NOT ENOUGH WATERNIGERIA AND AUSTRALIA

By Kamilia Broderick8N

WHAT IS A DROUGHT?

How is a drought caused?

A drought is a very long and abnormally duration of time where there is a place with extremely low rainfall and there is not enough water for users. But the definition of drought can be different for different parts of the world. For example, in the UK a drought is defined as 15 prolonged days where less than 0.25mm of rain falls in any 24 hours. But some parts of the world have naturally dry climates such as some parts in Africa. So over there a drought is defined as two years or more in which there has been less than average rainfall.

In different parts of the world there is a lack of rainfall. If it does not rain, of course the land would be dry. Another thing that causes a drought is lack of snowfall. Many places at higher altitude rely on snowmelt from mountains for water. Also if ridges of high pressure stay still for a long duration of time, then the normal process of air rising and water vapour condensing will stop. There might be rain occurring with either side of the high pressure but not under it.

Australia DroughtWhat caused the drought?

Australia has one of the most inconstant rainfall Climates in the whole world. This may be the reason why Australia is affected by droughts. But Studies have showed that the strongest and Reason for the drought is the climate phenomenonThat is called the ‘Southern Oscillation’ . This is the Huge air pressure shift between the Asian and East Pacific Ocean regions. Its best-known opposite is ‘El Nino.’

The El NinoThe expression El Nino, refers to a widespread warming of the eastern and tropical Pacific Ocean that leads to a major shift in weather patterns across the pacific. This causes ocean currents nearby Australia . El Nino takes place every three to eight years.

How has the drought affected the people/environment of Australia?

The drought has made an extreme impact on the people of Australia Who live in the Drought region. The drought impact is very serious on The economic business, especially for the agricultural farming residents.

For the Agriculture to be successful, a specific amount of water is needed, but when a drought occurs, that specific amount of water cannot be met. Droughts don’t only kill crops and livestock, they can degrade the whole land. As top soil becomes dry, it is easily influenced with wind erosion.

Breeding stocks reduce and some farm animals die from lack of water. Also the environmental damage, particularly vegetation loss and soil erosion has long term circumstances for the maintenance level for the agricultural industries.

Without water, crops die. Which means there is a loss of earnings for the farmers because they cannot harvest their crops if they are destroyed. But if there were a drought produced shortage of wheat in Australia, to food prices in cities would rise. This could mean a good thing or a bad thing. The good thing is that people buy the food for higher prices or people think the price is to high and just buy other foods instead so the farmers get very little money.

How is Australia managing The Drought?/ how can Australia manage theDrought? Using monthly rainfall analysis , areas that have a shortage of rainfall appear in the Drought Statement as well as the publication ‘Monthly Drought Review.’If the gathered rainfall over the three straight months was within the lowest 10 percent on record, a Drought Watch will begin and the region is highlighted. This existing dry period stretches to six months for dried up regions. Though is also given to whether an area is usually dry at that time of the year. There are 2 rainfall shortage categories; 1.A severe lack of rainfall exists in a area when rainfall for three months or more is in the lowest 5 per cent of records. 2. A serious shortage of rainfall lies in the next lowest 5 per cent. That is lowest 5 per cent to 10 per cent of previous records for a three months or longer period.

The Sahel desert drought

Sahel desert

What caused the Sahel desert drought ?

The Sahel desert drought was the worst drought in history for the Century. It began in the 1970sand lasted until the early years of the 1980s. This drought his parts of Northern Africa which effected the countries Nigeria, Niger and Mali.

A new study showed that a combination of ocean temperature and loss of natural vegetation could’ve been the main and major reason for the drought. The waters around Africa were warmer than normal, which weakened the continental convergence associated with the monsoon, which left West Africa to dry. Numerous scientist thought the drought was caused by humans over-using natural resources in the region

How did this drought affect the people/environment of Nigeria?

The Sahel drought has effect many people in Nigeria, Mali and Niger. The rain shortage has killed many of the crops in the Sahel region and has left many people with very bad harvests and so the food had to be shared. People had to travel up to 4km to find the nearest watering hole.

The lack of water lead to animals dying, so the people had trouble finding animals to hunt to get food and money by selling them. The shortage of vegetation meant the animals that survived had to eat the leaves from trees. Eventually the trees slowly died off; these trees usually retain some moisture, so without the rain the ground died up even quicker.

How could’ve Nigeria managed the drought and how can they prevent it form it happening again?

One solution that could manage the drought is by building a dam. If dams were built in Nigeria this could collect any rain that came. By collecting rain the remaining water in the dam could be used to grow crops.Also with the help of other countries, money could be raised to help build crops. They could sell food and set up a business. Then use the money to find a solution to help manage the drought.

MEDC & LEDC.AustraliaAustralia is a MEDC because the government is by far better than some countries I know. .Also it is quite a wealthy country because it has a lot of resources and the education system is very good. They have better health care and medical supplies. Also people have access to jobs easily from the better education. Each person in Australia earns much more money than the people in Nigeria. Australia is also prone to droughts, but since the government is wealthier, Australia can actually manage the drought by building dams or underground water pipes, where Niger isn’t that wealthy, so they don’t have the money to do so.

NigeriaNigeria may be the 6th largest distributor in the world, but that doesn’t make it an MEDC country. It’s all about the education and how much money each person receives each year. The education system in Nigeria isn’t that great, and since Nigeria is prone to droughts, their crops get destroyed from not getting enough rain/water so they don’t get much money if their business in selling food is falling. Also since there is only 3 doctors per 1000 people, the medical supplies and health care isn’t that great.

Comparing the countries.

SimilaritiesThe two countries, Australia and Nigeria, have a similar situation, which are droughts. Both countries are dry and the affects on the people are pretty much the same. Australia grows crops and so does Nigeria, so when a drought occurs they both have trouble in keeping their crops healthy; therefore their business in harvesting their crops and then selling them to earn money will fall significantly.

Differences. Australia and Nigeria have a similar situation, but Australia is a MEDC country, the people of Australia earn much more money because there are job opportunities and the education system is better. Also the life expectancy in Australia is 81, whereas in Nigeria the life expectancy is 44. But Australia is a much wealthier country, so they probably have enough money to build dams and water pipes, unlike Nigeria.

FACTS..!!Australia:The land area is 7741 km2 The birth rate is 13 births per 1,000 peopleThe death rate is 7 deaths per 1,000 people.There are 25 doctors per 10,000 people

Nigeria : The land area of Nigeria is 924 km2 There are 42 births per 1000 peopleThere are 19 deaths per 1000 peopleThe life expectancy is 44 yearsThere are 3 doctors per 10,000 people Bibliography ~

http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-57_u-479_t-1306_c-5026/qld/sose-geography/disasters/natural-hazards/drought-and-drought-in-australia http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/drought/livedrought.shtml http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3191174.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/527040.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/527040.stm http://droughts.tripod.com/drought/id8.html

Geography@work textbook 1; page 170

CIAOxford school atlas