Drought

onde também obteve seu MPhil (2007), especializando-se em antropologia e artes visuais da América Latina. Atualmente pesquisa o significado sócio-político de intervenções artísticas no espaço urbano no Brasil, Chile, e Argentina. Em 2008-2009, atuou como presidente da associação de estudantes de pós-graduação afiliada à Society of Latin American Studies (SLAS) para o Reino Unido.

It is well known that rivers connect upstream and downstream ecosystems within watersheds. Here we describe the concept of precipitationsheds to show how upwind terrestrial evaporation source areas contribute moisture for precipitation to downwind sink regions. We illustrate the importance of upwind land cover in precipitationsheds to sustain precipitation in critically water stressed downwind areas, specifically dryland agricultural areas. We first identify seven regions where rainfed agriculture is particularly vulnerable to reductions in precipitation, and then map their precipitationsheds. We then develop a framework for qualitatively assessing the vulnerability of precipitation for these seven agricultural regions. We illustrate that the sink regions have varying degrees of vulnerability to changes in upwind evaporation rates depending on the extent of the precipitationshed, source region land use intensity and expected land cover changes in the source region.

Drought is the most widespread hydro-meteorological syndrome of 'prolonged period of water scarcity affecting natural resources, environment and, thereby, the people'. Environmental changes, viz. climate change, land-use changes and natural resource degradation have aggravated drought occurrences and vulnerability, thus disrupting the normal socio-economic settings. All the regions of India suffer with drought incidences of varying periodicity, with 13 states repeatedly declared as drought-prone. Complexities of drought symptoms and impacts have sought for an understanding of an ecosystem approach for drought management, rather than as a hardcore meteorological discipline. Regions of Rajasthan, Bundelkhand, Karnataka and Orissa are typical examples of drought-related deprivation and resultant conflicts, whereas drought in states like Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, etc. are the result of improper agriculture practices and poor water management. In this article, the strategies of drought monitoring, data management, impacts and mitigation approach are critically assessed in the Indian perspective. Integration of drought management with the framework on natural resources and climate-change adaptation at different levels have also been discussed.

Copyright © 2015 Khoshravan and Jabbari, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article:

Changes in climate, land use, and population can increase annual and interannual variability of socioeconomic droughts in water-scarce regions. This study develops a probabilistic approach to improve characterization of sub-annual socioeconomic drought intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) relationships under shifts in water supply and demand conditions. A mixture Gamma-Generalized Pareto (Gamma-GPD) model is proposed to enhance characterization of both the non-extreme and extreme socioeconomic droughts. Subsequently, the mixture model is used to determine sub-annual socioeconomic drought intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) relationships, return period, amplification factor, and drought risk. The application of the framework is demonstrated for the City of Fort Collins (Colorado, USA) water supply system. The water demand and supply time series for the 1985–2065 are estimated using the Integrated Urban water Model (IUWM) and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), respectively, with ...

The Bundelkhand region in India has been dealing with a severe water crisis for the last two decades. This water crisis has received a significant amount of attention from the central government, media and academics. However, although multiple policies and acts have been passed, and extensive resources distributed, there has not been much improvement on the ground. This thesis analyzes the reasons behind ineffective water governance and implementation at all levels of government, and concludes that over-centralization of planning, crisis-response rather than long-term planning, and a lack of pragmatic planning are key to understanding the current situation. More generally, the disjointed nature of water governance in India has made it difficult for the public sector to carry out cohesive planning approaches. We suggest reforms that can be adopted, and consider the possible consequences to water management and planning if Bundelkhand were to become a separate state.

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) sustains frequently into severe droughts in recent years due to global warming as a spring crop. These abiotic stress affects seed yield highly resulting important yield loses as well as in oil yield in sunflower because especially the hot temperatures during grain filling period firstly reduce water quickly in the seed with resulting empty kernels. Therefore, sunflower breeders screen genotypes for searching drought tolerant genes in their sunflower breeding programs frequently to develop drought tolerant hybrids because only tolerant ones which have higher adaption capability to dry areas could be planted widely in the next years. The study was conducted in under controlled environmental conditions in Trakya Agricultural Research Institute, Edirne Turkey where is in Trakya Region which is European part of Turkey has about 50% of Turkish sunflower production areas growing in rain fed conditions. Some phenological and yield traits as well as total chlorophyll contents of some sunflower male inbred lines at R3, R5-1 and R6 growing periods as three drought stress applications were examined in the study. Correlation and regression analysis were performed to determine the relationships between seed yield and other yield traits. Based on correlation study results, the significant relationships were observed between seed yield per head and other yield traits (plant height, head diameter, leaf number and area, oil content and yield and thousand seed weights) in sunflower male lines both in control and three stress conditions except total Chlorophyll content in stress conditions. There are significant linear and quadratic relationships between seed yield and other yield traits based on regression analysis results in the study. The relationships of yield traits in this drought tolerance research will associate in sunflower breeding program then it will help starting to develop drought tolerant genotypes for future to escape away from drought stress in global warming conditions.

D. J. Nash et al.: Climate indices in historical climate reconstructions and Australia) as well as the world's oceans. We then outline the different methods by which indices are developed in each of these regions, including a discussion of the processes adopted to verify and calibrate index series, and the measures used to express confidence and uncertainty. We conclude with a series of recommendations to guide the development of future index-based climate reconstructions to maximise their effectiveness for use by climate modellers and in multiproxy climate reconstructions.

The nature of vulnerability to agricultural drought in three study blocks of Bolangir district in western Orissa has been analysed. The indexing and vulnerability profile method have been used for assessing the nature of drought vulnerability, coping capacity and risk. The study has revealed that the three most influential biophysical factors of drought vulnerability are: rainfall variability, drought intensity and shortage of available waterholding capacity of soil and the three most influential socioeconomic factors are: low irrigation development, poor crop insurance coverage and smaller forest area. It is found that while drought risk varies widely across the study blocks and drought vulnerability and physical exposure to drought vary moderately, the coping capacity of study blocks differ marginally. However, the level of coping capacity has been found significantly lower than the level of drought risk and vulnerability in the study blocks.

Rice is a staple crop and is being cultivated far and wide around the globe. The waterloggedgged habit of cultivation has made rice extremely sensitive to drought. Understanding expression profiles will open new avenues of research for drought tolerance in rice. The presentsent study aims at utilizing the most innovative and frugal ways for highly sensitive molecular biology protocols. These protocols will help researchers to undertake RNA work in any lab with basic amenities. A details methodologies with critical tips are compiled and presented here for RNA extraction, RNA detection and finally expression profiles of two genotypes. This proof of concept for novel methods is a complete guide for beginner in RNA work with minute detailing of each step

The Ethiopian highlands, occupying 44% of the total surface area of the country, are home to over 80% of the people, 75% of livestock, and are where up to about 95% of the crops are grown. However, they are among the most degraded in Africa due to a long tradition of settled agriculture that dates back to more than 3000 years. This has been aggravated by climatic strains and civil unrest. As the frequency of such extreme weather conditions increase, subsistence farmers become even more desperate, resulting in actions that cause significant damages to the environment. In addition, civil unrest aggravates the threat to the environment. Even though, much of Ethiopia’s history has been dominated by war between internal rivals for domestic supremacy and against external invaders, the environmental implications of such recurrent destructive wars have not been studied. A survey was carried out in the northern and southern parts of the Ethiopian highlands in order to understand deforestatio...

Se presenta una breve exposición y análisis de las medidas que han sido instauradas en los últimos años para afrontar la sequía en México; entre ellas destaca el inicio del proceso de transición de un enfoque reactivo basado en la gestión de la crisis a un enfoque preventivo orientado hacia la gestión del riesgo. Éste no puede eliminarse por completo, pero las acciones preventivas permitirán mitigar sus efectos aunque para ello será necesario afrontar y superar varios retos en el futuro inmediato.

During recent decades, Burundi was threatened by recurrent dry events resulting in crop failure and more socioeconomic losses. To assess the drought occurrence, duration and intensity, this study used the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at 3-, 6-and 12-month time scales for the period 1981-2017. The Mann Kendall and Modified Mann Kendall trend tests and Sen's slope statistic test were used to analyse the spatiotemporal drought trend. The overall analysis of SPI-3, SPI-6 and SPI-12 results revealed that the northern part of Burundi was the most threatened by dry events, where more than 80% of the extremely and severely dry events occurred within the period 1993-2000. The drought magnitude highly varied during the short rains season (SOND) specifically during the 1990s decade. The cumulative frequency of extremely dry events was very high in the North with 5.2%, 6.1% and 7.4% at 3-, 6-and 12-month time scales respectively. Likewise, the northern part experienced short, medi...

A B S T R A C T South Africa is prone to drought. The country recently experienced the combined effects of a severe drought and a strong El Niño event, which led to serious impacts on livelihood conditions and economic growth. By examining the State's response to drought over time, with a specific focus on responses to the current 2016 El Niño-related drought, we expose a number of 'sticking points' in the response to drought and the delayed action to reduce the risks to drought impacts. Complex and seemingly bureaucratic hurdles limiting action are shown to be cumbersome factors that impede and continue to frustrate effective drought response in the country. Such bureaucratic inability to enable swift and flexible responses resulted in many NGOs and civic actors stepping up to provide assistance. As demonstrated in this research, while there are response plans and key contact departments and strategies in South Africa, these have become mired down in officialdom. Some suggest the blame lies with the State itself, and its alleged poor drought risk governance that affect recovery after drought, especially in the agricultural sector. Ineffective responses are surprising given that drought is a familiar feature and given there have been several previous cases of successes in institutional response in the past.

Current study was done in Cholistan desert (27° 42’ and 29° 45’ North and longitudes 69° 52’ and 75° 24’ East) to study the understory vegetation of major shrub species. Phytosociological as well as soil chemistry were analysed to find the association among various plant species forming understory vegetation of shrubs. Quadrats (1 m ) sampling given the species data forming the plant communities underside the canopies of 2 shrubs and then cover, relative cover, relative frequency, relative density, importance value index and some dominant ratios of each plant species were calculated following standard methods. Field guides were used for the identification of the plant species and study was repeated for three times. Understory soil chemistry varied among all shrubs species and there was no consistency among various physico-chemical parameters. Two grass species (C. ciliaris and S. plumose) and one shrub (S. baryosma) were noted to be most frequent and form good association among the other understory plant species. Other understory plant species found to have little associations with other understory plant species. Plant eco-physiological studies are needed to find the indepth phenomenon of plant communities formation among the plants.

This study aimed to evaluate the potential surface analysis by using geographic information system to explore drought risk areas in Lampang province. The results on potential surface analysis utilizing overlay technique include the factors, namely, mean annual rainfall, woodland, distance from water resources, soil texture, soil drainage, agriculture area, industry area, and community area. Weighting scores were collected from 26 experts by using questionnaire. The results led to division of the drought risk areas into five levels; the highest level of
drought risk areas covered 971.45 square kilometers (7.75 percent) and found the most severity at Lomrad sub-district, Theon district; the high level of drought risk areas covered 2,975.60 square kilometers (23.74 percent) and found mostly at Wiangmok sub-district, Theon district; the moderate level of drought risk areas covered 6,076.61 square kilometers (48.48 percent) found mainly at Zhang Nuea sub-district, Meo Moo district; the low level of drought risk areas covered 2,410.19 square kilometers (19.23 percent) found largely at Ban Rong sub-district,
Ngao district; and the least level of drought risk areas covered 100.11 square kilometers (0.80 percent) found widely at Wiangmok sub-district, Theon district of Lampang province.

Groundnut, the king of oil seeds is one of the important legume crops cultivated predominantly under rain-fed conditions in the tropical and semi-arid tropical countries including India, where it provides a major source of oil, carbohydrates and proteins (Pasupuleti et al., 2016; Ondulla, 2020). The seed is used mainly for edible oil and contains nearly half of the essential vitamins and one-third of the essential minerals. It is one of the most nourishing foods available in the world (Fonte et al., 2019; Samtiya et al., 2020). Apart from their nutritional value, groundnut has considerable medicinal value (Bhat et al., 2019). It is consumed in many ways and various forms. Due to its high monosaturated content, it is considered healthier than saturated oils and is resistant to rancidity (Juliet et al., 2019). Groundnut is particularly valued for its protein content (26%). In addition to protein and oil, groundnut is a good source of Ca, P, Fe, Zn and B. Hence, groundnut played an important role in nutritional security to the resource poor farmers (Meena et al., 2007; Chris et al.,

Zambia recently experienced several environmental threats from climate change such as droughts, temperature rise and occasional flooding and they all affect agricultural sustainability and people well- being through negative effects on plants and growing crops. This paper is aimed at showing variations in several climate and environmental parameters in Zambia showing spatial variability and trends in different regions of Zambia's key environmental areas (Zambezi River and tributaries), Livingstone near the Victoria Falls and central region with Muchinga Mountains. A series of 10 maps was plotted using data from TerraClimate dataset: precipitation, soil moisture, Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), downward surface shortwave radiation, vapor pressure deficit and anomalies, potential and actual evapotranspiration and wind speed with relation to the topographic distribution of elevations in Zambia plotted using GEBCO/SRTM data. The data range of the PDSI according to the index values ranged from minimum at -5.7 to the maximum at 16.6 and mean at 7.169, with standard deviation at 4.278. The PDSI is effective in quantifying drought in long-term period. Because PDSI index applies temperature data and water balance model, it indicates the effect of climate warming on drought by correlation with potential evapotranspiration. The maximum values for soil moisture of Zambia show minimum at 1 mm/m, maximum at 413 mm/m, mean at 173 mm/m. This study is technically based on using the Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) as cartographic scripting toolset. The paper contributes to the environmental monitoring of Zambia by presenting a series of climate and environmental maps that are beneficial for agricultural mapping of Zambia.

The scientific debate about the Syrian civil war being linked to climate change that manifested through a prolonged drought took off in 2014, with two key publications: De Châtel’s article in the Middle Eastern Studies in January, and Gleick’s article in Weather, Climate, and Society in July. In 2015, Kelley published an article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which yielded massive media attention and has been cited more than 1300 times, according to Google Scholar. The debate reached a peak in 2017 (fig. 1 below) when Selby et al. (2017b) published an article criticising Gleick (2014) and Kelley et al. (2015). This led to three consecutive responses (Gleick, 2017; Hendrix, 2017; Kelley et al., 2017) and a rejoinder (Selby et al., 2017a). Since 2017, there has been
on average one article per year, suggesting that the debate is still ongoing.
This annotated bibliography is an article-by-article summary of the peer reviewed literature published on
the climate-conflict nexus in Syria. It currently includes 19 articles where drought after 2005 is discussed together with the Syrian uprising turning into a civil war in 2011. The existing literature on the topic reflects both quantitative (e.g. Ash and Obradovich, 2020; Kelley et al., 2015), qualitative (e.g. De Châtel, 2014; Feitelson and Tubi, 2017; Fröhlich, 2016; Gleick, 2014; Gürcan, 2019; Selby, 2018) and more mixed approaches (e.g. Eklund and Thompson, 2017; Selby et al., 2017b). Herein we list the purpose, methods and data used, and the findings/conclusions of each article. The articles are listed in chronological order.

The evaluation of physiological and biochemical aspects is essential to identify clues that can assist breeders in selecting Persian walnut genotypes with considerable tolerance to drought stress. This objective can be obtained by analyzing seed biochemical compounds from different genetic resources, e.g. seeds from individual trees that are commonly exposed to drought stress. In the current research, we evaluated the effects of drought stress, as induced by PEG6000, on the germination of walnut seeds collected from six promising genotypes (i.e. 'SS2', 'TT2', 'TT1', 'ZM1','Haward' and'Chandler'). Aphotoperiod of12hwas provided duringtheexperiments, alongwithan average temperature of 25 ± 1°C. According to the different indexes of germination, a greater tolerance was observed among three genotypes, namely, 'ZM1', 'Haward' and ‘Chandler’. In response to drought stress, the contents of proline and total soluble sugars increased, especially at intense levels of stress, whereas the amount of starch decreased. The levels of antioxidant activity significantly increased by POD, APX, CAT, SOD and LOX enzymes in the radicle and plumule tissues as the water potential reached −1.5MPa. Three genotypes, namely, 'TT2', 'TT1' and 'SS2'were susceptible to cell wall damage(i.e. bylipid peroxidation). High levels ofSpdand Spm in tolerant genotypes were accompanied by significant increases in the zeatin, endogenous IAA, zeatin riboside and ABA in the seeds. Our results suggest that, under drought stress, seed germination in walnuts can benefit from the accumulation of free Spd in seeds during the phases of germination. However, the accumulation of free Put appeared to be an inhibitory factor which suppressed the germination of walnut seeds.

Air-drying and wetting of air-dried soil samples with water (i.e., rewetting) are widely used sample
treatments in soil analyses. It is recognized that both air-drying and rewetting of soil samples affect the
characteristics of organic matter (OM), but systematic evaluations are scarce. In this review, we synthesize
what is known in the scientific literature concerning the types and magnitudes of effects
resulting from air-drying and rewetting with respect to i) characteristics of aggregate-associated and
water-extractable OM, ii) soil microbiota, and iii) decomposition of OM. Air-drying of soil samples results
in the formation of new and/or stronger OM-mineral interactions as well as increased hydrophobicity
and mineral surface acidity. The formation of new and enhancement of existing OM-mineral interactions
may lead to an increase in perceived aggregate stability, potentially affecting estimates of amount and
persistence of OM associated with soil aggregates. Compared to field moist samples, air-dried samples
had 8e41% higher relative dry mass proportions in the 2e0.25 mm aggregate size fraction. Pronounced
changes in the amount and composition of the water-extractable OM and soil microbiota are also
detected during the course of air-drying and rewetting with the potential to affect the conclusions
derived from OM decomposition experiments. Air-dried soil samples were found to have 2e10 times
higher amounts of water extractable organic carbon and a decrease between 3% and 69% in the microbial
biomass carbon (using the substrate-induced respiration technique) compared to field moist samples.
The magnitude of air-drying and rewetting derived effects on sample characteristics appears to be site
and soil type specific.

This paper presents a comprehensive review and analysis of the available climatological data and information on droughts to examine the major causes of droughts recurrence in Somaliland by analyzing the drought occurrence in the past decades with special focus on drought categories and their impact on the livelihoods and sustainable development of Somaliland. The primary data used for this study was collected from the rainfall stations across Somaliland as well as climate data retrieved from CHIRPS gridded rainfall dataset. However, the main findings of the present study were; Somaliland is characterized by drought, which is known to have the most far-reaching impacts of all-natural disasters. This obvious challenge is most likely to aggravate due to slow progress in drought risk management, increased population and massive land degradation. The study also found a large-scale failure of the rains in 2016 Deyr season and have led to severe drought conditions across Somaliland, resulting in significant failure on growing season and record low vegetation. The most seriously affected areas in the current drought are the eastern regions. On the other hand, based on the available climatological data from the past, it clearly shows that Somaliland is likely to face extreme and widespread droughts in the coming years as climate change is anticipated to increase the intensity and frequency of drought. As a result, there is a clear need for increased and integrated efforts in drought mitigation to lessen the negative impacts of recurrent droughts.

Please cite as:
Dembélé, M and SJ Zwart, 2016. An assessment of agricultural drought events in Burkina Faso between 2001 and 2014 – a spatially explicit analysis using remotely sensed data of vegetation, surface temperature and precipitation. AfricaRice GIS Report – 3. Africa Rice Center, Cotonou, Benin

Iran, once the pioneer of sustainable water management in the arid region of the world, is now experiencing a serious water crisis, reflected by its drying lakes and rivers, declining groundwater resources and deteriorating water quality. Water supply rationing and disruptions are becoming more frequent, agricultural losses are increasing and ecosystem damages are expanding. While decision-makers prefer to blame the current crisis on droughts, climate change and international sanctions, the dramatic water issues of Iran are rooted in decades of shortsighted and disintegrated planning. The public, experts and media continuously warn about the major water crisis symptoms without seriously discussing the causes. But, what are the main drivers of Iran's water crisis? Crisis driver 1: population growth and spatial distribution Iran has experienced a significant population growth in the last century. Its population almost doubled within the last two decades of the 20th century, right after the 1979 Revolution, which promoted different socioeconomic , cultural and ideological changes in Iran. In addition to a sudden population growth, rapid urbanisation and inappropriate spatial population distribution are challenging Iranian water managers. Th e urban population is currently about 70 per cent, compared to 44 per cent in the 1970s. Eight Iranian cities have a population of greater than one million while the population in metropolitan Tehran has surpassed 14 million (18 per cent of the country's population). Despite the consequences of population growth policies, the government of Iran is now showing a strong interest in boosting the current population growth rate of 1.3 per cent. This interest is rooted in concerns about the projections of age distribution in the future. What is clear though is that Iran definitely lacks the required water resources and infrastructure to satisfy increased water demand. Without strong spatial population distribution adjustments and water consumption reduction measures, population growth can have catastrophic effects.

A short series including a distinguishing terms, i.e. ‘moral,’ ‘ethic,’ and ‘Justice.’ I shall defend using animals for human consumption, the current popular problems of big game hunting, and a possible solution to the issues giving as close to a win-win as possible throughout this work. Overall, the running theme will contend that humans are not “equal” to other species of animals, especially not under the law.

There is obviously soo much more that can be said on this topic. Hopefully, this sparks thought provoking conversation.

Does climate change cause conflict? Did it cause the Syrian uprising? Some policymakers and academics have made this claim, but is it true? This study presents a new conceptual framework to evaluate this claim. Contributing to scholarship in the fields of critical security, environmental security, human security, and Arab politics, Marwa Daoudy prioritizes non-Western and marginalized perspectives to make sense of Syria's place in this international debate. Designing an innovative multidisciplinary framework and applying it to the Syrian case, Daoudy uses extensive field research and her own personal background as a Syrian scholar to present primary interviews with Syrian government officials and citizens, as well as the research of domestic Syrian experts, to provide a unique insight into Syria's environmental, economic and social vulnerabilities leading up to the 2011 uprising.

Dryland and oasis communities in developing countries are considered to be among the most threatened by climate change impacts and the consequences of increasing human pressure on the environment. For centuries nomads and oasis communities have been demonstrating their adaptive capacities and resilience by coping with tough environmental conditions. In the Moroccan Drâa Valley, we explore different top-down, bottom-up, regional and local adaptation strategies, applied in response to increasing droughts and desertification rates. The adaptations of different sectors and actors have been integrated in a regional study in order to frame them from both the resilience and sustainability perspectives. The findings underline that while human adaptive strategies are mostly capable of addressing stressors and enhancing resilience (in the short run) locally, ecosystems resilience and regional social-ecological sustainability are under threat. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of reframing resilient strategies in the light of sustainability and long term resilience perspectives.

IT'S RAINING IN THE AMAZON HEAVY FOR DAYS, IN AREAS WHERE THERE HAS BEEN NO RAIN FOR 3 YEARS!!!!  AND THIS IS THE AMAZON DRY SEASON WHEN IT NEVER RAINS, UNTIL NOW!!!

DITTO SIBERIA, THE CONGO AND AUSTRALIA!!!!  MILLIONS OF TONS OF WATER. FOR ABOUT A MONTH SINCE WE SENT EUPHORIA TO THE AREAS  -  EUPHORIA WILL ALWAYS WIN.

Plagues of Egypt
The Biblical story of the plagues of Egypt is world acclaimed. In this short paper there is a rationalistic interpretation of the narrative based on the unique circumstances of Egypt, showing that all disasters began in abrogation of the ecological balance of the Nile that began in short of rains (because of a Vulcanic eruption in the eastern hemisphere.
Thus, few plagues are explained anew (especially AROB as Hawk-moth).
Each 'pair' of plagues was aimed to smite of the Egyptian gods: the first 2 were against water (Hapi), the second pair against earth (Geb), the third pair against air ( Shu), the fourth pair against Moon (=fertility, Osiris/Nfr), and the last pair were aimed against Sun (Re).
This interpretation follows, in a way R. Yehuda ha Levi's interpretation (apud ibn Ezra).