What is Drought?
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But did you know that the archaic meaning means Thirst?
Scientists believe that Drought is a direct result of climate change, and is one of the expected outcomes of our changing world.
It also depends on what different areas consider drought- In Bali, 6 days without rain is considered a drought, while in a dessert area where the annual rainfall is less than 180 mm would be different.
The human demand on the water supply is definitely to be taken into consideration and all the extra activities.
In Europe, 2015, because of El Nino, the impact has hit Spain, where wine production has dropped 40.6 hectoliters in the south.
In the Indian sub-continent, drought has intensified and affects 14,000 villages!
Africa- the equatorial regions/ Ethiopia has 8.2 million who need food assistance due to drought.
North America- California has been hardest hit
South America- equator and central Amazon Basin (the rainforest disappearing is not helping)- water is being tanked into areas for the indigenous populations along the Guyana, Brazilian and Venezuelan borders, it’s worst drought in 50 years.
When an area is water stressed, it becomes vulnerable to episodes of drought. This happens because of a chronic mismanagement and over-use of local water resources. That means, when a string of pour rainfalls happens in an area the region is plunged into a water crisis that affects millions of people.
Hope: In some parts of the world, drought or chronic lack of water has become a way of life, which means desalination and reuse of wastewater is far more common and innovation is the key!
http://drought.unl.edu/DroughtBasics/WhatisDrought.aspx
http://www.drought.gov/gdm/current-conditions
http://www.wri.org/blog/2015/06/global-tour-7-recent-droughts
“The Economic Power of Water.” http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/07/24/historic-droughts-wreak-havoc-usa-brazil-n-korea/30513289/