6.4 Drought

Question 1

Causes of drought:

Answer 1

• lack of rain caused by prolonged high pressure: Air in a high-pressure system sinks and doesn’t form rain clouds.
• effect of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
  and La Niña on ocean temperatures and
  evaporation
• effect of climate change

Question 2

effect of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

Answer 2

El Niño causes the surface water in the Pacific Ocean
along South America to be warmer.

These warmer waters alter storm patterns and can
cause droughts in Australia.

Question 3

La Niña on ocean temperatures and
evaporation

Answer 3

Whereas, La Niña causes the temperature of the
water along South America to decrease.

The cooler conditions cause drought in parts of North
and South America.

Question 4

effect of climate change

Answer 4

• as more green-house gas emissions are released into the air,
• causing air temperatures to increase,
• more moisture evaporates from land and lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water.
• Warmer temperatures also increase evaporation in plant soils, which affects plant life and can reduce rainfall even more.

Question 5

The impacts of drought:

Answer 5

1. death of organisms,
2. water sources dry up,
3. decline in crop yields,
4. starvation,
5. Migration from rural to urban areas;
6. Unemployment;
7. Increase in food prices;
8. Health problems due to malnutrition;
9. increased soil erosion,
10. desertification,
11. decrease in air quality,
12. increased risk of wildfires

Question 6

the strategies for
managing the impacts of drought

Answer 6

1. monitoring,
2. emergency water supplies,
3. water conservation like storage tanks, spray irrigation, drought-tolerant crops, water recycling, and reducing deforestation.
4. increase water supply (dams and reservoirs, wells, use of aquifers, water transfer, desalination, rainwater harvesting),
5. international aid

Question 7

why are there less deaths in MEDCs from droughts

Answer 7

● greater wealth
● better prediction and emergency planning
● larger stores of food
● better water storage systems
● can afford to import supplies
● greater ability to purify water
● more health facilities to prevent death