What is a drought National Geographic?
A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather with no rain or other precipitation. Drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather when there is not enough rain. The lack of precipitation can cause a variety of problems for local communities, including damage to crops and a shortage of drinking water.
Where is the mega drought?
Within that period there may be occasional better, wet, years, but the respite is brief. The dryness soon returns and drought maintains its long-term grip. For the Southwest — including Arizona, Nevada, Utah and parts of California, Colorado and New Mexico — the drought has lasted two decades.
What caused megadroughts?
Past megadroughts were triggered by natural fluctuations in the Earth’s climate. Temporary shifts in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean, for instance, can have a strong influence on climate in the southwestern United States. These kinds of natural variations are also playing a part in the current drought.
What defines a drought?
Defining Drought. Drought is generally defined as “a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time (usually a season or more), resulting in a water shortage.”
What is drought and types of drought?
Drought, on the other hand, is the absence of water. As a result, the climatological community has defined four types of drought: 1) meteorological drought, 2) hydrological drought, 3) agricultural drought, and 4) socioeconomic drought. Meteorological drought happens when dry weather patterns dominate an area.
Is there a mega drought?
Pretty bad, actually. In 2020, our research team published a study demonstrating that 2000 to 2018 was among the worst 19-year drought periods in at least 1200 years, second only to a so-called “megadrought” in the late 1500s. The term megadrought arose in the 1990s through the study of tree-ring records.
When did the mega drought start?
The period of so-called “mega drought”, of which the consequences are only starting to be seen, is thought to have begun in 2000, with peaks in periods of severe drought – and wildfires.
Was the Dust Bowl a Megadrought?
A megadrought (or mega-drought) is a prolonged drought lasting two decades or longer. Multiyear droughts of less than a decade, such as the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s, are generally not described as megadroughts even though they are of a long duration.
What does it mean when there is a drought?
Drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather when there is not enough rain. Below-average precipitation affects the amount of moisture in soil as well as the amount of water in streams, rivers, lakes, and groundwater.
Why are droughts the second most costly weather events?
The lack of adequate precipitation, either rain or snow, can cause reduced soil moisture or groundwater, diminished stream flow, crop damage, and a general water shortage. Droughts are the second-most costly weather events after hurricanes.
Are there going to be more droughts in the world?
Other scientists question the prediction that there will be more droughts and believe global warming will create a wetter climate around the world. Trees and other plants have adapted to withstand the effects of drought through various survival methods. Some plants (such as grasses) will slow their growth or turn brown to conserve water.
When was the longest drought in the United States?
That 20-year-long stretch rivals any drought in the last 1,200 years, a team of scientists reported last year. They knit together hundreds of tree-ring records from across northern Mexico and the U.S. West, creating a record that stretches back to about 800 AD.