Introduction

Drought is a natural hazard such as cyclones, earthquakes, floods, tsunami and lightning. When an area continuously has unusually dry weather and it receives very small amounts of rain, that situation is called Drought. Hydrologists identify a Drought as one where there is scarcity of water for humans and the ecosystem.

Hot weather leads lot of evaporation from water surfaces and evapotranspiration from vegetation. Springs and water storage such as in reservoirs and tanks would run dry.

Water managers or Farmers shall identify a drought as one where they do not have adequate water for the crops. Ultimately, people decide what a drought is depending on how it impacts them.

Causes of Drought

Droughts can be caused due to natural reasons and human interventions.

Natural / Physical causes

• Weather – increased amount of anticyclone weather (hot + dry). This means air holds less moisture so you get less rainfall.
• Global warming – weather patterns change (e.g. weather becomes hotter and drier)
• Hotter weather – more evaporation than rainfall

Human causes

• Overpopulation – too many people living in an area using too much water
• Over cultivation – planting too many crops which use too much water
• Over extraction – removing too much water from wells so they dry up  
• Deforestation – cutting down trees which otherwise store water and hold soil together

Natural events such as lack of rainfall, surface water flow and rising temperature can reduce the water present for human activities and agriculture. This will make a situation where less than expected water is to be used for necessary purposes. Therefore a Drought situation can arise. This is also closely tied to the water cycle as it is the main feature through which we receive water. If that is not normal or disruptive Drought conditions will prevail.

Humans also play a major role in the causes of Drought. One of these actions if deforestation or the destroying of forests. As forests are key for water conservation deforestation makes water retention very hard and make water scarce. Another factor that contributes towards Drought if global warming. This is made possible by the actions of burning more fuel and release of gases called greenhouse gases which are harmful to the atmosphere. Through these the temperature of the earth will increase making it disrupt the natural environment and this causes Drought conditions.