience drought. Surface water quickly evaporates in warm, dry conditions leading to an increased risk of drought.

Hydrological causes of drought can take some time to have an impact. For example, water stores such as aquifers can take months or even years to replenish.

Human causes of drought

Deforestation leads to less water being stored in the soil. Therefore, the land dries out quicker than it would if it were covered in vegetation. Also, trees release moisture into the atmosphere through their leaves, a process is known as transpiration. Removing trees and vegetation reduces the amount of moisture in the atmosphere making the area drier.

Constructing dams and reservoirs reduces the flow of water downstream. This can lead to drought in other areas. There are several locations worldwide where this could lead to conflict in the future, including along the River Nile.

Intensive agriculture depletes water supplies as large quantities of water are required for irrigation . Additionally, livestock also has considerable demands on water for drinking.

Some locations are more vulnerable to drought than others

The map below shows the distribution of droughts around the world.

This map shows drought severity, measured as the product of the average length of a drought occurrence and how dry it was the drought. This visualization is based on data collected for the period between 1901 and 2008.

The areas experiencing the most severe droughts occur at around 30° north and south of the equator. This can be explained by global atmospheric circulation , as high pressure at this latitude brings very little rainfall.

Over time the locations affected by drought have varied. For example, there have been more droughts in Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean since 1950 and fewer in the Americas and Russia.

Some scientists have suggested that climate change might increase the frequency and severity of droughts in the future.

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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 person stands in the distance on a dry, hazy landscape

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.

Discolored oranges hand from a tree whose leaves are dried and brown

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.

A satellite image shows a river snaking through pale brown land. The river is darker bluish-green on the left of the image and fades to a pale green on the other side of the image.

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.

A herd of cows seen through a deep brown haze

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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Climate Basics » Extreme Weather

Drought and climate change.

Background on Drought

A drought is “a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time (usually a season or more), resulting in a water shortage. ” Indicators of drought include precipitation, temperature, streamflow, ground and reservoir water levels, soil moisture, and snowpack.

Climate change increases the odds of worsening drought in many parts of the United States and the world. Regions such as the U.S. Southwest , where droughts are expected to get more frequent, intense, and longer lasting, are at particular risk.

How climate change contributes to drought:

Warmer temperatures enhance evaporation, which reduces surface water and dries out soils and vegetation. This makes periods with low precipitation drier than they would be in cooler conditions.
Warmer winter temperatures are causing less precipitation to fall as snow in the Northern Hemisphere, including in key regions like the Sierra Nevada of California .
Decreased snowpack can be a problem , even if the total annual precipitation remains the same. This is because many water management systems rely on spring snowpack melt . Likewise, certain ecosystems also depend on snowmelt, which supplies cold water for species like salmon. Because snow acts as a reflective surface, decreasing snow area also increases surface temperatures, further exacerbating drought.
Some climate models find that warming increases precipitation variability, meaning there will be more periods of both extreme precipitation and drought. This creates the need for expanded water storage during drought years and increased risk of flooding and dam failure during periods of extreme precipitation.
For example, the Southwestern United States has already seen a decrease in annual precipitation since the beginning of the 20 th century, and that trend is expected to continue.
Estimates of future changes in seasonal or annual precipitation in a particular location are less certain than estimates of future warming, and are active areas of research. However, at the global scale, scientists are confident that relatively wet places, such as the tropics and higher latitudes, will get wetter, while relatively dry places in the subtropics (where most of the world’s deserts are located) will become drier.
In some areas , droughts can persist through a vicious cycle , in which very dry soils and diminished plant cover absorb more solar radiation and heat up, encouraging the formation of high pressure systems that further suppress rainfall, leading an already dry area to become even drier.

Recent U.S. droughts have been the most expansive in decades. At the peak of the 2012 drought, the most extensive drought since the 1930s, an astounding 81 percent of the contiguous United States was under at least abnormally dry conditions.

California experienced a particularly drawn-out drought from December 2011 to March 2019, broken in part by the wettest winter in the United States . 2020 saw widespread, prolonged drought that was exacerbated by heat waves in more than a dozen Western and Central states. The intense drought and heat combined to wither vegetation, intensifying Western wildfires that burned record acreage.

Nationwide, conditions reached their peak in December 2020, when the greatest extent of land since 2012 was under extreme drought conditions. In the West, drought has continued and intensified in 2021, and has been exacerbated in the Pacific Northwest by record heat.

Threats Posed by Drought

The United States is historically susceptible to drought. Paleoclimate studies show major droughts in the distant past, with more recent dry periods still within living memory, such as the Dust Bowl of the 1930s or the drought of the 1950s. These historic examples serve as guideposts to highlight our vulnerabilities to drought as we move into a warmer and, in some places, drier future.

Severe drought can affect:

Water supply: Droughts are defined by their lack of available water. During droughts, communities may have limited access to water for household use, including drinking, cooking, cleaning, and watering plants, as well as for agriculture, transportation, and power generation. Droughts may lead to higher water costs, rationing, or even the decimation of important water sources like wells, as a drought did in a rural California community in 2021.
Agriculture: Droughts affect livestock and crops, including corn, soybeans, and wheat. At the height of the 2012 drought, the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared a natural disaster over 2,245 counties, 71 percent of the United States. Globally, drought struck several major breadbasket regions simultaneously in 2012, adding to food price instability . In countries already facing food insecurity, cost spikes can lead to social unrest, migration, and famine.
Transportation: Droughts can lower river water levels, threatening commerce on rivers like the Mississippi. Transport barges need at least nine feet of water to operate, and to maintain this level, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had to blast, dredge, and clear obstructions on a key stretch of the Mississippi in 2013. Drought is also often accompanied by extreme heat, which can buckle roadways, ground planes, and warp public transit cables. Drought-fueled wildfires also have repercussions for travel by closing roadways and railroads and grounding planes when smoke is thick.
Energy: Droughts can raise concerns about the reliability of electricity production from plants that require cooling water to maintain safe operations. Hydroelectric power may also become unavailable during droughts. When heat waves coincide with droughts, electricity demands can grow, compounding stress on the grid.
Public Health: Reduced flows in rivers and streams can concentrate pollutants , threatening the quality of water used for drinking and recreation. Also, drought-fueled wildfires can expose nearby communities to smoke and pollutants, which can exacerbate chronic respiratory illnesses.

All of these drought impacts can inflict extreme costs on people, businesses, and governments. From 2011 through 2020, the United States experienced nine droughts , each causing at least $1 billion in damages.

Droughts also increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, including by decreasing land productivity, which reduc es the amount of vegetation storing carbon dioxide . In addition, increases in drought-related wildfire and soil erosio n can release carbon dioxide sequestered in trees and plants back into the atmosphere.

How to Build Resilience

Governments and businesses must identify their vulnerability to drought and improve resilience. They can help prepare for both future droughts and climate change by practicing and promoting water conservation and enhancing water efficiency throughout landscapes, city plans, and water infrastructure. They can also identify alternative water supplies, create drought emergency plans, and encourage farmers to plant drought-resistant crops.

The Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation portal helps communities understand and plan for their climate risks today and in the future, including a real-time map of wildfire, drought, flooding, and extreme heat across the United States.

Other actions that improve resilience to other stressors, like deploying green infrastructure for stormwater management increasing energy efficiency in buildings (thereby using less power from plants that rely on water to function), and using renewable energy like solar (that isn’t reliant on water) can improve resilience to drought as a co-benefit.

These steps will be most effective if they are combined with reductions in greenhouse gases that can minimize the ultimate magnitude of climate change. Luckily, many solutions that build resilience to drought and other climate stressors – like water conservation and improving soil health – can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Resilience Strategies for Wildfire

The risk of wildfire is expected to grow across the United States due to reduced precipitation in some regions, and higher temperatures caused by climate change. Wildfire has far-reaching impacts that can ripple through communities, regions, watersheds, and ecosystems. This …

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Extreme Weather and Climate Change

Tags Impacts Resilience Science Extreme Weather

Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient, Equitable Cities

Sonya Bengali

January 28, 2021

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Cities Advancing Climate Action: Federal Funds for Local Impact

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The Climate Resilience-Economy Nexus: Advancing Common Goals

Communities across the United States are experiencing increasingly severe and frequent floods, wildfires, extreme heat, and other hazards due to climate change. These hazards are impacting local economies by damaging critical infrastructure and commercial districts, disrupting business operations, reducing municipal …

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Other Resources

National Weather Service Drought Information
IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Working Group 1
Overview of the Water-Energy Nexus in the United States, National Conference of State Legislatures
Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) Portal
National Integrated Drought Information System (Drought.gov)
FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure in Communities (BRIC)
FEMA Building Community Resilience With Nature-Based Solutions, Strategies for Success
Risk Factor: Find Your Property’s Climate Risks

ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Below-average precipitation affects the amount of moisture in soil as well as the amount of water in streams, rivers, lakes, and groundwater.

Earth Science, Climatology, Conservation, Anthropology

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A drought is a period of time when an area or region experiences below-normal precipitation . The lack of adequate precipitation , either rain or snow, can cause reduced soil moisture or groundwater , diminished stream flow, crop damage, and a general water shortage. Droughts are the second-most costly weather events after hurricanes.

Unlike with sudden weather events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and thunderstorms, it is often difficult to pinpoint when a drought has started or when it has ended. The initial effects of a drought may be difficult to identify right away, so it may take weeks or months to determine that a drought has started. The end of a drought is hard to identify for the same reason. A drought may last for weeks, months, or even years. Sometimes, drought conditions can exist for a decade or more in a region. The longer a drought lasts, the greater the harmful effects it has on people.

Droughts affect people in a several ways. Access to clean drinking water is essential for all life, and sources of water may dwindle during a drought . Without the presence of water, people must bring in enough water from elsewhere to survive. Water is also needed for crops to grow. When not enough precipitation falls to naturally water crops , they must be watered by irrigation . Irrigation is possible only when there is enough water in nearby rivers, lakes, or streams, or from groundwater . During a drought , these water sources are diminished and may even dry up, preventing crops from being irrigated and causing them to die off.

One person studying these problems is Alexandra Cousteau, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer whose latest initiative is Blue Legacy. She started Blue Legacy to raise awareness that we live on a water planet and must take care of it. Cousteau, the granddaughter of the famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, believes that water will be a crucial issue in this century. She predicts that water problems such as drought , storms, floods, and degraded water quality will create “water refugees :” people migrating in search of water. Cousteau stresses that we must do all we can to protect Earth’s valuable freshwater resources.

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Related Resources

What is drought? Causes, impact & countries most affected

East Africa is facing its worst drought in 40 years and there are now 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.

Droughts are becoming increasingly common due to rising global temperatures, including in the UK where unusually dry weather in 2022 led to water shortages and hosepipe bans. But in other parts of the world droughts have more 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.

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.

A small hut in a displaced persons camp in Konso, Ethiopia is surrounded by a drought-stricken landscape.

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 characterised 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 Organisation 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.

Two women fill up water containers. Ones holds a baby on her hip as she does so.

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 diarrhoea, 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?

An IRC-supported health worker hands a mother several packets of PlumpyNut, a highly form of malnutrition treatment.

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 programmes 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

Malnutrition is treatable, yet 80% of malnourished children not have access to treatment. The IRC has developed a streamlined approach so that more children can be diagnosed by community health care teams, and given treatment quickly. Donate to the IRC to support our work.

Donate now to help

Explore related topics:.

Malnutrition
Climate crisis
Natural Disasters

Drought: Identifying Impacts and Evaluating Solutions

PBS, WGBH Educational Foundation

In this set of activities, students learn about impacts of drought through news videos of communities facing serious water shortages, analyze drought data and models, and research and evaluate potential solutions. This lesson works well as a component within a larger unit on climate change, its impacts, and ways to address the resulting issues.

Notes from our reviewers

The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials .

Teaching Tips Even though the lesson is designated for grades 9-12, it could be used in grades 6-8. An explicit teacher guide/script is provided in the procedures. Teacher may want to preview the videos and printout accompanying handouts for each case study. Before watching the Case Study videos, it should be emphasized that technical lessons of drought will be taught through worksheets and lecture, not the videos. Rather, the take away from the videos are an account of how humans can be affected by drought.
About the Science In these activities, students learn about the different drought characterizations and causes of drought based on both climate patterns and human interaction with the environment. The lesson discusses solutions to drought that are being explored and how these solutions are connected to different drought characterizations. These lessons do a great job of incorporating state-of-the-art science into the lesson plan. There is a great use of data from NOAA to visualize drought across the United States. The presentation does a nice job of showing how different types of drought, e.g. meteorological and agricultural, are interconnected. The study cited data when appropriate except in slides 3 & 6 of the presentation. Drought is covered in a great deal of depth in this resource and allows students to develop an intimate understanding with the subject. Comments from expert scientist: Good use of case studies from a variety of regions. Numerous small and larger scale solutions are presented, some of which are short term and some are currently short-term but may become longer term. Resources are finite and population growth is exponential, so long-term solutions will be necessary. Drought is cyclic and it would be useful to emphasize that longer-term solutions - changes in behavior will be necessary because long term uncontrolled population growth will lead to future drought impacts even in the absence of reduced precipitation.
About the Pedagogy Students learn about the impacts of water shortages due to drought, make connections to climate patterns, and explore solutions that increase communities' capacities to respond to drought. The lesson procedure provides the ability for students to learn about both what drought is and how to mitigate the negative effects of drought. The case studies allow for students to see the effect drought has on communities. Since the three regions that are covered by the videos may not be in the students' own community, the extension activity provides a venue to explore the above mentioned topics in their community.The videos provide great visual references if students have not actually experienced a severe drought in their community. Uses the 5E model to teach on water availability, impacts of drought, patterns of drought, and the identification and evaluation of solutions. Case-studies, individual or small group work, open, whole group discussions are encouraged. Due to the use of the 5E model, the sequencing is well organized. The main lesson, as well as the extensions, allow for independent research. The handouts provide a vehicle for students to express their scientific impressions of the videos. Through videos, lectures, and worksheets the lesson plan appeals to multiple types of learning. The procedure includes example answers for assessment of student answers, but does not provide a clear avenue for how assessment can be conducted in this lesson. A diverse population is represented in the videos.
Technical Details/Ease of Use Resource is available online but does have optional download capabilities. Integrated share to Google Classrooms button. Also can be assigned through Remind, social media platforms, or with the PBS LearningMedia Lesson Builder Tool. All videos have the capability of closed captioning and/or printable transcripts. The materials are of high technical quality.

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.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Global and Continental Drought Climatology
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Global-Scale Studies
Regional- and Local-Scale Studies
Processes and Methods
Case Studies around the World
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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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[66.249.64.20|185.66.14.133]
185.66.14.133

In recent years, California experienced a historic drought, forcing many farmers to fallow their fields. New research helps link such disasters to a warming planet.

ENVIRONMENT

Climate change has contributed to droughts since 1900—and may get worse

A first-of-its-kind study confirms the connection between climate change and droughts and deluges over the past century.

Using studies of tree rings going back centuries, scientists have unearthed clear evidence that the rise of human-generated greenhouse gases was having an effect on global drought conditions as early as 1900.

A new, first-of-its-kind study by scientists at Columbia University’s Earth Institute , published Wednesday in the journal Nature , largely confirms what climate models have shown. In the absence of strong historic data on precipitation, those computer models forecast not only future scenarios, but shed light on historical trends.

The dovetailing of the tree-ring studies, which correlate to soil moisture, with climate models gives scientists the assurance that the computer models are, in fact, correct, they say.

“These tree-ring reconstructions let us go back in time and get a picture of global drought conditions for hundreds of years before the Industrial Revolution,” said Kate Marvel , an associate research scientist at the Earth Institute and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the lead author of the study.

Marvel said that the results, while not unexpected, are nonetheless gratifying. “As a scientist, you are always surprised whenever anything you do works,” she said in a phone interview. “There were increased greenhouse gases in the early 1900s and the models say, ‘Hey, you should see a signal.’ But the fact that the signal is really clear in the models and apparent in the tree rings is pretty amazing. We can argue for a detectable human influence.”

Fingerprinting droughts

Scientists have long predicted that as global warming increases, certain regions of the world, such as the southwestern United States , will become drier, while other areas will grow wetter. But the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has cautioned against ascribing particular rain or drought events to human activity.

The tree-ring data analyzed in the study highlight three periods over the past 120 years in which a human fingerprint on drought and moisture is, to varying degrees, evident. The first, from 1900 to 1949, reveals the strongest signal, mirroring climate models showing that parts of the world from Australia to the Mediterranean were drying as other regions, including swaths of central Asia, were moving in the opposite direction.

The next period, from 1950 to 1975, is more murky, though the tree rings again match the climate models. The study posits that aerosols —particles from car exhaust and the burning of fossil fuels—were so abundant before the advent of anti-pollution measures that they served to block sunlight and thus cool the planet, even while tracking the uptick in greenhouse gases.

The last period, from 1981 to 2017, saw a reappearance of the human influence on drought and moisture. The study concludes that this signal is “likely to grow stronger in the next several decades,” adding that the “human consequences of this, particularly drying over large parts of North America and Eurasia, are likely to be severe.”

The study relied on a series of drought atlases containing tree-ring data from around the globe over the past two millennia. The atlases were assembled primarily by Edward Cook , a scientist at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the father of Benjamin Cook, one of the study’s co-authors.

Trees respond

Gregory R. Quetin , a postdoctoral researcher in Stanford’s Department of Earth System Sciences, who was not involved in the study, called the findings “powerful,” pointing to the climate record encoded in the tree rings.

“The trees are responding to temperature and the presence of, or lack of, rainfall,” he said, “so they give you these observations—and another path of evidence that this is occurring.”

Abigail Swann , an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington, agreed: “It’s a creative way to leverage that information from the past.”

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Causes of Drought

Dry weather that lasts for an extended amount of time is known as a drought. severe crop damage and water supply shortages. It also causes impacts on vegetation, animals, and people. It can also be called a long-term drought. period with less-than-average amounts of rain or snow in a particular region. There are leading causes of drought-like lack of rainfall, deforestation resulting from cutting down of trees, drying out of rivers and lakes, soil degradation, hunger and famine, climate change, and others.

Hunger and famine are among the most causes of drought Droughts result in insufficient water being available to support food crops, whether through natural precipitation or irrigation using reserve water resources. People go hungry when a drought undermines or destroys food sources, and famine occurs when a severe drought lasts for an extended period. The most egregious example is the famine in Ethiopia in 1985, which was caused by a lethal mix of a severe drought and a dangerously inept government, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

Climate change also causes drought, which impacts increasing precipitation in wet regions and decreasing precipitation in dry parts as temperatures rise. Heated air will hold more water in wetter regions, resulting in more significant rain events. In contrast, in drier places, warmer temperatures will cause water to evaporate more quickly, resulting in smaller rain events. Climate change also modifies significant atmospheric circulation patterns, leading storm tracks to deviate from their regular trajectories and become more severe. In turn, this amplifies the severity of extreme weather events, which is one of the reasons climate models project that the already arid United States Southwestern or the Middle East will likely get drier in the future. ( Ummenhofer,2009)

Soil degradation occurs whenever protective plant cover, particularly forest cover, is destroyed, exposing the soil beneath the surface. Furthermore, intensive farming, which entails deep plowing and the application of chemicals that degrade soil structure, is an often observed cause. A reduction in soil cover or structure limits the soil’s capability of absorbing and holding water, resulting in increased runoff and a reduction in the amount of allocated time for water to infiltrate the lower layers of soil. As a result, soils dry out quickly and cannot promote the growth of vegetation and commodities, resulting in agricultural droughts in the near term. This is particularly severe in countries such as Sub-Saharan Africa, where soil moisture is essential for agriculture in 95 percent of the country. As a result of increased runoff and decreased infiltration and precipitation of rainwater into soils, there is little groundwater contributing to the system, resulting in a longer-term hydrological drought. (Haile,2019)

The over-irrigation (which depletes water supplies) and over-farming (which negatively impacts the soil structure) of land, both legitimate agricultural practices, can frequently result in drought. It is also possible that deforestation will result in a drought since eliminating tree cover renders soil more sensitive to erosion factors such as wind and water. As a result, human activities can either produce a drought or exacerbate the effects of dryness caused by extreme weather changes, depending on the situation (Epule et al., 2014)

Deforestation is the cutting down of trees. Trees release moisture to the atmosphere, resulting in clouds forming and rainfall falling, returning the moisture to the ground. Less water is available to feed the water cycle when they are cut, making entire regions more vulnerable to drought.

Epule, E. T., Peng, C., Lepage, L., & Chen, Z. (2014). A critical review is the causes, effects, and challenges of Sahelian droughts. Regional environmental change , 14 (1), 145-156.

Haile, G. G., Tang, Q., Sun, S., Huang, Z., Zhang, X., & Liu, X. (2019). Droughts in East Africa: Causes, impacts, and resilience. Earth-science reviews , 193 , 146-161.

Ummenhofer, C. C., England, M. H., McIntosh, P. C., Meyers, G. A., Pook, M. J., Risbey, J. S., … & Taschetto, A. S. (2009). What causes southeast Australia’s worst droughts?. Geophysical Research Letters , 36 (4).

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Drought — Causes and Consequences of Drought in South Africa: Cape Town

Causes and Consequences of Drought in South Africa: Cape Town

Categories: Drought

About this sample

Words: 1330 |

Published: Jun 9, 2021

Words: 1330 | Pages: 3 | 7 min read

Multifaceted causes of the cape town drought, consequences of the cape town drought, interconnected cause and effect, how droughts can be triggered by physical conditions, works cited.

Agricultural Strain
Socio-Economic Factors
Meteorological and Hydrological Factors
Economic Impacts
Public Health Concerns
Environmental Impact
Water Price and Food Inflation
Unemployment and Economic Contraction
Ecological Adaptation and Long-term Changes
Changing Weather Patterns
Reduced Rainfall and Precipitation
Increased Evaporation Rates
Soil Moisture Depletion
El Niño and La Niña Events
Wilhite, D. A. (2005). Drought and Water Crises: Integrating Science, Management, and Policy. CRC Press.
Loubser, J., & Schultz, M. (2019). The Cape Town Drought: A Global Perspective. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 6(2), e1330.
Wolski, P., & Murray, K. (2018). Impacts of the 2015-2017 drought on vegetation in South Africa using the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI). Remote Sensing, 10(12), 1913.
Ziervogel, G., Cowen, A., Ziniades, J., & Stone, E. (2017). Moving from Adaptive to Transformative Capacity: Building Foundations for Inclusive, Thriving, and Regenerative Urban Settlements. Sustainability, 9(10), 1774.
Archer, C. L., & Caldeira, K. (2008). Historical trends in the jet streams. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(8), L08803.
Vogel, C., & O'Brien, K. (2004). Vulnerability and global environmental change: Rhetoric and reality. AVISO, 3(4), 25-28.
Vogel, C., & Zebrowski, C. (2017). Building governance capacity for adaptation to climate change in the water sector: Insights from two South African case studies. Water International, 42(5), 482-499.

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