Submitted to: Mrs.

Harmeet kaur Mondal sem

Submitted Ashmita

BBA-MBA 2

Section- B Regn.no-

Drought and its Effects

Contents

Meaning Map of Drought Causes of Drought Graphs Impact of Drought Features of Drought Types of Drought Effects of Drought

Drought & its effects

When we hear the word drought, we think of many images: a farmer kneeling in a hot, dusty field with stunted crops; dried-up streams and ponds; many bright, sunny days with no rain; water rationing; brown lawns. A drought is a prolonged, abnormally dry period when there is not enough water for users' normal needs. Drought is not simply low rainfall; if it was, much of inland Australia would be in almost perpetual drought. Because people use water in so many different ways, there is no universal definition of drought.

What's a drought?

You can feel the dryness in your throat. The land is barren and covered in thin dust. Cracks appear in the earth. This is drought, when water is so scarce that the existence of life becomes threatened. When people hear the words natural disasters, they usually think of hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods, tornadoes - events that are sudden and frightening, that can cause a great deal of devastation, and that make a lasting impression on us. Drought usually isn't the first disaster that comes to mind! That's because drought, unlike a tornado or an earthquake.

Most of us think of it as no rainfall", but it's not that simple. Drought is when you have less rainfall than you expected over an extended period of time, usually several months or longer. Drought is a normal part of climate, and it can occur almost anywhere on earth. For example, Arizona and Maine have very different climates but drought occurs in both states. Drought's features and effects vary from place to place because of different geographical features and cultures, which affect how people use water.

Features of Drought
An insidious, slow onset hazard of nature Originates from deficiency of precipitation resulting in water shortages for human, cattle and agricultural consumption 16 % of countrys total area is drought prone 68% of total sown area can be drought affected

Drought - Types
Meteorological Drought - reduction in rainfall for a specified period Hydrological Drought - depletion of water resources, stream flows, ground water, underground aquifers, etc. Agricultural Drought - impact of meteorological and / or hydrological droughts on crop yields. Famine Drought - extreme form of agricultural drought, which destroys food security to maintain as active healthy life.

Map of Droughts

How does Drought occurs?

In general, clouds form when the wind forces air to move upward; clouds disappear when the wind forces air to move downward. But sometimes a ridge of high atmospheric pressure will build over a region (like the southeastern United States during the summer). In these high pressure regions, air moves downward, preventing clouds from forming and producing rain. If these ridges stay in place for an abnormally long time, this can also result in a drought.

Causes of Drought
Deficiency of Rain water. Dependency on rain-fed agriculture. Human Causes:

Over exploitation of ground water resource Land use leading desertification Deforestation Over-cultivation Overgrazing Mismanaged irrigation

Increase in moderate drought over the last 50 years

Observed increase likely to have human cause
average

observations

model

We can see a tornado and feel an earthquake, but we can't see drought. It happens when we don't get as much water as we expect or need over a significant period of time, and it happens so slowly that we only see its effects. When drought occurs, it can have many far-reaching impacts. That's because water is an important part of so many of our activities. We need water for everything from human, wildlife, and plant health; to washing dishes, river rafting, and fishing; to growing food, cooling engines, and producing electricity. When we don't have enough water for these activities, there will most often be a negative impact.

A farmer and his son kick the dust that should be waist-high in crops due to the lack of good rains in Victoria.

Impacts of Drought
Actual impact and vulnerability may be quite different depending on the soils, irrigation, infrastructure, crop types and socio-economic factors like backwardness of the people, poverty, size of land holdings, rural industries of the area and access to other inputs. Economic Environment Social

Social Impacts

What are Social Impacts?

Malnutrition Health Problems Reduced quality of life Social Unrest Increase in petty crimes Rise in Indebtedness

Effect of Drought

Environmental Impacts Damage to animal species

>Reduction and degradation of fish and wildlife habitat >Lack of feed and drinking water >Greater mortality due to increased contact with agricultural producers, as animals seek food from farms and producers are less tolerant of the intrusion >Disease >Increased vulnerability to predation >Migration and concentration (loss of wildlife in some areas and too many wildlife in other areas) >Increased stress to endangered species >Loss of biodiversity

Hydrological effects

>Lower water levels in reservoirs, lakes, and ponds >Reduced flow from springs >Reduced stream flow >Loss of wetlands >Estuarine impacts (e.g., changes in salinity levels) >Increased groundwater depletion, land subsidence, reduced recharge >Water quality effects (e.g., salt concentration, increased water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity)

Damage to plant communities

>Loss of biodiversity >Loss of trees from urban landscapes, shelterbelts, wooded conservation areas >Increased number and severity of fires Wind and water erosion of soils, reduced soil quality Air quality effects (e.g., dust, pollutants) Visual and landscape quality (e.g., dust, vegetative cover, etc.)

Where do Droughts occur?

Droughts usually occur in hot dry areas of land. In most cases the area is dry because there is very minimal rainfall. The rain that does fall will be quickly absorbed into the ground or blown away by the dry air flow that moves along the ground. Therefore the land is very dry and not many things can live there. Drought is a weather-related

natural disaster. It affects vast regions for months or years.

It has an impact on food production and it reduces life expectancy and the economic performance of large regions or entire countries. Drought is a recurrent feature of the climate. It occurs in virtually all climatic zones, and its characteristics vary significantly among regions. Drought differs from aridity in that drought is temporary; aridity is a permanent characteristic of regions with low rainfall.

Drought also causes environmental losses because of forest fires; soil erosion; damage to plants, animals, and their habitat; and air and water quality decline. Sometimes the damage is only temporary, and conditions return to normal when the drought is over. But sometimes drought's impact on the environment can last a long time, or may even become permanent if, for example, an endangered species was lost because of low stream flows.

These graphs show annual rainfall totals for the years 1895 to 2005 for Maine (above) and Arizona (below). The red lines show the average rainfall for each statein other words, the amount of rainfall each state can generally expect to receive each year. You can see why people in these two states would have very different views of drought: Maines driest year (2001, with about 30 inches of rain) in the past 110 years was still wetter than Arizonas wettest year (1905, with about 24 inches of rain)!

Drought showing photo of Joshua Tree National Park. Trees have been losing their leaves and branches, wilting and leaning, loosening their bark, and rodents strip bark all the way around. Photo courtesy of Kelly Redmond of the Western Regional Climate Center.

Bibliography
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drought
library.thinkquest.org/10136/drought/dr outq.htm drought.unl.edu/kids/impacts/affects.ht m drought.unl.edu/kids/impacts/affects.ht m

Pictures of drought

Thank