Droughts

By Carson Mac

1. What is your Natural Disaster?

Our natural disaster is a drought, which is an extended period of unusually dry weather when there is not enough rain (Understanding Droughts, n.d.).

2. Explain the cause of your Natural Disaster.

The causes of droughts are lack of rain, regular weather patterns are disrupted, changes in atmospheric circulation, and certain climate patterns like warmer waters (Understanding Droughts, n.d.)

3. Describe the 3 most dangerous examples of your natural disaster? Include where they happened, when they happened, and what made it so bad.

The 3 most dangerous examples of a drought would be the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, the Drought in the Horn of Africa which includes the countries of Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti which occurred in 1984 and 1985, and the Great Drought, which occurred between the year 1276 and 1299 in the northwestern region of the United States.

1. What made the Dust Bowl so bad was it intensified the effects of the Great Depression, lasted a decade, affected 50 million acres of land, lifted dry soil into the air, strong winds blowing it everywhere, clouds blocked the sunlight, and 2.5 million people migrated away.


2. What made the Drought in the Horn of Africa so bad was that it killed 2 million people, 8.5 million livestock, and 16.5 million people were affected by the drought.


3. Finally, what made the Great Drought so bad was that it was a megadrought, which is an extreme drought that last for decades.

Source: Fountain, H. F. (2021, August 19). What Is a Megadrought? The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-a-megadrought.html#
:~:text=Simply%20put%2C%20a%20megadrought%20is%20a%20period%20of,soon%20returns%20and%20drought%20maintains%20its%20long-term%20grip.

Understanding droughts. (n.d.). https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/understanding-droughts/

4. How does your natural disaster impact your biome? What are the positive and negative effects of the natural disaster?

In our region, droughts affect water availability/quality, pastoral livelihoods, and hydroelectric generation.

• Some positives of droughts are balancing health of wetlands, allowing certain species to thrive, and raising awareness on water conservation/recycling water.
• Some disadvantages of droughts include the negative effect it has on agriculture and food production, social effects of droughts, health impacts, and economic losses.

Effects of Droughts: Positive, Negative, Examples. (2021, July 8). Yo Nature. https://www.yonature.com/effects-of-droughts-positive-negative-examples/ Adaawen, S., Rademacher-Schulz, C., Schraven, B., & Segadlo, N. (2019, January 1).

Chapter 2 - Drought, migration, and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa: what are the links and policy options? (E. Mapedza, D. Tsegai, M. Bruntrup, & R. Mcleman, Eds.). ScienceDirect; Elsevier. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B978012814820400002X

5. How does your natural disaster impact your organism? What are the positive and negative effects on your organism's life?

Droughts impact elephants by damaging their habitats and cutting off their water supply. One positive effect of droughts on elephants is that during a drought, elephants use their trunks to dig up a new water source, expanding the amount of water sources in the area. A negative effect that droughts have on elephants is their habitats are damaged.

Source: Kalam, T. (2020, January 20). Why Are Elephants Important To The Environment? Science ABC. https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/animals/what-role-do-elephants-play-in-ecosystems.html

Gross, R., & Heinsohn, R. (2023, January 6). Climate change is leaving African elephants desperate for water. Phys.org; Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-climate-african-elephants-desperate.html#google_vignette