The document discusses drought, including what causes drought, how it affects more economically developed countries (MEDC's) and less economically developed countries (LEDC's), and ways to control and reduce the effects of drought. It focuses on drought in the Sahel region of Africa as a case study, noting that drought is caused by factors like the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) not moving far enough north, bringing less rain. Human activities like desertification from overcultivation and overgrazing have also exacerbated drought in the Sahel. The document recommends various solutions for MEDC's and LEDC's to control drought such as building dams, introducing drought-resistant crops, afforestation

1. What is drought? There are many definitions, but usually it is a period of time where there is much less than average rainfall. What do you think factors affect drought in a country? Can you list some ideas?

2. What factors affect drought? Wealth Population Temperature Rainfall Run-off rates Land use … these are found on p96 PTT

3. How does drought affect MEDC’s? Fall in river levels Reduced water supply Hosepipe bans Damage housing foundations Fire risk Crop failure Reduced water for industries (needed for cooling in processing)

4. Can drought be controlled? Reduce the causes of drought Cope with drought Improve prediction, e.g. satellite warning. Provide food aid sooner, especially to small scale farmers. Build large reservoirs and deeper wells. Live with drought Improve farming methods, e.g. AGRHYMET Stop desertification.

5. English drought http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?tab=av&q=uk%20drought&recipe=all&scope=all&edition=

6. Drought in the Sahel- LEDC case study The Sahel is the narrow belt of semi-arid land on the edge of the Sahara desert in Africa. Sahel literally means ‘edge of the desert’. It is famous for the severe droughts it suffers.

7. The causes of the drought are quite unique In rain years, the Sahel receives just enough to prevent the droughts from causing a disaster… Position of the ITCZ on 21 June Strong south-westerly rain-bearing winds

8. The causes of the drought are quite unique But in drought years, the ITCZ doesn’t move as north as it should, due to global climatic patterns and this prevents the south-westerly winds bringing the usual rain. Position of the ITCZ on 21 June Weak south-westerly rain-bearing winds

9. Human causes of drought in the Sahel Desertification- is the spread of desert-like conditions in arid or semi arid areas dues to human influence or climate change. It is very hard to get the land back to its original condition. http://www.green.tv/unep_global_desertification_outlook Overcultivation- when arable agriculture has taken the nutrients out of the soil and it is over-used. The soil then becomes useless, and dry and is easily eroded by wind or water Overgrazing- when there are too many cattle for the land to support them. They eat all of the vegetation that protect the soil and so erosion occurs. Annotate your spiral diagrams on p25 to show these causes.

10. What are the effects of drought in the sahel?? List as many as possible

11. Living with drought in the Sahel and preventing desertification Build dams to improve water storage for dry periods. Introduce new drought-resistant crops as in Nigeria Build earth traps to prevent soil from being washed away Start afforestation schemes (will increase interception and reduce overland flow, and prevent erosion The best solutions are small scale, low cost of appropriate technology.

12. How can we reduce the effects of drought in MEDC’s and LEDC’s? 1) Reduce the costs of drought. 2) Cope with drought. 3) Live with drought.