Human activities are largely to blame for the increased frequency and intensity of droughts that continue to be experienced in several parts of the world. Man has put a lot of pressure on the existing water resources thus overstretching them beyond limit. The great pressure has brought about several devastating problems that have affected the manner in which various processes take place naturally. The impacts of human activities on drought have been worsened by the fact that some of the human activities are carried out in a non sustainable manner. This implies that they cannot be used over extended periods of time as they will soon be unable to regenerate (Barry Phillips, 2004).
Causes of drought
Droughts are basically as a result of lack of rainfall in a region for an extended period of time. Failure for the rain to fall implies that there will be inadequate water for the ground to take through absorption so that the same water can later evaporate into the atmosphere and thus continue with the hydrological cycle. Since drought is mainly due to lack of rainfall and the rainfall shortage can largely be blamed on the human activities, then in this respect, it is in order to argue that human activities indirectly cause droughts. Human activities are entirely to blame for the current global phenomena of climate change and global warming. They both have been solely caused by human activities through the emission of green house gases which have had a lot of impact on the global climate patterns and temperatures increasing drastically. As a result of climate change, the rainfall patterns have greatly changed, some regions that previously received ample rains no longer receive them making the areas to experience very severe droughts every now and then. The rainfall distribution has changed both temporally and spatially thus resulting into increased desertification and drought. Even though the same amount of rainfall may be received in an area as it used in the past, its distribution is very important. A lot of rainfall may be received within a very small region and thus will not be of much benefit as compared to rains that fall over an extensive region. In a similar sense, rainfall that falls in great amounts over a short period of time leaving the rest of the year dry will also not be useful in eliminating droughts (Barry Phillips, 2004).
Forests and mountain regions are important water catchment areas and they contribute significantly to the water volumes in a region. However, the human activities have not spared these vital natural resources and they have been exploited extensively posing a great danger to water as a resource that is obtained from these regions. Forests allover the world are being cleared at a very high rate by humans in order to get land for grazing and cultivating, obtain timber and other products that are obtained from trees and also to get land for settling. Regardless of the use to which the cleared land is put into, clearing of forests by humans has resulted into a lot of bare land that has further increased the intensity and frequency of droughts in several parts of the world. Due to deforestation, very little water if any is originating from these former water catchment areas making several regions to do without rainfall and other forms of precipitation (Oblack, 2009).
Overgrazing is another human activity that causes droughts overgrazed lands are usually left bare with very little if any vegetation cover that is vital in reducing the occurrence of droughts. This was the case in the Great Plains of the US in 1930s when overgrazing resulted into an extended drought. Improved water and agricultural practices were later used to prevent the repeat of such a disaster in future. The bare lands left behind due to over grazing are very vulnerable to soil erosion where much of the eroded soil is deposited into water basins thus inhibiting their ability to carry and hold much water. In turn, this impacts very negatively on the availability of water especially if the affected water basins were the main reservoirs in the region and were contributing to conventional rainfall. Once such water basins are filled with silt from overgrazed lands, such rainfall will no longer be available in such regions and the region will have to experience extended periods without rainfall (Barry Phillips, 2004).
Consequences of drought
Droughts impact very differently in countries at different levels of economic development. Lack of rainfall interferes with the food chain in the nations at low levels of economic development since most of them rely heavily on rain fed agriculture. This therefore means that any substantial change in the amount of rain received in such countries will have a great impact on their land productivity. Hence, droughts in such nations have in virtually all cases resulted in severe food shortages leading to massive starvation and deaths of such populations. These communities also suffer immensely since they do not have enough resources to construct water storage facilities so that they can keep some water during the periods of excess rainfall to be used during those of depressed rains. Poverty is therefore greatly increased during periods of drought since these populations apart from them having a poor harvest they also lose their livestock to the drought (Oblack, 2009).
The impacts are less severe in nations at very high levels of economic development they can do without rains for long periods since they have the capacity of storing ample water to be used during periods of drought. As a result, they minimize their losses during drought periods since they are in a position to produce enough food for themselves and also for their livestock. They rely less on rain fed agriculture and instead utilize irrigation to make their land productive during periods of drought. This therefore implies that the food chain is less affected by drought in nations at high levels of economic development (Barry Phillips, 2004).
The human activities are the main causes of drought, they depress the water resources making it difficult for the hydrological cycle to go on normally and thus reducing the amount of rainfall received in a region. The human activities have had a great impact on the manner in which rainfall patterns take place thus making some parts to receive below normal rainfall for long periods of time. Even though all the impacts of drought are negative and result into a lot of losses, they are dissimilar in different nations depending on the level of economic development. The impacts of drought are more devastating in countries at a low level of economic development while their impacts are much less in countries at high economic levels.
Causes of drought
Droughts are basically as a result of lack of rainfall in a region for an extended period of time. Failure for the rain to fall implies that there will be inadequate water for the ground to take through absorption so that the same water can later evaporate into the atmosphere and thus continue with the hydrological cycle. Since drought is mainly due to lack of rainfall and the rainfall shortage can largely be blamed on the human activities, then in this respect, it is in order to argue that human activities indirectly cause droughts. Human activities are entirely to blame for the current global phenomena of climate change and global warming. They both have been solely caused by human activities through the emission of green house gases which have had a lot of impact on the global climate patterns and temperatures increasing drastically. As a result of climate change, the rainfall patterns have greatly changed, some regions that previously received ample rains no longer receive them making the areas to experience very severe droughts every now and then. The rainfall distribution has changed both temporally and spatially thus resulting into increased desertification and drought. Even though the same amount of rainfall may be received in an area as it used in the past, its distribution is very important. A lot of rainfall may be received within a very small region and thus will not be of much benefit as compared to rains that fall over an extensive region. In a similar sense, rainfall that falls in great amounts over a short period of time leaving the rest of the year dry will also not be useful in eliminating droughts (Barry Phillips, 2004).
Forests and mountain regions are important water catchment areas and they contribute significantly to the water volumes in a region. However, the human activities have not spared these vital natural resources and they have been exploited extensively posing a great danger to water as a resource that is obtained from these regions. Forests allover the world are being cleared at a very high rate by humans in order to get land for grazing and cultivating, obtain timber and other products that are obtained from trees and also to get land for settling. Regardless of the use to which the cleared land is put into, clearing of forests by humans has resulted into a lot of bare land that has further increased the intensity and frequency of droughts in several parts of the world. Due to deforestation, very little water if any is originating from these former water catchment areas making several regions to do without rainfall and other forms of precipitation (Oblack, 2009).
Overgrazing is another human activity that causes droughts overgrazed lands are usually left bare with very little if any vegetation cover that is vital in reducing the occurrence of droughts. This was the case in the Great Plains of the US in 1930s when overgrazing resulted into an extended drought. Improved water and agricultural practices were later used to prevent the repeat of such a disaster in future. The bare lands left behind due to over grazing are very vulnerable to soil erosion where much of the eroded soil is deposited into water basins thus inhibiting their ability to carry and hold much water. In turn, this impacts very negatively on the availability of water especially if the affected water basins were the main reservoirs in the region and were contributing to conventional rainfall. Once such water basins are filled with silt from overgrazed lands, such rainfall will no longer be available in such regions and the region will have to experience extended periods without rainfall (Barry Phillips, 2004).
Consequences of drought
Droughts impact very differently in countries at different levels of economic development. Lack of rainfall interferes with the food chain in the nations at low levels of economic development since most of them rely heavily on rain fed agriculture. This therefore means that any substantial change in the amount of rain received in such countries will have a great impact on their land productivity. Hence, droughts in such nations have in virtually all cases resulted in severe food shortages leading to massive starvation and deaths of such populations. These communities also suffer immensely since they do not have enough resources to construct water storage facilities so that they can keep some water during the periods of excess rainfall to be used during those of depressed rains. Poverty is therefore greatly increased during periods of drought since these populations apart from them having a poor harvest they also lose their livestock to the drought (Oblack, 2009).
The impacts are less severe in nations at very high levels of economic development they can do without rains for long periods since they have the capacity of storing ample water to be used during periods of drought. As a result, they minimize their losses during drought periods since they are in a position to produce enough food for themselves and also for their livestock. They rely less on rain fed agriculture and instead utilize irrigation to make their land productive during periods of drought. This therefore implies that the food chain is less affected by drought in nations at high levels of economic development (Barry Phillips, 2004).
The human activities are the main causes of drought, they depress the water resources making it difficult for the hydrological cycle to go on normally and thus reducing the amount of rainfall received in a region. The human activities have had a great impact on the manner in which rainfall patterns take place thus making some parts to receive below normal rainfall for long periods of time. Even though all the impacts of drought are negative and result into a lot of losses, they are dissimilar in different nations depending on the level of economic development. The impacts of drought are more devastating in countries at a low level of economic development while their impacts are much less in countries at high economic levels.
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