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Droughts (Causes (Meteorological - Amount of precipitation an area…
Droughts
Causes
Meteorological - Amount of precipitation an area receives compared to its average. If there is a prolonged time where there is little rainfall, then a drought occurs
Hdyrological - how a decrease in precipitation can have an impact on overland flow, reservoirs, lakes and ground water. Shortage in water reserves can lead to drought
Agriculture - Not enough water to support average crop production. If too much water is used for farming, then reserves aren't replenished quickly enough so plants die and ground dries up
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Deforestation - cutting down of trees reduced soil's ability to hold water - can cause land to dry out, resulting in drought
Arid characteristics
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Pastoral farming, usually by nomadic herdsmen
Sparse natural vegetation - grasses, shrubs and trees
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Hazards of drought
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Wild fires common as trees are very dry so burn easily, and also a lot of dead wood in the forest, and with low water supplies difficult to control
During droughts, crops fail and animals die due to lack of grazing land - malnutrition and starvation
When soil becomes dry vegetation dies leaving soil unprotected. Soil can be blown away by wind by wind erosion. When rain returns no top soil so natural vegetation and plants cannot grow
Namibia
Impacts on people
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778,000 people severely or moderately food insecure
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Impacts on environment
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Large amounts of desertification - Savannah becoming desert. Only drought-resistant plants survive which are inedible so cattle cannot graze on them
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Government responses
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Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry gave farmers two options, sell livestock while still in good condition or pay to transport them to emergency grazing areas
California
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Impacts on environment
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If water levels drop, young salmon cannot survive as need cool running water and water warms up
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Government responses
Governor Brown issues state of emergency and in February Obama gave US$183 million from federal government funds
March, Governor Brown signed drought-relief legislation worth US$687 million which included US$25.3 million for food