Drought

• A drought is a period with much less rainfall over a specific time that is usual for the area
• droughts usually occur when there are long periods of high pressure and little rainfall
• The length of droughts can be different in different places

  • the worst drought in Britain was 16 months
  • Droughts in African countries can last for more than a decade
• causes of droughts

  1. changes in atmospheric circulation
  2. annual rains fail
• the frequency of droughts hasn’t changed much, but the distribution has
• areas at most risk of drought are central and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Australia, eastern South America
• since 1950, there have been more droughts in Asia and the Mediterranean
• some scientists have suggested that droughts might become more frequent and severe due to climate change