a period of dry weather longer or more severe than normal. It is judged against what is normal for the place.

Why do wildfires increase in a drought?

vegetation is dry and burns easily. Dry plants are fuel.

What is rainwater harvesting?

collecting and storing rain. The stored water is used in dry periods.

How can drought lead to desertification?

plants die, and the bare, dry soil is eroded. Fertile land turns to desert.

Which is a short-term response to a drought?

bringing emergency water supplies by tanker. It keeps people alive now.

Why is pumping more water from an aquifer a limited answer to drought?

an aquifer pumped faster than it refills will run dry. In a drought there is little rain to refill it.

Drought · Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management revision

In plain words

A flood arrives in hours. A drought arrives so slowly that nobody can say on which day it began. It knocks nothing down, and yet it is the hazard that turns most easily into famine.

11 things to know

A drought is a period of dry weather that is longer or more severe than normal.
Causes: a lack of rain, and climate change, which raises global temperatures and brings more extreme weather events.
Water sources dry up: rivers, lakes, reservoirs and wells.
Crops, livestock and habitats are lost, and organisms die. With no food, there is famine.
Dry, bare soil is blown away, which is soil erosion. Fertile land can turn to desert, which is desertification.
Dry vegetation burns easily, so the risk of wildfires rises. Dust and smoke lower the quality of the air.
There are financial losses for farmers and for the country, and human health suffers through hunger, thirst and disease from unsafe water.
Before: monitoring and warning, using records of rainfall and satellite images of vegetation. Water conservation means using less and wasting less.
Increasing the water supply: dams and reservoirs, the use of aquifers and wells, desalination, and rainwater harvesting.
During: emergency water supplies are brought in by tanker, and international aid brings food, water and money.
Limitations. Dams and desalination plants are expensive. Aquifers pumped faster than they refill run dry. Aid is short term and does nothing about the cause.

Worked example

A farming region has had no rain for two years. Describe one short-term and two long-term strategies.

Short term: bring emergency water supplies by tanker, with food aid, to keep people and animals alive.
Long term: build tanks for rainwater harvesting, so that rain is stored when it does fall.
Long term: conserve water with drip irrigation, and grow crops that need less water.

Tips and tricks

A drought is defined against what is normal for that place. A desert is dry all the time, and that is not a drought.
Emergency supplies and aid deal with this drought. Reservoirs, wells and conservation prepare for the next one. Say which is which.

6 questions, about 2 minutes.

It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.

Drought: 6 questions and answers

These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.

What is a drought?
- any place with a dry climate
- a period of dry weather longer or more severe than normal (the answer)
- a season without wind
- a shortage of food
It is judged against what is normal for the place.
Why do wildfires increase in a drought?
- there is more lightning
- winds are weaker
- vegetation is dry and burns easily (the answer)
- the soil is frozen
Dry plants are fuel.
What is rainwater harvesting?
- taking salt out of sea water
- pumping water from an aquifer
- building a dam across a river
- collecting and storing rain (the answer)
The stored water is used in dry periods.
How can drought lead to desertification?
- plants die, and the bare, dry soil is eroded (the answer)
- more rain falls on the desert
- rivers flood the land
- the soil becomes waterlogged
Fertile land turns to desert.
Which is a short-term response to a drought?
- building a reservoir
- bringing emergency water supplies by tanker (the answer)
- drilling a deep well
- building a desalination plant
It keeps people alive now.
Why is pumping more water from an aquifer a limited answer to drought?Stretch
- aquifer water is always salty
- wells cannot be dug in dry areas
- an aquifer pumped faster than it refills will run dry (the answer)
- pumping causes rain to stop
In a drought there is little rain to refill it.

6 questions

Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.

Worksheet

3 questions, 9 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.

Drought

Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management 0680 · 9 marks · papermunch.org

Name ______________________________ Date ______________

Define the term drought.[2]
Show answerHide answer
A period of dry weather that is longer or more severe than normal.
I got this one
Describe four impacts of drought.[4]
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Any four: water sources dry up; crops and livestock are lost; habitats are lost and organisms die; soil is eroded; desertification; famine; wildfires; lower air quality; financial losses; harm to human health.
I got this one
State three ways of increasing the supply of water in a region at risk of drought.[3]
Show answerHide answer
Any three: dams and reservoirs; aquifers and wells; desalination; rainwater harvesting.
I got this one

Answers: Drought

1. A period of dry weather that is longer or more severe than normal.
2. Any four: water sources dry up; crops and livestock are lost; habitats are lost and organisms die; soil is eroded; desertification; famine; wildfires; lower air quality; financial losses; harm to human health.
3. Any three: dams and reservoirs; aquifers and wells; desalination; rainwater harvesting.