Drought, lack or insufficiency of rain for an extended period that causes a considerable water imbalance and, consequently, water shortages, crop damage, streamflow reduction, and depletion of groundwater and soil moisture. Water covers more than 80 percent of the earth’s surface. Your Shopping Cart will be saved with Product pictures and information, and Cart Totals. It is dreaded that, unless there is rainfall very soon, the drinking water supply in Cape Town will be seriously threatened. india Updated: May 08, 2003, 21:57 IST Drought is a recurrent phenomenon. Proper storage and collection of water is key to counter balancing this cycle and clearly in the scope of human management. Some of which are, not having enough rain/ snow for a long period of time. Drought is deadliest because agriculture is one of the main sources in India and it is depended on rainfall and water supply, a shortage in water affects agriculture badly resulting in famine and inflation and causes deaths on a large scale. A drought can further cause damage by increasing the risk of large-scale wildfires, and can cause populations to begin tapping into their emergency reserves of water—the aquifers that collect water underground. Changes in global atmospheric circulation can mean it doesnt rain much in an area. Causes of drought can be categorized into natural and human causes which share the same relationship as we have discussed earlier: human causes aggravates and increases the intensity and frequency of natural causes of flodos and droughts. Droughts have many causes. Drought stress is a multidimensional stress and causes changes in the physiological, morphological, biochemical, and molecular traits in plants. Causes . Many plants have improved their resistance mechanisms to tolerate drought stress, but these mechanisms are varied and depend on the plant species. Beginners Guide: Using Plant Species Factor For Watering, A verification code will be sent to your number. A drought can last for months or years, or may be declared after as few as 15 days. It is found in oceans, lakes, … Droughts are caused by changes in land and sea surface temperatures, atmospheric circulation patterns and soil moisture content. According to researchers, a region of high atmospheric pressure in the equatorial Pacific diverted winter storms preventing them from reaching California. Drought, lack or insufficiency of rain for an extended period that causes a considerable water imbalance and, consequently, water shortages, crop damage, streamflow reduction, and depletion of groundwater and soil moisture. The most important one though relates to the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere as this is what creates precipitation. A drought is an extended period of significantly below average precipitation in a region. No fixed time end of drought. In this lesson you'll learn what a drought is, how serious they can be, how droughts are categorized and how one area is dealing with an epic drought. Visit Drought Monitor Tool A drought is a prolonged period of water deficit, and usually occurs when an area does not receive significant precipitation for a sustained period of time, say several months (Chen et al., 2009; Linsely et al., 1959). Please add products before saving :). It is among the earliest documented climatic events, present in the Epic of Gilgamesh and tied to the Biblical story of Joseph’s arrival in … Distribution of Droughts 6. Rainfall or Precipitation Deficiency; Droughts take place whenever there is prolonged periods of rainfall deficiency for a season or more and usually when there is a lack of anticipated rainfall or precipitation. California is in a mega drought and most data indicates water is becoming more available. Some of the effects of drought include failure of crops, financial loss, price rise and soil degradation. Your Shopping Cart will be saved and you'll be given a link. When a region is growing rapidly the demand for water can exceed the supply. Soil moisture levels also contribute to drought. Drought is a creeping natural hazard that results from a deficiency of precipitation (runoff, soil moisture) from long-term average (over at least 30 years), which is referred to as a normal value.