DROUGHT

SOCIAL SCIENCE
ACTIVITY

BY MANVEETH PRAVEEN URWA

G9 ATLANTIC
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to extend my gratitude to all
of those who helped me in the
completion of this project.
DROUGHT
Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can
occur anywhere in the world. It is a slow-onset disaster characterized
by the lack of precipitation, resulting in a water shortage. Drought can
have a serious impact on health, agriculture, economies, energy and
the environment.
An estimated 55 million people globally are affected by droughts
every year, and they are the most serious hazard to livestock and crops
in nearly every part of the world. Drought threatens people’s
livelihoods, increases the risk of disease and death, and fuels mass
migration. Water scarcity impacts 40% of the world’s population.
Rising temperatures caused by climate change are making already dry
regions drier and wet regions wetter. In dry regions, this means that
when temperatures rise, water evaporates more quickly, and thus
increases the risk of drought or prolongs periods of drought.
 HUMAN CAUSES
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 CAUSES
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.
 IMPACT
When drought causes water and food shortages there can be many
impacts on the health of the affected population, which may increase
the risk of disease and death. Drought may have acute and chronic
health effects, including:
• malnutrition due to the decreased availability of food, including
micronutrient deficiency, such as iron-deficiency anaemia;
• increased risk of infectious diseases, such as cholera, diarrhoea,
and pneumonia, due to acute malnutrition, lack of water and
sanitation, and displacement;
• Risk of famine
• disruption of local health services due to a lack of water supplies,
loss of buying power, migration and/or health workers being forced
to leave local areas.
Severe drought can also affect air quality by making wildfires and dust
storms more likely, increasing health risk in people already impacted by
lung diseases, like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD), or with heart disease
TYPES OF DROUGHT
Meteorological Drought—when an area gets less
precipitation than normal. Due to climatic
differences, what is considered a drought in one
location may not be a drought in another location.
Agricultural Drought—when the amount of
moisture in the soil no longer meets the needs of a
particular crop.
Hydrological Drought—when the surface and
subsurface water supplies are below normal.
Socioeconomic drought —when water supply is
unable to meet human and environmental needs
can upset the balance between supply and demand
MITIGATION METHODS
Some of the measures that can
be taken to control or solve the
problem of drought are listed
below.
Desalination of water
Rainwater harvesting
Drip irrigation
Building dams
Plant more trees
BIBLIOGRAPHY
For successfully completing the project information from the following sites have been taken
(Can We Protect Ourselves From Drought? | National Drought Mitigation Center, 2023)
(What Is Drought? Causes, Impact & Countries Most Affected, n.d.)
(Drought, 2018)
(Can We Protect Ourselves From Drought? | National Drought Mitigation Center, 2023)
(USGS.gov | Science for a Changing World, 2023)