DROUGHTS
Affected areas in the western Sahel belt during the 2012 drought.
Drought is unusual dryness of soil, resulting in crop failure and shortage of water for other uses, caused by significantly lower rainfall than average over a prolonged period. Hot dry winds, high temperatures and consequent evaporation of moisture from the ground can contribute to conditions of drought.
Well-known historical droughts include:
1900 India killing between 250,000 to 3.25 million.
1921–22 Soviet Union in which over 5 million perished from starvation due to drought[citation needed].
1928–30 Northwest China resulting in over 3 million deaths by famine[citation needed].
1936 and 1941 Sichuan Province China resulting in 5 million and 2.5 million deaths respectively[citation needed].
The 1997–2009 Millenium Drought in Australian led to a water supply crisis across much of the country. As a result many desalination plants were built for the first time (see list).
In 2006, Sichuan Province China experienced its worst drought in modern times with nearly 8 million people and over 7 million cattle facing water shortages[citation needed].
12-year drought that was devastating southwest Western Australia, southeast South Australia, Victoria and northern Tasmania was "very severe and without historical precedent".
In 2011, the State of Texas lived under a drought emergency declaration for the entire calendar year. The drought caused the Bastrop fires.
A large hailstone, about 6 cm (2.4 in) in diameter
Hailstorms are falls of rain drops that arrive as ice, rather than melting before they hit the ground. A particularly damaging hailstorm hit Munich, Germany, on July 12, 1984, causing about 2 billion dollars in insurance claims.
No comments:
Post a Comment