My topic is the extreme cases of droughts that are occurring throughout Africa. Drought is a local or regional lack of precipitation such that ability to raise crops and feed animals is seriously impaired. Our Environmental Science textbook covers this topic in chapters 9 and 20. Environmental Science is the branch of science concerned with environmental issues. My topic relates to environmental science because in developing countries such as Africa, food, water, clothing, medicine, and many other essential needs for life is extremely limited and situations such as droughts make it even harder for people to live and go through life.
My first article, “Study Finds Pattern of Severe Droughts in Africa” which I retrieved from The New York Times, written by Andrew C. Revkin on April 17, 2009, has the main point that Sub- Saharan Africa is home to tens of millions of the world’s poorest people as said by climate researchers. Most of Africa’s 390 million people live off of less then a $1.25 a day. These people’s lives depend on the quality of the land and rainfall. Kevin Watkins, director of Human Development Reports of the United Nations, says, “Even small climate blips such as a delay in rains, a modest shortening of the drought cycle, can have catastrophic effects”. Timothy M. Shanahan of the University of Texas and Jonathan T. Overpeck of the University of Arizona have warned that global warming that is caused by human exposure of greenhouse gases is a major reason for droughts in Africa. Major droughts have also been linked to pattern increases and reductions in surface temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean. In 1972 to about 1974, Ethiopia’s human population was about 31 million; from 31 million, one million died due to t...
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... third and last article is that people aren’t exactly looking forward to rainfall either because along with rainfall comes floods which then too destroy livestock, crops, and cause soil erosion.
After reading these articles, I conclude that a reduction of greenhouse gases in the developed countries should be mandatory and it will help reduce the amount of droughts tremendously. As said in my first article, “It is important for developed countries to curb greenhouse gases to keep climate shifts around the globe in as manageable a range as possible”. We also need to pitch in with Red Cross and help donate as much as we can whether it be food, money, water, clothing, medicine, etc. to help lower to no income families in less fortunate countries and help them restore their lives because after all, we live in a one world and no one person deserves more then another.
Already scientists have observed that more than 75% of the recent economic losses are caused by natural hazards which can be attributed to wind storms, floods, droughts and other climate related hazards. In the year 2008, the U.S. state of Iowa was on the front pages of newspapers all around the world. Weeks of heavy rain in the Midwest caused rivers to swell and levees to break. Millions of acres of farmland are now underwater, their plantings most likely destroyed. By March, Iowa had tied its third-highest monthly snowfall in 121 years of record keeping, and then came the rain. April’s st...
On the heart (center) of California is a flat area with miles and miles of farms and up to 230 different crops. The central valley agriculture is essential to the United States; it not only delivers almost half of the produce but also helps the economy by also giving more job opportunities (California Department of food and agriculture, 2014). Many families depend on the central valley agriculture to survive economically in the United States. It is a well-known fact that rain and snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are a very important element in the central valley. No rain in the central valley can cause many devastating issues to occur quickly. Recently in the year of 2013 California received less rainfall than years before. The small amount of water the central valley is receiving is harming not only to the land but humans and animals as well. It’s destroying the habitats of animals with forest fires caused from the dry spells occurring. The central valley is going through a drought, so much that around this time of year the central valley usually accumulates enough rain for the necessities in the valley, agriculture for example. This year, however, has been different, the central valley hasn’t received enough water and this has caused a drought in the valley. Water is an important element in this world for not only human life, but for the environment in general, a shortage of water supply can bring issues to the environment and those living in it. The central valley holds the largest percent of class one soil, not only that, the valley grows a third of all the produce being grown in the United States, that’s more than 230 crops that are being grown in the central valley. However, this drought isn’t only affecting the resident...
For example, then, drought is difficult to define in modern standards, it is typically classified as a shortage of water, usually associated with a deficit of rainfall. That is, drought occurs when the demand or use for water exceeds the current supply of water. It follows, then, the Colorado river drought does not solely affect one area, it’s grandeur has affected the whole southwestern United States. Additionally, the Colorado River Basin Water Management: Evaluating and Adjusting to Hydroclimatic provides information on the meager volume of rain fall. In theory, then, combined with increased temperatures from global warming, and a deficient of rainfall both circumstances have had a descending effect on most surrounding
Global climate change is when the world's climate is changing temperature and the weather around us is changing. The causes of global climate change are, CFC gasses, methane. But 98% of total global greenhouse gas emissions are natural (mostly water vapour); only 2% are from man-made sources. In this part of Africa the effect on peoples lives has been that there country is getting hotter and Dryer, and it is causing The land to dry out and stopping them growing crops and supporting there families etc. The message in the issue statement is, 'It's a waste of time and money trying to save this zone, move the people out.'
The weather in this novel controls their crops and the river flow; which controls their food and water supply. They depend on adequate rainfall to help their crops to grow and for the river to be full. They also depend on the sun to warm things up and make the crops grow. However, if there is too much rain or too much sun it can cause many problems, such as a drought or a flood. These things are significant in this novel, because t...
...the El Nino air pressure. The drought also has many impacts on economic, social and environmental. Manage drought comes from daily life and the government measure.
In order to reduce to potential climate change, the amount of greenhouse gases being released need to be reduced.
...ld. Globally, more intense hurricanes and downpours could cause billions of dollars in damage to property and infrastructure. Declining crop yields due to prolonged drought and high temperatures, especially in Africa, could put hundreds of thousands of people at risk for starvation. The Ski resorts located in the lower altitudes of the Swiss Alps have difficulty obtaining bank loans because of declining snow.
The causes of climate change are also known to them that though it is not only the human action playing role but it is the main cause of climate change. The effects of climate change does include harm and loss of environment and organisms but it also has impact on the human health. Semenza (2014) displays an assessment report which states that throughout the 21st century, the rapidly occurring climate change will lead to increase in number of humans with ill health in many regions mainly in those of developing countries where citizens face low income. Semenza (2014) also mentions how there are physiological limits to intense heat exposure and the global climate change will turn some parts of the world which are currently highly populated into uninhabitable even if the global temperature rises by 7 degrees Celsius. Johnson (2014) states how El-Niño-related hydroclimate variability will lead to being intensified under global warming mainly in areas as southern Asia which are already stressed by different droughts, floods, and crop yields. Dettinger, Udall, and Georgakakos (2015) mentions how climate change puts risk and threat on water resources in the western United States to an extent that no other part of the country matches it. Dettinger, Udall, and Georgakakos (2015) also states how recent research and studies strictly point a limited number
Therefore, the fact remands this drought changed the way of East African peoples life and the affects on the children who never knew the environment any other way are all born into a life of inequality and with all the resources in the world and ability to make food surplus there is no reason to why people should be starving not only due drought but in any condition.
Many scientific studies also show increases in the intensity, duration, and extent of droughts, higher atmospheric temperatures, warmer sea surface temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, and diminishing glaciers and snowpack. The bottom line is that causes of climate change, such as greenhouse gas emissions, will have to be minimized if people want to do as much as possible to solve the water crisis. Works Cited Water demand management: the case of Zaragoza, Spain Web 25 Nov. 2014. http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/swm_cities_zaragoza_2010/pdf/final_report_swm_cities.pdf.
Nowadays, we can see a lot of campaigns to reduce this humans’ contribution of greenhouse gases to atmosphere. These campaign’s missions are usually about reducing the energy that we use, convincing us to use recyclable energy, stopping the deforestation... These missions are all about mitigating to climate change. Climate change mitigation is the actions to limit the significant rate of long term climate change. In other words, climate change mitigation is all of the actions about lowering the humans’ greenhouse gas contribution to atmosphere. It is now too late for humans’ to prevent the effects of climate change, but these effects can be reduced in the future with mitigation. The most popular treaty, disenchant of humanity, is Kyoto Protocol. The main goal of Kyoto Protocol is reducing the human emitted greenhouse gases, in other word, mitigation. Also in ways that underlying national differences in GHG emissions, wealth, and capacity to make th...
The forth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change concludes that climate change is unequivocal. While the national climate change response strategy asserts that the evidence of climate change in Kenya is indisputable; higher temperatures are being experienced across the country, rainfall patterns are uncertain, uneven and unpredictable; drying up of water catchment areas; depletion of water sheds, wells, rivers and other water bodies while others are growing in size.
Vallely, P. (2006, May 16). Climate Change will be Catastrophe for Africa. Retrieved December 8, 2009, from www.independent.co.uk/environment
Although systems have been looked at, South Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because, amongst other things, a large proportion of the population live in abundance to poverty and have low resilience to extreme weather. With already a low and variable rainfall pattern, predictions testify that by 2050 areas will be experiencing extremely high temperatures in Spring, Summer and some parts of Autumn with Winter experiencing rapidly decreasing temperatures below -65 degrees Fahrenheit. It will also become drier and hotter affecting agricultural production and biodiversity distribution. Saving and conserving fresh water now will ensure that in times of drought and extreme weather, people will have other alternatives to turn to especially with the amount of rainfall to be expected in the adjoining future.