Our planet, civilizations, mankind for thousands of years have been faced with phenomena that contribute to their formation and development, as well as destruction. Echoes of cataclysms and natural disasters are heard every day even to the most comfortable areas of the Earth for living. One of such phenomena, characteristic of every era and overtaking hundreds of thousands of lives every minute, is drought. This is an indisputable fact.
Causes of drought
Drought is a natural phenomenon characterized by prolonged lack of rainfall and persistently high air temperatures, leading to the disappearance of plants, dehydration, starvation and death of animals and people. The reasons for such destructive natural processes were identified in the first half of the twentieth century. And the global climate phenomena themselves are called El Niño and La Niña.
The phenomena that have been given such touching names are a prolonged temperature anomaly, the interaction of air and water masses, which, with a frequency of 7-10 years, make different parts of our planet literally shudder from the abundance or lack of moisture.
Threats and consequences
In some regions of the Earthhurricanes, tornadoes and floods rage, while others die from lack of water. These terrible phenomena with children's names, according to many scientists, destroyed powerful ancient civilizations, for example, the Olmecs; in the life of a number of peoples of the American continent provoked the development of cannibalism, which captured Indian tribes in dry years. Now the prolonged lack of rain and heat lead to mass deaths of people, mainly in Africa, destroy the lakes of South America, cause serious damage to the agricultural industry of the North American continent and Europe. Therefore, there is no doubt that drought is a reason for humanity to mobilize all its forces, knowledge and other resources in the fight against a not fully understood, but very formidable natural enemy.
Summer hot
Drought in Russia also remains an actual phenomenon. Every year, in the summer months, in a number of regions, the Ministry of Emergency Situations introduces an emergency mode due to the stable high air temperature, coupled with the almost complete absence of precipitation, which sooner or later provoke fires in vast areas. Russians remember 2010 as a thick smoke screen that stretched for thousands of kilometers. At the same time, forest and peat fires raged in fifteen regions of the country, destroying settlements and infrastructure along with trees. The damage to the population and the state as a whole turned out to be colossal. Residents suffocated from smoke, and insurance companies - from fabulous payments.
Crop yields were under attack, as well as dairyanimal husbandry, which is faced with an acute shortage of fodder. It was in 2010 that a drought in Russia marked a new temperature record, set 70 years after such an abnormally hot summer.
Drought in autumn: a threat to winter crops
It's not uncommon for drought to take agriculture by surprise in the fall. It would seem that autumn is a period of rains, the first snow and temperatures that are relatively acceptable for plant life. However, rainfall that does not fall in time often affects the entire crop, the areas of which are large. That is why agricultural workers keep their finger on the pulse even in autumn.
The problem of the whole world
Billions of losses, inflation surges, famine, mass death of people and animals. All these are the consequences of the drought. Every day, there are reports in the news about one or another example of abnormal heat without precipitation. So, in 2011, the victims of the drought were the inhabitants of China. The flood, which had harmed more than 3,000 people, was replaced by an unusually unbearable heat. The extreme drop in the water level in the Yangtze River has hampered navigation and, as a result, caused damage to many areas of activity. The failed rice harvest created a crisis in the agricultural commodity market.
Most recently, in December 2015, the drought literally changed the geographical characteristics of the whole country - in Bolivia, one of the largest lakes, Poopo, was destroyed by continuous heat. Due to the fact that local residents previously existed due to fishing alone, already in January 2016, a significant outflow was observed in this regionpopulation.
The biggest impact of climate change has been on the African continent. It is from there that disturbing news and calls for the collection of humanitarian aid are heard with frightening constancy. A difficult environment with insurgents denying the catastrophe and obstructing the transfer of food, further exacerbates the situation. Drought in Africa is a particularly merciless phenomenon. The world community does not leave what is happening without attention, but a huge number of people die from year to year.
Despite the fact that humanity is making huge steps towards its power, nature is still beyond its control, and its whims, sometimes very cruel, have only to be put up with. Overtaking the continents one by one, the drought confirms this.
