H2 Geography

Tutorial 9: Droughts essay

Q1. Explain the causes of droughts. With reference to an
example or examples, discuss the problems of managing
an inhabited environment prone to droughts [16]
Droughts are one of the adverse weather conditions that occur at specific
locations around the world due to certain global climatic patterns. The
nature of droughts however is very different from other environmental
hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It is defined as a
creeping hazard as it tends to develop very slowly and have a prolonged
existence. We are unable to properly state the time at which it starts and
ends, for there is no obvious signs that can be observed to marks its start
and end. Furthermore, it is also not confined to particular topographic
settings as it can extend to regions sub-continental in scale, affecting
several countries, for instance the Sahel region in Africa where drought
conditions can affect many sub-Saharan countries. Due to its nature, it will
cause many difficulties in the prediction, and management of the hazard.
Many different definitions of droughts exist, however in simple terms; a
drought implies a lack of moisture for an extended period of time which in
turns causes a deficit of moisture in the soil. However as different areas
around the world experience varying amounts of rainfall, the definitions of
what constitutes a drought would vary. In an area which receives high
amounts of precipitation in the form of rain or snow, the condition of
drought can develop more rapidly than in an area which doesn't. For
instance in the semi arid region of central Australia, a drought occurs
when the level of precipitation is much lower than in sub tropical
Indonesia, where the normal conditions in Australia would be a drought
condition in Indonesia. Hence, drought should be considered relative to
some long-term average condition of balance between precipitation and
evapotranspiration in a particular area, a condition perceived as normal.
The causes of drought are mainly natural; however human activities can
have the effect of exacerbating the impact of the drought such as
increasing the chances of desertification. The main reason that droughts
occur is when there is not enough moisture in the air and soil, thus
preventing the processes that form rain in the atmosphere from
happening. Therefore, an area where there is no moisture available or no
condensation will be at high risk of drought. There are a few main reasons
on why some areas have droughts.

Firstly, there are latitudes and longitudes along the earth where the air is
generally sinking. For instance, at the latitude of around 20-30 degrees
north and south of the equator, it is the zone of sub-tropical high pressure
where air is subsiding, also known as the sinking limb of the Hadley cell.
The descending air makes it very difficult for any moist air to rise;
condensation will not occur and rain clouds will not be able to form as the
air is warming due to compression. It is also important to note that the
inter-tropical convergence zone can also shift in position depending on the
movement of the overhead sun. The high pressure areas are the main
causes of deserts such as the Sahara and in northern Australia. The size of
the areas will vary from year to year as the air can sink over a larger area,
this will cause droughts to occur, especially at the edges of deserts. It
must be noted that should the area be confined to the desert areas, it will
not be defined as a drought. This is because the amount of rainfall in the
deserts are already extremely low and thus there will be hardly any
change in the level of precipitation from normal conditions to be able to
define it as a drought. At the edges however, there can be a delaying of
the rainy season for a period of time, causing a substantial change in the
precipitation level below normal levels and hence a drought would occur
there.
Secondly, the periodic atmospheric El Nino event can also cause droughts
to occur in South East Asia which has normal conditions of very high
amounts of precipitation. El Nino is the event where there is an extensive
warming of the upper ocean in the tropical eastern Pacific for periods
lasting for a year or more. The event is linked with a change in
atmospheric pressure known as the Southern Oscillation. Under normal
atmospheric conditions, pressure rises over the eastern Pacific Ocean and
falls over the western Pacific Ocean. There will be warm, moist ascending
air over the Western Pacific which gives the South East Asia region its
heavy convectional rainfall. During an El Nino event there will be a
reversal in pressure, precipitation, and often winds and ocean currents, in
the Equatorial Pacific region, where there will be a rise in pressure over
the western Pacific and falls over the Eastern Pacific. This will cause the
inter- tropical convergence zone to migrate southwards and cause the
trade winds to weaken in strength, and in certain cases even a reversal of
direction. The descending air which is now over the South East Asian
region causes much drier conditions there than normal conditions and in
extreme cases causing drought when there is a very pronounced fall in the
amount of rainfall.
As droughts occur due to the lack of rainfall, factors that impede the
movement or formation of rainclouds are also a cause of droughts. First
and foremost, certain areas will face droughts should the winds that

normally bring the rainclouds either blow very weakly or not blow at all.
For instance the droughts that occurred in the Indian states of West
Rajasthan and East Rajasthan in 2000 could have happened as the winds
from the Indian Ocean were much weaker and could not blow the clouds
far inland. Secondly, the fundamental air movements that make moist air
rise do not happen. An example would be the droughts over most of
Europe from 1988 to 1992, where an anomalous circulation pattern
caused rainfall deficits over a large area. This can be due to the lack of
low pressure systems moving across Europe and causing less frontal rain
to form.
There are anthropogenic causes of droughts as well. The main
anthropogenic cause of drought would be a rise in the absolute population
and population densities. For example in the Sahel region, rural population
densities have increased due to high birth rates. This means that the
population doubles every 20- 30 years. The rapid increase in population
has led to food production being outstripped by the population. With an
increase in population, there will be a rise in demand for food and leads to
the progressive conversion of natural ecosystems into farmland. In the
Sahel region, most of the land is only marginally arable and is unable to
support the increased number of people living on it. The carrying capacity
of the land bordering the southern Sahara region was only 0.3 people per
square km while the number of people living on it was 2 per square km.
Hence there will be increased pressure on the land and can lead to
desertification and degradation of the land which ultimately leads to a
drought. Desertification occurs due to over- cultivation of croplands,
Overgrazing of rangelands, mismanagement of irrigated cropland and
finally deforestation. All of these are caused indirectly or directly by an
increase in population.
First of all, over cultivation occurs when rising populations force farmers
into cropping more marginal areas on the fringes of deserts, in order to
feed the extra mouths. They are forced to increase yields from their land
and fallow periods are being ignored which causes the soil to quickly lose
its fertility. The farmers also tend to keep livestock as another means of
livelihood. The herds of livestock would concentrate in certain areas,
stripping the vegetation and exposing the soil to erosion. The trampling of
the ground also leads to ground compaction and destroys the structure of
the soil. As the population increases, so does their demand for fuel. In
these areas which are less developed, the main source of fuel is firewood
from the forests. This causes wide tracts of forests to be cleared as the
people use the wood as fuel sources, the removal of trees exposes the soil
to erosion from wind and rain leading to desertification. Desertification
can be a cause of droughts. Deserts have higher albedo levels then soils
and thus reflects more sunlight away, thus reduces the possibility of cloud
formation and decreases the level of precipitation, and should the fall in
level of precipitation be substantial from the normal levels, a drought will
occur.

The impact of droughts varies greatly according to the national wealth of

the individual countries, and thus the management of the drought in each
country will differ. The impacts of droughts are the most serious in the
developing nations in Africa which depend primarily on agriculture.
Generally the economic and mortality impacts are more pronounced in the
LDCs. As the impacts of droughts in LDCs and DCs differ, the methods of
management will be different although there is an overlapping of certain
strategies in the management of the droughts in the different groups of
countries.
Both the governments of LDCs and DCs face the same problem in the
prediction of droughts. This is mainly because droughts are difficult to
identify due to its creeping nature. Hence it would hinder the ability of the
governments to recognise the true impacts of the drought and also
adversely affects their capability to set in motion a timely and
comprehensive response.
The less developed nations especially those in the Sahel region in Africa
suffer the greatest impact from droughts mainly because the economies
of the countries involved are not yet developed and are still reliant on the
agricultural sector for a large proportion of their GDP. At the micro level,
the farmers themselves are also suffering as they are mainly subsistence
farmers who farm to feed themselves and earn a livelihood. When a
drought hits, their entire livelihood can be wiped out and they can suffer
from starvation. Hence, these families have to figure out methods to
mitigate the effects the drought has on them. For instance, during a
drought, the families can promptly sell their livestock in order to earn
some money to get them through the period of drought. Moreover, they
can also move to towns and cities to find jobs and earn wages to support
their family. However, should there be a oversupply of labour in the
market, it can lead to a collapse of the precarious labour market.
At the political level, the government can also take steps to mitigate the
effects of the drought. During bumper harvests, the government would
have to carefully conserve food stocks to prepare for a period of drought,
although as the food is perishable, it can be difficult to store it for
extended periods of time. Hence, the government would have to rely on
international relief agencies to supply supplementary food supplies to the
people. Furthermore, the government can subsidise or directly provide
farmers with drought resistant crops such as millet so that the farmers can
continue to farm even in drought conditions and thus be self reliant.
Although it is possible to develop strategies to deal with droughts in the
Sahel, there are obstacles that impede progress. This can include high
rates of population growth where population growth constantly outstrips
food production, civil wars which can result in the disruption and theft of
food relief and also difficulties in establishing social and economic
stability. These problems would thus hamper the steps taken to managing
the droughts in the Sahel region and also in other LDC countries.

The developed countries suffer less serious economic and mortality

impacts due to greater national wealth and hence ability to cope with the
impact of the drought. The economic impact is smaller as the economy is
much more diversified and complex and able to absorb the impacts of a
drought. Mortality rates are also low as farmers do not rely on their farms
for a living as they are commercial farmers. They are able to import food
stocks from overseas as they tend to be more affluent as well. An
excellent example of a DC which suffers from droughts would be Australia.
The national drought policy has a core principle of self reliance. This is
because the farmers are in the best position to develop agronomic
systems, practices and business strategies to manage agriculture drought.
Hence with this in mind the government plays a role of providing farmers
with the skills and tools to manage in a self- reliant fashion. Examples of
such support would be research into climate variability and predictions,
training and education, and tax incentives for them. These components
would thus increase the resiliency to drought through proactive, mitigation
measures. However, the government would step in should the drought
event be very severe or affect a significant portion of businesses in the
region. This policy works on the basis of the market mechanism where the
commercial farmers will act to mitigate the effects of droughts in order to
keep up their profits and hence will work without much government
intervention.
The principle of self reliance will only apply for farmers in the DCs as they
have the resources and education to make the right decisions.
In conclusion, in order for drought management to be successful, there
must firstly be the political will from governments to change the drought
management paradigm as lessons are learnt from past events. Nations
can also learn from one another, adapting monitoring risk and impact
assessment tools and planning methodologies to each individual nations
needs. Most importantly drought plans and policies must be dynamic,
incorporating lessons learned and changing societal vulnerability because
drought risk is a product of both exposure to the hazard and the
vulnerability of society to the hazard.