Droughts
Texas/U.S.A Drought (M.E.D.C)
Home
U.S.A Drought
Sahel Drought
Bibliography
Contact Me

drought.gif

In 1998 there was a 5 month drought in Texas. This reached a climax in late July/early August. For 29 days the temperature was above 38 Degrees Celsius. About 150 people died, elderly and sick people were most at risk. 

Location
 
 

texas.gif

Causes

 The cause of the droughts has been attributed to sunspot activity and water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. Texas lies on the fringe of "the Great American Desert" and straddles the 30° North latitude where many deserts in the world can be found. People, plants, and animals living in deserts become adapted to these environments. Those living in areas that border deserts face unexpected droughts and suffer most because they are the most unprepared. Because the High Plains and Trans-Pecos regions of Texas are near the Chihuahuan Desert, it is likely that these areas may be the most vulnerable to prolonged winter droughts. The Chihuahuan Desert continually expands and contracts in response to El Nino and La Nina events in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador. El Nino events warm these waters, while La Nina events cool them. La Nina events can create ridges of high pressure that influence the flow of the jet stream and precipitation. As La Nina events occur, Texas often receives less than normal amounts of rainfall.

Effects
 
The long period of drought causes the water supplies to dry up. Due to this the vegetation slowly dies off causes the animals to eat the trees and any shrubs there are. The trees slowly die off and the ground beneath the trees becomes dry and cracks up. The tree roots which retain moisture in the soil stop doing this and in turn and water left in the ground dries up. The animals then also dye off having no water to drink and no food to eat. This leaves the thin layer of top soil that is left open to the wind and rain, the wind blows this top soil away leaving dry, hard soil which is rubbish for growing crops. When it eventually does rain the ground is so dry it doesn't soak into the ground, this causes floods which washes what is left of the top soil away. People houses get flooded and everything they have worked for can be washed away. All of this slowly turns the land into desert, this is called desertification. People are not used to living in such conditions and so cannot survive and many people die.

Solutions
 
In America scientists have collaborating with university researchers to apply remote sensing technology to a sophisticated agricultural technique called precision farming. 
In precision farming, growers break fields down into regions, or "cells," analyzing growth characteristics of each cell and improving crop
health and yield by applying precise amounts of seed, fertilizer and pesticides as needed. Traditionally, farmers have lacked the ability to make those close analyses of specific cells. When they fertilized their crops, they simply spread it uniformly across the entire field.  Now, using remote sensing feedback, they can tailor that input more precisely. This alows the growers to grow more food and be able to eat during the droughts. 
 
Droughts are also being helped by the water storage facilities being made larger. These can help keep the water supplies to taps up and water restrictions will then not be necessary.