Earth:Drought

From HandWiki
Short description: Extended period of deficiency in a region's water supply
xxx
xxx
xxx
xxx
Droughts cause a range of impacts and are often worsened by to the effects of climate change on the water cycle: a dry riverbed in France ; sandstorm in Somaliland due to drought; droughts negatively impact agriculture in Texas ; drought and high temperatures worsened the 2020 bushfires in Australia.

A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.[1]:1157 A drought can last for days, months or years. Drought often has large impacts on the ecosystems and agriculture of affected regions, and causes harm to the local economy.[2][3] Annual dry seasons in the tropics significantly increase the chances of a drought developing and subsequent wildfires.[4] Periods of heat can significantly worsen drought conditions by hastening evaporation of water vapour,[5] drying out forests and other vegetation and increasing fuel for wildfires.[4][6]

Drought is a recurring feature of the climate in most parts of the world, becoming more extreme and less predictable due to climate change, which dendrochronological studies date back to 1900. There are three kinds of drought effects, environmental, economic and social. Environmental effects include the drying of wetlands, more and larger wildfires, loss of biodiversity. Economic consequences include disruption of water supplies for municipal economies; lower agricultural, forest, game, and fishing outputs; higher food-production costs; and problems with water supply for the energy sector. Social and health costs include the negative effect on the health of people directly exposed to this phenomenon (excessive heat waves), high food costs, stress caused by failed harvests, water scarcity, etc. Prolonged droughts have caused mass migrations and humanitarian crisis.[7][8]

Many plant species, such as those in the family Cactaceae (or cacti), have drought tolerance adaptations like reduced leaf area and waxy cuticles to enhance their ability to tolerate drought. Some others survive dry periods as buried seeds. Semi-permanent drought produces arid biomes such as deserts and grasslands.[9] Most arid ecosystems have inherently low productivity.

The most prolonged drought ever in the world in recorded history continues in the Atacama Desert in Chile (400 years).[10] Throughout history, humans have usually viewed droughts as "disasters" due to the impact on food availability and the rest of society. Human views of drought have seen it in terms of natural disaster, as something influenced by human activity, and as a result of supernatural forces.

Definition

Fields outside Benambra, Australia suffering from drought conditions in 2006.

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report defines a drought simply as "drier than normal conditions".[1]:1157 This means that a drought is "a moisture deficit relative to the average water availability at a given location and season".[1]:1157

According to National Integrated Drought Information System, a multi-agency partnership, drought is generally defined as "a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time (usually a season or more), resulting in a water shortage". The National Weather Service office of the NOAA defines drought as "a deficiency of moisture that results in adverse impacts on people, animals, or vegetation over a sizeable area".[11]

Drought is a complex phenomenon − relating to the absence of water − which is difficult to monitor and define.[12] By the early 1980s, over 150 definitions of "drought" had already been published.[13] The range of definitions reflects differences in regions, needs, and disciplinary approaches.

Categories

There are three major categories of drought based on where in the water cycle the moisture deficit occurs: meteorological drought, hydrological drought, and agricultural or ecological drought.[1]:1157 A meteorological drought occurs due to lack of precipitation. A hydrological drought is related to low runoff, streamflow, and reservoir storage. An agricultural or ecological drought is causing plant stress from a combination of evaporation and low soil moisture.[1]:1157 Some organizations add another category: socioeconomic drought occurs when the demand for an economic good exceeds supply as a result of a weather-related shortfall in water supply.[12][13] The socioeconomic drought is a similar concept to water scarcity.

The different categories of droughts have different causes but similar effects:

  1. Meteorological drought occurs when there is a prolonged time with less than average precipitation.[14] Meteorological drought usually precedes the other kinds of drought.[15] As a drought persists, the conditions surrounding it gradually worsen and its impact on the local population gradually increases.
  2. Hydrological drought is brought about when the water reserves available in sources such as aquifers, lakes and reservoirs fall below a locally significant threshold. Hydrological drought tends to show up more slowly because it involves stored water that is used but not replenished. Like an agricultural drought, this can be triggered by more than just a loss of rainfall. For instance, around 2007 Kazakhstan was awarded a large amount of money by the World Bank to restore water that had been diverted to other nations from the Aral Sea under Soviet rule.[16] Similar circumstances also place their largest lake, Balkhash, at risk of completely drying out.[17]
  3. Agricultural or ecological droughts affect crop production or ecosystems in general. This condition can also arise independently from any change in precipitation levels when either increased irrigation or soil conditions and erosion triggered by poorly planned agricultural endeavors cause a shortfall in water available to the crops.

Causes

Contraction and desiccation cracks in the dry earth of the Sonoran desert, northwestern Mexico

General precipitation deficiency

Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform,[18] and orographic rainfall.[19] Convective processes involve strong vertical motions that can cause the overturning of the atmosphere in that location within an hour and cause heavy precipitation,[20] while stratiform processes involve weaker upward motions and less intense precipitation over a longer duration.[21] Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice. Droughts occur mainly in areas where normal levels of rainfall are, in themselves, low. If these factors do not support precipitation volumes sufficiently to reach the surface over a sufficient time, the result is a drought. Drought can be triggered by a high level of reflected sunlight and above average prevalence of high pressure systems, winds carrying continental, rather than oceanic air masses, and ridges of high pressure areas aloft can prevent or restrict the developing of thunderstorm activity or rainfall over one certain region. Once a region is within drought, feedback mechanisms such as local arid air,[22] hot conditions which can promote warm core ridging,[23] and minimal evapotranspiration can worsen drought conditions.

Dry season

Within the tropics, distinct, wet and dry seasons emerge due to the movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone or Monsoon trough.[24] The dry season greatly increases drought occurrence,[25] and is characterized by its low humidity, with watering holes and rivers drying up. Because of the lack of these watering holes, many grazing animals are forced to migrate due to the lack of water in search of more fertile lands. Examples of such animals are zebras, elephants, and wildebeest. Because of the lack of water in the plants, bushfires are common.[26] Since water vapor becomes more energetic with increasing temperature, more water vapor is required to increase relative humidity values to 100% at higher temperatures (or to get the temperature to fall to the dew point).[27] Periods of warmth quicken the pace of fruit and vegetable production,[28] increase evaporation and transpiration from plants,[29] and worsen drought conditions.[30]

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon can sometimes play a significant role in drought. ENSO comprises two patterns of temperature anomalies in the central Pacific Ocean, known as La Niña and El Niño. La Niña events are generally associated with drier and hotter conditions and further exacerbation of drought in California and the Southwestern United States, and to some extent the U.S. Southeast. Meteorological scientists have observed that La Niñas have become more frequent over time.[31]

Conversely, during El Niño events, drier and hotter weather occurs in parts of the Amazon River Basin, Colombia, and Central America. Winters during the El Niño are warmer and drier than average conditions in the Northwest, northern Midwest, and northern Mideast United States, so those regions experience reduced snowfalls. Conditions are also drier than normal from December to February in south-central Africa, mainly in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Botswana. Direct effects of El Niño resulting in drier conditions occur in parts of Southeast Asia and Northern Australia, increasing bush fires, worsening haze, and decreasing air quality dramatically. Drier-than-normal conditions are also in general observed in Queensland, inland Victoria, inland New South Wales, and eastern Tasmania from June to August. As warm water spreads from the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific, it causes extensive drought in the western Pacific. Singapore experienced the driest February in 2014 since records began in 1869, with only 6.3 mm of rain falling in the month and temperatures hitting as high as 35 °C on 26 February. The years 1968 and 2005 had the next driest Februaries, when 8.4 mm of rain fell.[32]

Precipitation deficiency due to climate change

There will likely be multiplicative increases in the frequency of extreme weather events compared to the pre-industrial era for heat waves, droughts and heavy precipitation events, for various climate change scenarios.[33]

Global climate change is expected to trigger droughts with a substantial impact on agriculture[34][35] throughout the world, and especially in developing nations.[36][37][38] Along with drought in some areas, flooding and erosion could increase in others. Some proposed climate change mitigation actions that focus on more active techniques, solar radiation management through the use of a space sunshade for one, may also carry with them increased chances of drought.[39]

There is a rise of compound warm-season droughts in Europe that are concurrent with an increase in potential evapotranspiration.[40]

Erosion and human activities

Human activity can directly trigger exacerbating factors such as over-farming, excessive irrigation,[41] deforestation, and erosion adversely impact the ability of the land to capture and hold water.[42] In arid climates, the main source of erosion is wind.[43] Erosion can be the result of material movement by the wind. The wind can cause small particles to be lifted and therefore moved to another region (deflation). Suspended particles within the wind may impact on solid objects causing erosion by abrasion (ecological succession). Wind erosion generally occurs in areas with little or no vegetation, often in areas where there is insufficient rainfall to support vegetation.[44]

Loess is a homogeneous, typically nonstratified, porous, friable, slightly coherent, often calcareous, fine-grained, silty, pale yellow or buff, windblown (Aeolian) sediment.[45] It generally occurs as a widespread blanket deposit that covers areas of hundreds of square kilometers and tens of meters thick. Loess often stands in either steep or vertical faces.[46] Loess tends to develop into highly rich soils. Under appropriate climatic conditions, areas with loess are among the most agriculturally productive in the world.[47] Loess deposits are geologically unstable by nature, and will erode very readily. Therefore, windbreaks (such as big trees and bushes) are often planted by farmers to reduce the wind erosion of loess.[43] Wind erosion is much more severe in arid areas and during times of drought. For example, in the Great Plains, it is estimated that soil loss due to wind erosion can be as much as 6100 times greater in drought years than in wet years.[48]

Consequences

Global drought total economic loss risk
Pair of dead oryx in Namibia during the 2018–19 Southern Africa drought.
After years of drought and dust storms the town of Farina in South Australia was abandoned.

One can divide the effects of droughts and water shortages into three groups: environmental, economic and social (including health).

Environmental and economic consequences

Western red cedar dying from drought, USA, 2018

Environmental effects of droughts include: lower surface and subterranean water-levels, lower flow-levels (with a decrease below the minimum leading to direct danger for amphibian life), increased pollution of surface water, the drying out of wetlands, more and larger wildfires, higher deflation intensity, loss of biodiversity, worse health of trees and the appearance of pests and dendroid diseases.[49][6]

Economic losses as a result of droughts include lower agricultural, forests, game and fishing output, higher food-production costs, lower energy-production levels in hydro plants, losses caused by depleted water tourism and transport revenue, problems with water supply for the energy sector and for technological processes in metallurgy, mining, the chemical, paper, wood, foodstuff industries etc., disruption of water supplies for municipal economies.

Further examples of common environmental and economic consequences of drought include:

  • Diminished crop growth or yield productions and carrying capacity for livestock
  • Alteration of diversity of plant communities, which can have an impact on net primary production and other ecosystem services.[50]
  • Drought in combination with high levels of grazing pressure can function as the tipping point for an ecosystem, causing woody encroachment.[51]
  • Wildfires, such as Australian bushfires and wildfires in the United States, become more common during times of drought and may cause human deaths.[52]
  • Dust Bowls, themselves a sign of erosion, which further erode the landscape
  • Dust storms, when drought hits an area suffering from desertification and erosion
  • Habitat damage, affecting both terrestrial and aquatic wildlife[53]
  • Reduced electricity production due to reduced water-flow through hydroelectric dams[54]
  • Shortages of water for industrial users[55][56]
  • Snake migration, which results in snake-bites[57]
  • Exposure and oxidation of acid sulfate soils due to falling surface- and ground-water levels.[58][59][60]
  • Reduced water quality,[61][62] because lower water-flows reduce dilution of pollutants and increase contamination of remaining water-sources.
  • Land degradation and loss of soil moisture, resulting in the destruction of cropland productivity.[63]

Social and health consequences

Social and health costs include the negative effect on the health of people directly exposed to this phenomenon (excessive heat waves), possible limitation of water supplies, increased pollution levels, high food-costs, stress caused by failed harvests, water scarcity, etc. This explains why droughts and water scarcity operate as a factor which increases the gap between developed and developing countries.[64]

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

People displaced by a drought in Somalia arriving at a camp in Dolo Ado, Ethiopia, 2011

Further examples of social and health consequences include:

  • Water scarcity, crop failure, famine[65] and hunger – drought provides too little water to support food crops; malnutrition, dehydration and related diseases
  • Mass migration, resulting in internal displacement and international refugees
  • Social unrest
  • War over natural resources, including water and food
  • Cyanotoxin accumulation within food chains and water supply (some of which are among the most potent toxins known to science) can cause cancer with low exposure over the long term.[66] High levels of microcystin appeared in San Francisco Bay Area salt-water shellfish and fresh-water supplies throughout the state of California in 2016.

Impacts on crops

Plants need water for the uptake of nutrients from the soil, and for the transport of nutrients throughout the plant: drought conditions limit these functions leading to stunted growth. Drought stress also causes a decrease in photosynthetic activity in plants due to the reduction of photosynthetic tissues, stomatal closure, and reduced performance of photosynthetic machinery. This reduction in photosynthetic activity contributes to the reduction in plant growth and yields.[67] Another factor influencing reduced plant growth and yields include the allocation of resources; following drought stress plants will allocate more resources to roots to aid in water uptake increasing root growth and reducing the growth of other plant parts while decreasing yields.[67]

Protection, mitigation and relief

Succulent plants are well-adapted to survive long periods of drought.
Water distribution on Marshall Islands during El Niño.

Agriculturally, people can effectively mitigate much of the impact of drought through irrigation and crop rotation. Failure to develop adequate drought mitigation strategies carries a grave human cost in the modern era, exacerbated by ever-increasing population densities. President Roosevelt on April 27, 1935, signed documents creating the Soil Conservation Service (SCS)—now the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Models of the law were sent to each state where they were enacted. These were the first enduring practical programs to curtail future susceptibility to drought, creating agencies that first began to stress soil conservation measures to protect farm lands today. It was not until the 1950s that there was an importance placed on water conservation was put into the existing laws (NRCS 2014).[68]

Strategies for drought protection, mitigation or relief include:

  • Dams – many dams and their associated reservoirs supply additional water in times of drought.[69]
  • Cloud seeding – a form of intentional weather modification to induce rainfall.[70] This remains a hotly debated topic, as the United States National Research Council released a report in 2004 stating that to date, there is still no convincing scientific proof of the efficacy of intentional weather modification.[71]
  • Desalination – use of sea water for irrigation or consumption.[72]
  • Drought monitoring – Continuous observation of rainfall levels and comparisons with current usage levels can help prevent man-made drought. For instance, analysis of water usage in Yemen has revealed that their water table (underground water level) is put at grave risk by over-use to fertilize their Khat crop.[73] Careful monitoring of moisture levels can also help predict increased risk for wildfires, using such metrics as the Keetch-Byram Drought Index[52] or Palmer Drought Index.
  • Land use – Carefully planned crop rotation can help to minimize erosion and allow farmers to plant less water-dependent crops in drier years.
  • Outdoor water-use restriction – Regulating the use of sprinklers, hoses or buckets on outdoor plants, filling pools, and other water-intensive home maintenance tasks. Xeriscaping yards can significantly reduce unnecessary water use by residents of towns and cities.
  • Rainwater harvesting – Collection and storage of rainwater from roofs or other suitable catchments.
  • Recycled water – Former wastewater (sewage) that has been treated and purified for reuse.
  • Transvasement – Building canals or redirecting rivers as massive attempts at irrigation in drought-prone areas.
  • Fodder - Producing drought emergency fodder from plant material that is locally available, such as residual biomass resulting from the control of woody encroachment[74][75]

Scale and examples

Some large scale droughts in the 21st century included:

  • The 1997–2009 Millennium Drought in Australia led to a water supply crisis across much of the country. As a result, many desalination plants were built for the first time (see list).
  • In 2006, Sichuan Province China experienced its worst drought in modern times with nearly 8 million people and over 7 million cattle facing water shortages.
  • 12-year drought that was devastating southwest Western Australia, southeast South Australia, Victoria and northern Tasmania was "very severe and without historical precedent".
  • 2015–2018 Cape Town water crisis. This likelihood was tripled by climate change.[76]
Affected areas in the western Sahel belt during the 2012 drought.

The Darfur conflict in Sudan, also affecting Chad, was fueled by decades of drought; combination of drought, desertification and overpopulation are among the causes of the Darfur conflict, because the Arab Baggara nomads searching for water have to take their livestock further south, to land mainly occupied by non-Arab farming people.[77]

Drought-affected area in Karnataka, India in 2012.

Approximately 2.4 billion people live in the drainage basin of the Himalayan rivers.[78] India , China , Pakistan , Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar could experience floods followed by droughts in coming decades. More than 150 districts in India is drought vulnerable, mostly concentrated in the state of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and its adjoining Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, northern Karnataka and adjoining Maharashtra of the country.[79] Drought in India affecting the Ganges is of particular concern, as it provides drinking water and agricultural irrigation for more than 500 million people.[80][81][82] The west coast of North America, which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, also would be affected.[83][84]

In 2005, parts of the Amazon basin experienced the worst drought in 100 years.[85][86] A 23 July 2006 article reported Woods Hole Research Center results showing that the forest in its present form could survive only three years of drought.[87][88] Scientists at the Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research argue in the article that this drought response, coupled with the effects of deforestation on regional climate, are pushing the rainforest towards a "tipping point" where it would irreversibly start to die. It concludes that the rainforest is on the brink of being turned into savanna or desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate. According to the WWF, the combination of climate change and deforestation increases the drying effect of dead trees that fuels forest fires.[89]

Lake Chad in a 2001 satellite image. The lake has shrunk by 95% since the 1960s.[90][91]

By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid lands commonly known as the outback. A 2005 study by Australian and American researchers investigated the desertification of the interior, and suggested that one explanation was related to human settlers who arrived about 50,000 years ago. Regular burning by these settlers could have prevented monsoons from reaching interior Australia.[92] In June 2008 it became known that an expert panel had warned of long term, maybe irreversible, severe ecological damage for the whole Murray-Darling basin if it did not receive sufficient water by October 2008.[93] Australia could experience more severe droughts and they could become more frequent in the future, a government-commissioned report said on July 6, 2008.[94] Australian environmentalist Tim Flannery, predicted that unless it made drastic changes, Perth in Western Australia could become the world's first ghost metropolis, an abandoned city with no more water to sustain its population.[95] The long Australian Millennial drought broke in 2010.

Recurring droughts leading to desertification in East Africa have created grave ecological catastrophes, prompting food shortages in 1984–85, 2006 and 2011.[96] During the 2011 drought, an estimated 50,000 to 150,000 people were reported to have died,[97] though these figures and the extent of the crisis are disputed.[98] In February 2012, the UN announced that the crisis was over due to a scaling up of relief efforts and a bumper harvest.[99] Aid agencies subsequently shifted their emphasis to recovery efforts, including digging irrigation canals and distributing plant seeds.[99] The 2020-2022 Horn of Africa drought has surpassed the horrific drought in 2010–2011 in both duration and severity.[100][101]

In 2012, a severe drought struck the western Sahel. The Methodist Relief & Development Fund (MRDF) reported that more than 10 million people in the region were at risk of famine due to a month-long heat wave that was hovering over Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. A fund of about £20,000 was distributed to the drought-hit countries.[102]

History

A South Dakota farm during the Dust Bowl, 1936


Throughout history, humans have usually viewed droughts as "disasters" due to the impact on food availability and the rest of society. Drought is among the earliest documented climatic events, present in the Epic of Gilgamesh and tied to the Biblical story of Joseph's arrival in and the later Exodus from ancient Egypt.[103] Hunter-gatherer migrations in 9,500 BC Chile have been linked to the phenomenon,[104] as has the exodus of early humans out of Africa and into the rest of the world around 135,000 years ago.[105]

Droughts can be scientifically explained in terms of physical mechanisms, which underlie natural disasters and are influenced by human impact on the environment.[106] Beliefs about drought are further shaped by cultural factors including local knowledge, perceptions, values, beliefs and religion. In some places and times, droughts have been interpreted as the work of supernatural forces.[107] Globally, people in many societies have been more likely to explain natural events like drought, famine and disease in terms of the supernatural than they are to explain social phenomena like war, murder, and theft.[108][109]

Historically, rituals have been used in an attempt to prevent or avert drought. Rainmaking rituals have ranged from dances to scapegoating to human sacrifices. Many ancient practices are now a matter of folklore while others may still be practiced.[110]

In areas where people have limited understanding of the scientific basis of drought, beliefs about drought continue to reflect indigenous beliefs in the power of spirits and Christian philosophies that see drought as a divine punishment. Such beliefs can influence people's thinking and affect their resilience and ability to adapt to stress and respond to crises.[107] In the case of Creationism, curricula sometimes give religious explanations of natural phenomena rather than scientific ones. Teaching explicitly denies evolution, that human agency is affecting climate, and that climate change is occurring.[111]

Some historical droughts include:

  • 1540 Central Europe, said to be the "worst drought of the millennium" with eleven months without rain and temperatures of 5–7 °C above the average of the 20th century[112][113]
  • 1900 India killing between 250,000 and 3.25 million.
  • 1921–22 Soviet Union in which over 5 million perished from starvation due to drought.
  • 1928–30 Northwest China resulting in over 3 million deaths by famine.
  • 1936 and 1941 Sichuan Province China resulting in 5 million and 2.5 million deaths respectively.

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, and O.  Zolina, 2021: Water Cycle Changes . In Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I  to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 1055–1210, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.010.
  2. Living With Drought
  3. Australian Drought and Climate Change , retrieved on June 7th 2007.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Brando, Paulo M.; Paolucci, Lucas; Ummenhofer, Caroline C.; Ordway, Elsa M.; Hartmann, Henrik; Cattau, Megan E.; Rattis, Ludmila; Medjibe, Vincent et al. (30 May 2019). "Droughts, Wildfires, and Forest Carbon Cycling: A Pantropical Synthesis" (in en). Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 47 (1): 555–581. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-082517-010235. ISSN 0084-6597. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-earth-082517-010235. 
  5. Merzdorf, Jessica (July 9, 2019). "A Drier Future Sets the Stage for More Wildfires". Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet (NASA). https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2891/a-drier-future-sets-the-stage-for-more-wildfires/. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Hartmann, Henrik; Bastos, Ana; Das, Adrian J.; Esquivel-Muelbert, Adriane; Hammond, William M.; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi; McDowell, Nate G.; Powers, Jennifer S. et al. (20 May 2022). "Climate Change Risks to Global Forest Health: Emergence of Unexpected Events of Elevated Tree Mortality Worldwide" (in en). Annual Review of Plant Biology 73 (1): 673–702. doi:10.1146/annurev-arplant-102820-012804. ISSN 1543-5008. 
  7. Stanke, C; Kerac, M; Prudhomme, C; Medlock, J; Murray, V (5 June 2013). "Health effects of drought: a systematic review of the evidence.". PLOS Currents 5. doi:10.1371/currents.dis.7a2cee9e980f91ad7697b570bcc4b004. PMID 23787891. 
  8. Bellizzi, Saverio; Lane, Chris; Elhakim, Mohamed; Nabeth, Pierre (12 November 2020). "Health consequences of drought in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: hotspot areas and needed actions". Environmental Health 19 (1): 114. doi:10.1186/s12940-020-00665-z. ISSN 1476-069X. 
  9. Keddy, P.A. (2007), Plants and Vegetation: Origins, Processes, Consequences, Cambridge, UK.: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521864800 
  10. "Driest Place: Atacama Desert, Chile". Extreme Science. http://www.extremescience.com/driest.htm. .
  11. "Drought Basics" (in en). NOAA National Integrated Drought Information System. https://www.drought.gov/what-is-drought/drought-basics. 
  12. 12.0 12.1 "Definition of Drought". NOAA | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/dyk/drought-definition. 
  13. 13.0 13.1 "Types of Drought". National Drought Mitigation Center. https://drought.unl.edu/Education/DroughtIn-depth/TypesofDrought.aspx. 
  14. Swain, S (2017). "Application of SPI, EDI and PNPI using MSWEP precipitation data over Marathwada, India". 2017 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS). 2017. pp. 5505–5507. doi:10.1109/IGARSS.2017.8128250. ISBN 978-1-5090-4951-6. 
  15. "What is a Drought?". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. August 2006. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/climate/Drought.pdf. 
  16. "BBC NEWS - Asia-Pacific - Dam project aims to save Aral Sea". BBC. 2007-04-09. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6538219.stm. 
  17. "BBC NEWS - Asia-Pacific - Kazakh lake 'could dry up'". BBC. 2004-01-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3397077.stm. 
  18. Emmanouil N. Anagnostou (2004). "A convective/stratiform precipitation classification algorithm for volume scanning weather radar observations". Meteorological Applications 11 (4): 291–300. doi:10.1017/S1350482704001409. Bibcode2004MeApp..11..291A. 
  19. A.J. Dore; M. Mousavi-Baygi; R.I. Smith; J. Hall; D. Fowler; T.W. Choularton (June 2006). "A model of annual orographic precipitation and acid deposition and its application to Snowdonia". Atmospheric Environment 40 (18): 3316–3326. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.01.043. Bibcode2006AtmEn..40.3316D. 
  20. Robert Penrose Pearce (2002). Meteorology at the Millennium. Academic Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-12-548035-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=QECy_UBdyrcC&pg=PA66. Retrieved 2009-01-02. 
  21. Houze, Robert A. Jr. (1993). Cloud dynamics. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 9780080502106. OCLC 427392836. 
  22. Roland Paepe; Rhodes Whitmore Fairbridge; Saskia Jelgersma (1990). Greenhouse Effect, Sea Level and Drought. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 22. ISBN 978-0792310174. https://books.google.com/books?id=3lbixDAw5DwC&pg=PA22. 
  23. Joseph S. D'Aleo; Pamela G. Grube (2002). The Oryx Resource Guide to El Niño and La Niña. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-1573563789. https://books.google.com/books?id=PvJyVtw53Y4C&pg=PA48. 
  24. Bin Wang (2006-01-13). The Asian Monsoon. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 206. ISBN 978-3540406105. https://books.google.com/books?id=yRT57TENzT8C&pg=PT206. 
  25. Vijendra K. Boken; Arthur P. Cracknell; Ronald L. Heathcote (2005-03-24). Monitoring and Predicting Agricultural Drought : A Global Study: A Global Study. Oxford University Press. p. 349. ISBN 978-0198036784. https://books.google.com/books?id=y6r9jUTzJiYC&pg=PA349. 
  26. "Wet & Dry Seasons". http://burarra.questacon.edu.au/pages/seasons.html. 
  27. Alistair B. Fraser (1994-11-27). "Bad Meteorology: The reason clouds form when air cools is because cold air cannot hold as much water vapor as warm air". http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadClouds.html. 
  28. Cooperative Extension Service (January 2014). Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky. University of Kentucky. p. 19. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id128/id128.pdf. Retrieved 2015-02-18. 
  29. North Carolina State University (2013-08-09). "Evapotranspiration". https://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/edu/k12/.evapo. 
  30. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2002-05-16). "Warm Temperatures and Severe Drought Continued in April Throughout Parts of the United States; Global Temperature For April Second Warmest on Record". http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s909.htm. 
  31. Seth Borenstein (May 28, 2022). "Weather's unwanted guest: Nasty La Niña keeps popping up". 9news.com. https://www.9news.com/article/news/nation-world/la-nina-west-coast-climate/507-f792ab4a-bc35-4e45-9de1-08d8379dfc9b. "Scientists are noticing that in the past 25 years the world seems to be getting more La Niñas than it used to…" 
  32. Chan, Joanne (3 March 2010). "February 2010 is driest month for S'pore since records began in 1869". http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1040778/1/.html. 
  33. "Climate Change 2021 / The Physical Science Basis / Working Group I contribution to the WGI Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change / Summary for Policymakers". Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 9 August 2021. p. SPM-23. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_SPM_final.pdf.  Fig. SPM.6
  34. NOAA Drought and climate change: implications for the West December 2002
  35. Smith, Adam B.; Katz, Richard W. (2013). "Smith A.B. and R. Katz, 2013: U.S. Billion-dollar weather and climate disasters: Data sources, trends, accuracy and biases". Natural Hazards 67 (2): 387–410. doi:10.1007/s11069-013-0566-5. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/docs/smith-and-katz-2013.pdf. Retrieved 5 November 2017. 
  36. "Finfacts: Irish business, finance news on economics". finfacts.com. http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_1011078.shtml. 
  37. Fuel costs, drought influence price increase
  38. "Nigerian Scholar Links Drought, Climate Change to Conflict in Africa - US Department of State". state.gov. http://usinfo.state.gov/af/Archive/2005/Oct/26-779234.html. 
  39. Sunshade' for global warming could cause drought 2 August 2007 New Scientist, Catherine Brahic
  40. Markonis, Yannis; Kumar, Rohini; Hanel, Martin; Rakovec, Oldrich; Máca, Petr; AghaKouchak, Amir (2021). "The rise of compound warm-season droughts in Europe" (in en). Science Advances 7 (6): eabb9668. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abb9668. ISSN 2375-2548. PMID 33536204. Bibcode2021SciA....7.9668M. 
  41. "A biblical tragedy as Sea of Galilee faces drought". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/a-biblical-tragedy-as-sea-of-galilee-faces-drought-13956116.html. 
  42. "Kenya: Deforestation exacerbates droughts, floods". forests.org. http://forests.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=63511&keybold=climate%20drought%20water%20catchment. 
  43. 43.0 43.1 "Emergency Tillage to Control Wind Erosion". North Dakota State University Extension Service. 1997. http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/disaster/drought/emergencytillagetocontrolerosion.html. 
  44. United States Geological Survey (2004). "Dunes – Getting Started". http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/coast/dunes/index.html. 
  45. F. von Richthofen (1882). "On the mode of origin of the loess". Geological Magazine (Decade II) 9 (7): 293–305. doi:10.1017/S001675680017164X. Bibcode1882GeoM....9..293R. https://zenodo.org/record/1880729. 
  46. K.E.K. Neuendorf; J.P. Mehl, Jr.; J.A. Jackson (2005). Glossary of Geology. Springer-Verlag, New York. p. 779. ISBN 978-3-540-27951-8. 
  47. Arthur Getis; Judith Getis and Jerome D. Fellmann (2000). Introduction to Geography, Seventh Edition. McGraw-Hill. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-697-38506-2. https://archive.org/details/introductiontoge00geti/page/99. 
  48. Wiggs, Giles F.S. (2011). "Geomorphological hazards in drylands". in Thomas, David S.G.. Arid Zone Geomorphology: Process, Form and Change in Drylands. John Wiley & Sons. p. 588. ISBN 978-0-470-71076-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=swz4rh4KaLYC&pg=PA588. 
  49. Zimmer, Katarina (17 August 2023). "Dead trees around the world are shocking scientists" (in en). Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews. doi:10.1146/knowable-081723-2. https://knowablemagazine.org/article/food-environment/2023/dead-trees-shocking-scientists. 
  50. Griffin‐Nolan, Robert J.; Blumenthal, Dana M.; Collins, Scott L.; Farkas, Timothy E.; Hoffman, Ava M.; Mueller, Kevin E.; Ocheltree, Troy W.; Smith, Melinda D. et al. (September 2019). Jones, Holly. ed. "Shifts in plant functional composition following long‐term drought in grasslands" (in en). Journal of Ecology 107 (5): 2133–2148. doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13252. ISSN 0022-0477. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.13252. 
  51. Koch, Franziska; Tietjen, Britta; Tielbörger, Katja; Allhoff, Korinna T. (November 2022). "Livestock management promotes bush encroachment in savanna systems by altering plant–herbivore feedback" (in en). Oikos 2023 (3). doi:10.1111/oik.09462. ISSN 0030-1299. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/oik.09462. 
  52. 52.0 52.1 "TFS Article". tamu.edu. http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/shared/article.asp?DocumentID=406&mc=fire. 
  53. C.Michael Hogan. 2010. Abiotic factor. Ed. Emily Monosson. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington DC
  54. Drought affecting US hydroelectric production | Daily Estimate
  55. "Parched village sues to shut tap at Coke / Drought-hit Indians say plant draining groundwater". SFGate. 2005-03-06. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/06/MNGE2BL7161.DTL. 
  56. "Sweden closes nuclear plants over safety fears". Greenpeace International. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/sweden-nuclear-closure-040806. 
  57. "BBC NEWS - Asia-Pacific - Australians face snake invasion". bbc.co.uk. 2007-01-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6282075.stm. 
  58. Mosley LM, Zammit B, Jolley A, and Barnett L (2014). Acidification of lake water due to drought. Journal of Hydrology. 511: 484–493.
  59. Mosley LM, Palmer D, Leyden E, Fitzpatrick R, and Shand P (2014). Acidification of floodplains due to river level decline during drought. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 161: 10–23.
  60. Mosley LM, Palmer D, Leyden E, Fitzpatrick R, and Shand P (2014). Changes in acidity and metal geochemistry in soils, groundwater, drain and river water in the Lower Murray River after a severe drought. Science of the Total Environment 485–486: 281–291.
  61. Mosley LM (2014). Drought impacts on the water quality of freshwater systems; review and integration. Earth-Science Reviewss. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.11.010.
  62. 10. Mosley LM, Zammit B, Leyden E, Heneker TM, Hipsey MR, Skinner D, and Aldridge KT (2012). The Impact of Extreme Low Flows on the Water Quality of the Lower Murray River and Lakes (South Australia). Water Resources Management 26: 3923–3946.
  63. Seka, Ayalkibet Mekonnen; Zhang, Jiahua; Prodhan, Foyez Ahmed; Ayele, Gebiaw Teshome; Finsa, Mekuanenet Mulunhie; Sharma, Til Prasad Pangali; Melesse, Assefa Mekonnen (2022). "Hydrological drought impacts on water storage variations: a focus on the role of vegetation changes in the East Africa region. A systematic review" (in en). Environmental Science and Pollution Research 29 (53): 80237–80256. doi:10.1007/s11356-022-23313-0. ISSN 0944-1344. PMID 36197619. https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11356-022-23313-0. 
  64. Prokurat, Sergiusz (2015). "Drought and water shortages in Asia as a threat and economic problem". Journal of Modern Science 26 (3). http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/yadda/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-95d2a7ec-8c5f-474d-84ed-8b8baed8f8c0/c/235_PDFsam_Joms_3_26_2015.pdf. Retrieved 4 August 2016. 
  65. García, R. V.; Escudero, J. C. (1981). The constant catastrophe : malnutrition, famines, and drought (1st ed.). Oxford ; New York: Pergamon Press. p. 3. ISBN 9781483189666. 
  66. "Toxins from freshwater algae found in San Francisco Bay shellfish". http://news.ucsc.edu/2016/10/microcystin-toxin.html. 
  67. 67.0 67.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named :1
  68. "State Conservation District Laws Development and Variations – NRCS". usda.gov. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/newsroom/contacts/?cid=nrcs143_014208. 
  69. Matt Weiser; Jeremy B. White (2014-06-01). "Should California build dams, reservoirs to help with future droughts?". Fresno Bee. http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/06/01/3956458/should-calif-add-new-dams.html. 
  70. "Cloud seeding helps alleviate drought". chinadaily.com.cn. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/24/content_351196.htm. 
  71. NRC (2003). Critical Issues in Weather Modification Research. doi:10.17226/10829. ISBN 978-0-309-09053-7. 
  72. City of Santa Barbara (2014-12-22). "Desalinization". http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/pw/resources/system/sources/desalination.asp. 
  73. BBC's From Our Own Correspondent on khat water usage
  74. Mupangwa, Johnfisher; Lutaaya, Emmanuel; Shipandeni, Maria Ndakula Tautiko; Kahumba, Absalom; Charamba, Vonai; Shiningavamwe, Katrina Lugambo (2023), Fanadzo, Morris; Dunjana, Nothando; Mupambwa, Hupenyu Allan et al., eds., "Utilising Encroacher Bush in Animal Feeding" (in en), Towards Sustainable Food Production in Africa (Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore): pp. 239–265, doi:10.1007/978-981-99-2427-1_14, ISBN 978-981-99-2426-4, https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-981-99-2427-1_14, retrieved 2023-10-20 
  75. (in en) Transforming Namibia: Turning Encroacher Bush into Fodder, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XGYdl_yh6k, retrieved 2023-10-20 
  76. "Climate change tripled likelihood of drought that pushed Cape Town water crisis to 'Day Zero' brink, say scientists". Reliefweb. Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. 16 July 2018. https://reliefweb.int/report/south-africa/climate-change-tripled-likelihood-drought-pushed-cape-town-water-crisis-day-zero. 
  77. "Thomson Reuters Foundation". alertnet.org. http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/1265/2007/06/30-100806-1.htm. 
  78. "People & the Planet > climate change > newsfile > big melt threatens millions, says un". peopleandplanet.net. http://www.peopleandplanet.net/pdoc.php?id=3024. 
  79. Nandy, S.N. (2021) Analysis of drought vulnerability indices of Indian districts using Fuzzy logic approach. International Water Resources Association Journal (IWRA - India), 10(2): 11-17. https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:iwra&volume=10&issue=2&article=002
  80. "Ganges, Indus may not survive: climatologists". rediff.com. http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/24indus.htm. 
  81. "People's Daily Online - Glaciers melting at alarming speed". peopledaily.com.cn. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90781/90879/6222327.html. 
  82. "BBC NEWS - Science/Nature - Himalaya glaciers melt unnoticed". BBC. 2004-11-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3998967.stm. 
  83. "Glaciers Are Melting Faster Than Expected, UN Reports". ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317154235.htm. 
  84. Water shortage worst in decades, official says , Los Angeles Times
  85. "Amazon Drought Worst in 100 Years". http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2005/2005-10-24-05.asp. 
  86. Drought Threatens Amazon Basin - Extreme conditions felt for second year running
  87. Amazon rainforest 'could become a desert' , The Independent, July 23, 2006. Retrieved September 28, 2006.
  88. Dying Forest: One year to save the Amazon , The Independent, July 23, 2006. Retrieved September 28, 2006.
  89. Climate change a threat to Amazon rainforest, warns WWF, World Wide Fund for Nature, March 9, 2996. Retrieved September 28, 2006.
  90. "Plan B Updates - 47: Disappearing Lakes, Shrinking Seas - EPI". earth-policy.org. http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/plan_b_updates/2005/update47. 
  91. "Shrinking African Lake Offers Lesson on Finite Resources". nationalgeographic.com. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/04/0426_lakechadshrinks.html. 
  92. Sensitivity of the Australian Monsoon to insolation and vegetation: Implications for human impact on continental moisture balance , Geological Society of America
  93. Australian rivers 'face disaster' , BBC News
  94. Australia faces worse, more frequent droughts: study , Reuters
  95. Metropolis strives to meet its thirst , BBC News
  96. Sara Pantuliano and Sara Pavanello (2004) Taking drought into account Addressing chronic vulnerability among pastoralists in the Horn of Africa Overseas Development Institute
  97. "Fatal Failure: Did Aid Agencies Let Up To 100,000 Somalis Die in 2011? ". Time. January 18, 2012.
  98. Warah, Rasna (2 October 2011). "Manufacturing a famine: How Somalia crisis became a fund-raising opportunity". The East African. https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/How+Somalia+crisis++became+a+fund+raising+opportunity+/-/2558/1246690/-/oe8n10/-/index.html. 
  99. 99.0 99.1 Gettleman, Jeffrey (3 February 2012). "U.N. Says Somalia Famine Has Ended, but Crisis Isn't Over". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/world/africa/un-says-famine-in-somalia-is-over-but-risks-remain.html. 
  100. Dunne, Daisy (2022-10-26). "Analysis: Africa's unreported extreme weather in 2022 and climate change" (in en). https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-africas-unreported-extreme-weather-in-2022-and-climate-change/. 
  101. "Horn of Africa Drought: Regional Humanitarian Overview & Call to Action" (in en). 2022-09-21. https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/horn-africa-drought-regional-humanitarian-overview-call-action-revised-21-september-2022. 
  102. "Methodists make appeal for famine threatened West Africa - Ekklesia". ekklesia.co.uk. 2010-07-06. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12566. 
  103. "BBC - Weather Centre - Features - History and Religion - Weather in the Bible - Drought and Famine". http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/bible_drought.shtml. 
  104. "Ancient Chile Migration Mystery Tied to Drought". nationalgeographic.com. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1024_021024_ChileAtacama.html. 
  105. Drought pushed ancient African immigration [yes|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  106. Savelli, Elisa; Rusca, Maria; Cloke, Hannah; Di Baldassarre, Giuliano (May 2022). "Drought and society: Scientific progress, blind spots, and future prospects" (in en). WIREs Climate Change 13 (3). doi:10.1002/wcc.761. ISSN 1757-7780. https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.761. 
  107. 107.0 107.1 Salite, Daniela (1 September 2019). "Explaining the uncertainty: understanding small-scale farmers' cultural beliefs and reasoning of drought causes in Gaza Province, Southern Mozambique" (in en). Agriculture and Human Values 36 (3): 427–441. doi:10.1007/s10460-019-09928-z. ISSN 1572-8366. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10460-019-09928-z. 
  108. Wrethman, Emily (4 April 2023). "How societies use supernatural forces to explain earthly events" (in en). Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. https://mdhs.unimelb.edu.au/news-and-events/how-societies-use-supernatural-forces-to-explain-earthly-events. 
  109. Jackson, Joshua Conrad; Dillion, Danica; Bastian, Brock; Watts, Joseph; Buckner, William; DiMaggio, Nicholas; Gray, Kurt (May 2023). "Supernatural explanations across 114 societies are more common for natural than social phenomena" (in en). Nature Human Behaviour 7 (5): 707–717. doi:10.1038/s41562-023-01558-0. ISSN 2397-3374. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01558-0. 
  110. Spring, Úrsula Oswald; Brauch, Hans Günter (25 January 2021) (in en). Decolonising Conflicts, Security, Peace, Gender, Environment and Development in the Anthropocene. Springer Nature. pp. 385–410. ISBN 978-3-030-62316-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=qioXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA394. 
  111. Scaramanga, Jenna; Reiss, Michael J. (1 September 2023). "Evolutionary stasis: creationism, evolution and climate change in the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum" (in en). Cultural Studies of Science Education 18 (3): 809–827. doi:10.1007/s11422-023-10187-y. ISSN 1871-1510. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11422-023-10187-y. 
  112. Oliver Wetter et al: The year-long unprecedented European heat and drought of 1540 – a worst case. In: Climatic Change, June 2014, doi:10.1007/s10584-014-1184-2
  113. Andreas Frey (2018-08-04). "Elf Monate ohne Regen: Die Angst vor der Megadürre des Jahres 1540 geht um" (in de). Neue Zürcher Zeitung. https://nzzas.nzz.ch/wissen/elf-monate-ohne-regen-angst-vor-megaduerre-jahres-1540-geht-um-ld.1408708. 

External links

  • GIDMaPS Global Integrated Drought Monitoring and Prediction System, University of California, Irvine