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What problems are associated with drought
Causes and effects of drought
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Introduction
The following is a report on Australian drought situation. It will identity the definition of the drought, describe the causes of drought, represent impact of drought in Queensland and introduce management to help farmers cope with future drought occurrences.
The definition of drought
A drought means there is not enough precipitation. It is a period of unusually dry weather that keeps on long enough to cause environment or economic problems which result in a water shortage and destroy vegetation, animals and crops. Drought can happen even if there is some rainfall. Bushfires and heat waves will occur because of drought. (Francesca.F, 2000)
Causes of drought
There are many causes of drought. The first element is about the water cycle. The moving clouds and moisture over the atmosphere cannot make a place receive the normal amount of rainfall during a period of time. ( Lincoln, 2014). It means there is not have enough moisture to create precipitation. If residents who live near a river, most of their water comes from this river. And their drought might because of the less precipitation at upstream. (ibid). As a result of the drought there will be a shortage of water in the region. The most important climatic phenomenon that causes drought is Southern Oscillation. “Southern Oscillation is a primary air pressure change which is a seesawing of atmospheric pressure between an area just to the north of Australia and the central Pacific Ocean.” (Study Guide 23). It is also linked to El Nino and La Nina. “El Nino is a complex interaction between air and sea in tropical Pacific. “(Robert, 2013). El Nino means little boy in Spanish and also means unusually high atmospheric pressure and sinking air through Northern Australian w...
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...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.
Works Cited
Andrew, B. (2013). Drought relief for Queensland farmers. The Queensland Cabinet and Ministerial
Directory, p1
Amanda, M.(2011). How to prepare for a drought. [On-line]. Available : www. Kiwihow.com/Prepare
-for- a-Drought.
Ballard, J.(2012). The drought. England. Liveright Publishing Corporation
James. R. (1989). El Nino and La Nina. El Nino, La Nina and the Southern Oscillation, (46), 12-13.
Lincoln. (2014). Causes of drought. [On-line]. Available: http://drought.unl.edu/Droughtforkids/what
Isdrought/Causesofdrought.aspx.
Oblack, B.(2014). What causes drought. [On-line]. Available: weather.about.com/od/drought/f/
Droughts.htm
Mark Cane, scientist at Columbia University, discusses numerous places around the world that suffer famine and fires due to the effects of El Nino, even mentioning an occurrence here in the United States of an extreme snow storm caused by this event1. According to NOAA, El Nino occurs every 2-7 years and is detected by satellites, buoys, and sea level analysis . If scientists are aware of when El Nino is occurring then they are also aware of what changes in weather it is causing and can therefore connect these disasters to the event. It is
Water shortage in arid and semi-arid regions and declining its availability to a crisis ...
The drought along with the dust storms as stated already made it impossible to plant crops, it also made it very difficult to provide food for the farmers and their families. If you could not plant anything, you did not have food for animals and you did not have food for families or children that needed it desperately. There was a sudden urgency of concern once farmers could not feed their family and members of those families started to starve.
The Great Basin of North America and Wyoming specifically, is known for its arid and semi-arid environment, as well as prolonged and sometimes severe droughts. Drought is the prolonged and abnormal deficiency of moisture with the concomitant decline in runoff to a level significantly lower than usual (Guldin 1989). The history of droughts in Wyoming has been uncertain in the past, but recent studies of tree rings in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming have given insight to droughts as far back as 1260A.D. (Gray et al. 2004). Looking at tree ring records in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) trees, Stephen Gray and his colleagues discovered that droughts which have been experienced in Wyoming since the 1750's, are weak in severity and length when compared to those since. The most severe drought period in Wyoming’s history occurred from 1262 to 1281. The droughts of the 1930’s and 1950’s, which have been used as benchmarks for all other droughts in the United States in recent times (Woodhouse et al. 2002), are ranked 149th and 28th respectively in comparison (Gray et al. 2004). The five top ranking droughts for 10, 15, and 20 year periods are all prior to the 1800’s, with the four driest single years being 1263, 1274, 1278, and 1280 (Gray et al. 2004). This indicates a change in precipitation patterns in the Big Horn Basin area of Wyoming since the 18th century, as all recent droughts have been mild when compared to those of Wyoming’s past.
Some of the direct effects of the droughts were that many of the farmers’ crops were damaged by deficient rainfall, high temperatures, and high winds, as well as insect infestations and dust storms that accompanied these conditions. What essentially happened was that the soil lacked the stronger root system of grass as an anchor, so the winds easily picked up the loose topsoil and swirled it into dense dust clouds, called “black blizzards.” The constant dry weather caused crops to fail, leaving the plowed fields exposed to wind erosion. The effects of the drought happened so rapidly and progressively over time that there was very little preparation and planning the farmers could do before having to abandon their homes.
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
Australia is home to the great barrier reef which is the world's largest coral reef system, and home to the kangaroo. Australia is the driest continent in the world. The outback is the part of Australia that few live in because it’s a vast desert (“Australia”). The great dividing range is a long chain of mountains that runs along the Pacific Coast of Australia (“Australia”). Australia is the driest inhabitable country in the world (“Australia”). The great barrier reef of Australia is the largest in the world (“Australia”). Australia is already a dry country and if the temperature rises anymore due to climate change than Australia could suffer from more severe forest fires and be doomed.
Climate change impacts the basic resources needed by nations to continue and for humans to survive and continue on with their lives. For this reason, civil unrest occurs and wars happen. Militant groups and radicals such as ISIS control and secure their access to what is left of these resources like water so as for people to join their cause. There are also uprisings all over the world where protesters demand food due to starvation from lack of food which resulted from drought and food price increases which affects the global market significantly. Moreover, poverty is also a result of
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...
Background: North Australia is considered to have major expense of the continent of catchments and intact river frameworks (Pusey 2011). Pressure on river systems globally and water crisis in South Australia has inspired interest in river health and Northern water resources of Australia. The shortage of information about tropical river frameworks is instantly clear to policy makers, industries and society groups with a concentration in water resource growth. Since 2004, in an endeavour to offer knowledge to direct recent and future policy and decision-making, study units like Land and Water Australia and government agencies like National Water Commission have initiated researches and supported research consideration and growth priorities and needs (Jackson and O’Leary 2006; Toussaint 2010). In spite of being large landowners and exhibiting a major fraction of regional societies, indigenous people have traditionally been marginalized from decisions related to water resource.
“For most of the history of our species we were helpless to understand how nature works. We took every storm, drought, illness and comet personally. We created myths and spirits in an attempt to explain the patterns of nature (Druyan).” According to Fox, Drought came also be seen as a slow- motion train wreck. We still have a very short time to get the people off safely before the crash. This drought is causing long dry period in regions were rain fall is usually frequent enough. From there this drought is turning to more like a famine because the area in drought is so huge and is causing much conflict for the survival of the people (2011). These areas include Somalia, southern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya.
(2009). The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Drought - a fact sheet. Retrieved from: http://www.ifad.org/lrkm/factsheet/cc.pdf The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, (2007).
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.
An El Nino happens in intervals of 3-7 years. The formation of this is related to the Pacific Southern Oscillation which is also the cycling of the Pacific Ocean circulation. The Pacific Southern Oscillation (the change of atmospheric pressures) happens when the easterly trade winds collapse, weaken, or even reverse. As this happens, the upwelling stops. The slight weakening of the winds cause a small change in sea surface temperatures, and the wind and pressure changes increase. The warm water of the western Pacific Ocean flow eastward and sea surface temperatures increase on the western coast of South America. When this occurs, the wet weather conditions (originally in the western Pacific) move east, and dry conditions (normally in the east) appear in the west.
Global warming is one of the main causes, which leads to the lack of water and drought. A drought-like condition exists in most of India’s part. Government of India states that 68% of the country is disposed to the drought, which (consequences are) leads to massive migration of people to more favorable places, famine, conflicts among inhabitants. India is known in the world as one of the biggest producers of water-intensive crops such as rice, sugarcane and wheat. According to a survey done by Grail Research, approximately 82% of total water is used for agricultural consumption and 90% of it is employed for irrigation of rice, wheat and sugarcane (Grail Research, LLC, 2009). There are several solutions which could lead to the decr...