Effects of Drought Throughout the World

What is a drought? A drought is a long period of time without rainfall. But what really arethe outcomes of a drought? What are it causes and effects? Many people don't bother or simply care to take into consideration the causes and effects of droughts. If people were more educated about droughts they could possibly help to decrease the negative effects of droughts throughout the earth. The causes of droughts are simply the lack of rain. This usually happens in dryer or hotter climates such as deserts.

Where

Typically droughts happen in places where there is very minimal rainfall and usually those places are in dryer and hotter climates. One of the most common places where droughts occur is the country of Morocco which a large portion of the country is covered by the Sahara desert. The southern part of the country usually gets about 100mm to 200mm of rain in a year. Another common place for droughts to occur is the country of Uganda. The northern part of the country is exposed to the Sahara desert as well. This area of Uganda experiences a constant drought leaving about half a million people with little or no food and water. Regardless of other governments and countries stepping in to help, there is still a constant need of food and water in this country.

Causes

Quite often people just connect a drought with there being no rain for a long period of time, which is true. There is more beneath the surface though. What causes there to be no rain fora long time? Droughts commonly occur where there is a high presence of high pressure air systems and winds. These winds do not carry oceanic air masses which is where the rain originally comes from.

Another thing that contributes to how droughts occur is human activity. There are so many ways that humans waste water, especially those who have an abundance of it. “Sometimes how much water humans consume, and the timing of that consumption, factors into how much water is available at a later date for people, plants and animals. Thus, drought can also be viewed as an imbalance between supply and demand. ” says Brian Barth who has a master's degree in environmental planning and design from the University of Georgia. If humans were to conserve enough water and not waste it which happens quite a lot, then when these droughts do occur in other countries the world could come together to help each other so there is not as much desperate need of water.

Effects

Droughts have a very big domino effect on humans. There are negative effects economically, environmentally, and socially which turns the negative effects into a vicious circle. For the economy it starts with farmer's crops being destroyed by not getting enough water. If the farmer doesn't get any of their crops then they don't get any money. With the money they have they use it to buy extra irrigation or feed for their livestock. When farmers sell the crops and livestock they have that isn't damaged by the drought it will have to be higher in price to pay for their losses which means people will have to pay more money for food. That is just one example. Environmentally there is the same kind of domino effect. Animals depend on food and water just like humans so when there is a lack of it they struggle to survive. Since there is a lack of food and water for wildlife they will get more diseases from eating things they most likely shouldn't be. This will cause a decrease in the wildlife because the animals will have migrated or died. Since there are no more wildlife their habitats are more prone to soil erosion and wildfires which also effects the farmers.

Humans are also be effected physically and mentally by droughts. People can become very anxious and depressed because of economical reasons. They can have health problems due to the poor sources of water and food. Incomes will become lower because money will be directed to trying to obtain water and food from somewhere else. Just as animals do, people will also migrate from drought effected areas into different cities. One country that suffers badly from droughts is Kenya. The country of Kenya relies heavily on agriculture. “As a developing country, agriculture is the backbone of our economic growth. Over 70 percent of Kenyan GDP (gross domestic product) is from agriculture and agriculture-related industries. ” Since the country has been so effected by droughts farmers have slowly not been able to do anything. Many young people in that country are not able to find workso they move to larger cities, mostly the city of Nairobi.

Although when they get there the big city is not quite as they expected. “In the cities, the unemployment rates are staggering; according to the 2009 government population census, 60 percent of Kenyan youth are unemployed. ” Also in the larger cities the cost of living will become higher which leaves nothingfor the young people of Kenya. Many are either living idle in the cities or are involved in organized crime. As you can see, droughts are defiantly a serious problem throughout the entire earth. So many people suffer from droughts especially those who are living in non-developed or poorly developed countries. As humans we need to help end all of this disaster. Although scientific effects are non-reversible we still can help by conserving more of our water. So many people in wealthier countries have so much waste that could be put to so much use. Let's work together as a worldwide community to help each other out.