How does drought threaten the world?
ArabiaWeather - Drought is a continuous deterioration in climatic conditions, which leads to a decrease in the availability of fresh water for agriculture, drinking, and industrial uses. Drought is considered a major challenge facing the world today, and it is a direct effect of climate change, which is mostly attributed to human activities such as greenhouse gas emissions and changes in water use. Lands.
Drought
Answer: Drought is a phenomenon that extends over long periods in the natural climate cycle, and may affect any region in the world. It is a slowly developing disaster, during which there is no rainfall, leading to a shortage of water resources, and drought can cause serious impacts on health, agriculture, the economy, energy, and the environment.
About 55 million people around the world suffer annually from the effects of drought, a phenomenon that severely threatens livestock and crops around the world. Drought threatens livelihoods and increases the risk of disease and mortality, which promotes mass displacement. Water shortages affect about 40% of the world’s population. It is expected that 700 million people are at risk of displacement. due to drought by 2030.
The rise in temperatures resulting from climate change increases the aridity of areas to become dry areas, and makes them more widespread, in which evaporation rates rise rapidly with rising temperatures, which increases the risk of drought and prolongs its duration.
As a result of this effect, most disasters related to natural hazards are witnessed, such as floods, droughts, tropical cyclones, heat waves, and severe storms, and the percentage reaches 80-90 percent of all accidents during the last decade.
Drought around the world... What are the areas most vulnerable to drought?
The Rhine River dries up in Europe
The Rhine River is considered one of the most important and famous rivers in Europe, as it extends over a total distance of 1,233 kilometers . The importance of this large river is due to its prominent role, as it is considered an essential commercial and cultural corridor throughout the ages. For centuries, this river has been used to transport goods and people between different regions. However, the main artery of this river on the Old Continent is witnessing a significant decrease in water levels, which poses a major threat to the European economy, threatening a new collapse.
Over the last six years, the region has seen summer after summer affected by drought, and this environmental challenge has hit the raw materials transportation industry to a great extent, as ships have not been able to sail fully efficiently during the summer months. In fact, in the municipality of Kop, Germany, The water level barely exceeds one and a half meters when the river is usually about two meters deep during this time of year.
Drought in Brazil
Brazil's Amazon rainforest is facing a severe drought that could affect nearly half a million people by the end of this year, authorities announced Tuesday, and many are struggling to access basic needs like food and water, as waterways are a major mode of transportation in this crisis. The region, while river levels have reached unprecedented lows and fishing has also been severely affected by this drought, which is a major source of livelihood for many riparian communities.
It is worth noting that a state of environmental emergency was declared in the state of Amazonas two weeks ago in response to this long drought, and a response plan worth $20 million was launched, and the state's civil defense agency stated that it would distribute food and water supplies, in addition to personal hygiene supplies.
Drought and its effects on the environment and humans
Drought is considered one of the greatest environmental, economic and social challenges facing the world in the modern era. It is a natural phenomenon that occurs naturally in specific areas, but it can worsen and become catastrophic when it interacts with other factors such as climate change and mismanagement of water resources, which can have a significant impact on Negative impact on the environment and humans
Effects of drought on the environment
Brazilian newspaper O Globo recently reported that more than 100 dead pink river dolphins had been discovered in Lake Teifi, according to a report by the Mamiroa Institute, a research institute based in the Amazon region of Brazil and funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Science.
The newspaper also reported that the high number of dead dolphins is due to the unusual conditions witnessed in the Amazon region, where it was subjected to a historic drought period in addition to high temperatures in Lake Teifi. The Brazilian Mamirawa Research Institute indicated that investigations are still ongoing until the exact causes of this death are determined. The large number of dolphins, but experts believe that drought and high temperatures in the lake are having a major impact on river life.
It is worth noting that the Amazon River is the largest waterway in the world, which is currently going through a period of drought, which affects river animals to a great extent. Efforts are trying to save river life and move some dolphins from the side lakes of the river to the main stream of the river where the water is colder. But this process faces great difficulties due to long distances and difficult terrain.
Low water levels are also prohibiting transportation and fishing activities in the river, affecting the local economy, and severe droughts are expected to continue in the region in the coming weeks, raising the risk of more animals dying.
Effects of drought on humans
Drought causes a shortage of water and food, which has negative effects on the health of the individuals affected by it, and can increase the risk of disease and death. Drought can have acute and chronic health effects on humans, including:
- Malnutrition due to lack of food, which causes multiple diseases, most notably anemia resulting from iron deficiency.
- Increased risk of infectious diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, and pneumonia, as a result of severe malnutrition, lack of water and sanitation, in addition to displacement.
- Psychosocial stress and mental health disorders are a result of the difficult conditions experienced by people affected by drought.
- Disruption of local health services due to lack of water supplies and loss of purchasing power, and immigration and health workers may be forced to leave local areas.
- Severe drought can also affect air quality by increasing the prevalence of wildfires and dust storms, increasing health risks for people who already suffer from lung diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or heart disease.
Drought is a major challenge that requires global cooperation and joint effort to conserve water resources and develop sustainable strategies to deal with it. If this challenge is addressed effectively, humanity can make progress in reducing the effects of drought and achieving sustainability of water resources in the future.
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