How does drought affect the atmosphere

Drought Center creates tool that could help detect emerging impacts by tracking news. Drought Monitor now searchable by tribal area. Drought Dominoes? Types of Drought Impacts. Let's take a closer look at all kinds of drought impacts. Economic Impacts Economic impacts are those impacts of drought that cost people or businesses money.

Here are just a few different examples of economic impacts: Farmers may lose money if a drought destroys their crops. If a farmer's water supply is too low, the farmer may have to spend more money on irrigation or to drill new wells. Ranchers may have to spend more money on feed and water for their animals. Businesses that depend on farming, like companies that make tractors and food, may lose business when drought damages crops or livestock. People who work in the timber industry may be affected when wildfires destroy stands of timber.

Businesses that sell boats and fishing equipment may not be able to sell some of their goods because drought has dried up lakes and other water sources.

Power companies that normally rely on hydroelectric power electricity that's created from the energy of running water may have to spend more money on other fuel sources if drought dries up too much of the water supply. The power companies' customers would also have to pay more.

Water companies may have to spend money on new or additional water supplies. Barges and ships may have difficulty navigating streams, rivers, and canals because of low water levels, which would also affect businesses that depend on water transportation for receiving or sending goods and materials. People might have to pay more for food. Environmental Impacts Drought also affects the environment in many different ways.

A faster rise in drier years Using these new satellite observations of water storage, Vincent Humphrey and his colleagues were able to measure the overall impact of droughts on photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration. Crucial for monitoring emissions During the last century, the concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere has been steadily increasing because of human activities. Sensitivity of atmospheric CO2 growth rate to observed changes in terrestrial water storage. Nature , ; : DOI: ScienceDaily, 29 August ETH Zurich.

Drought increases CO2 concentration in the air. Retrieved November 14, from www. But new research This process, known as groundwater depletion, ScienceDaily shares links with sites in the TrendMD network and earns revenue from third-party advertisers, where indicated. Print Email Share. Boy or Girl? Living Well. When there is an anomaly in surface temperatures—particularly over the sea—air circulation patterns are altered, changing how and where precipitation falls around the world.

The new weather patterns can throw water supply and demand out of sync, as is the case when earlier-than-usual snowmelt reduces the amount of water available for crops in the summer. Soil moisture can impact cloud formation, and hence precipitation. When water from wet soil evaporates, it contributes to the formation of rain clouds, which return the water back to the earth. When land is drier than usual, moisture still evaporates into the atmosphere, but not at a volume adequate to form rain clouds.

The land effectively bakes, removing additional moisture and further exacerbating dry conditions. While drought occurs naturally, human activity—from water use to greenhouse gas emissions—is having a growing impact on their likelihood and intensity. Climate change—and global warming , specifically—impacts drought in two basic ways : Rising temperatures generally make wet regions wetter and dry regions drier.

For wetter regions, warm air absorbs more water, leading to larger rain events. But in more arid regions, warmer temperatures mean water evaporates more quickly. In addition, climate change alters large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns, which can shift storm tracks off their typical paths. This, in turn, can magnify weather extremes, which is one reason why climate models predict the already parched U. Southwest and the Mediterranean will continue to get drier.

Drought often reflects an imbalance in water supply and demand. Regional population booms and intensive agricultural water use can put a strain on water resources, even tipping the scale enough to make the threat of drought a reality. One study estimates that from to , the human consumption of water increased the frequency of drought in North America by 25 percent.

Meanwhile, demand for water supplied by upstream lakes and rivers, particularly in the form of irrigation and hydroelectric dams, can lead to the diminishing or drying out of downstream water sources, which may contribute to drought in other regions.

When trees and plants release moisture into the atmosphere, clouds form and return the moisture to the ground as rain. When forests and vegetation disappear, less water is available to feed the water cycle, making entire regions more vulnerable to drought.

As a result, soil dries out faster which can induce agricultural drought , and less groundwater is replenished which can contribute to hydrological drought. Indeed, experts believe the s Dust Bowl was caused in large part by poor agricultural practices combined with the cooling of the Pacific and the warming of the Atlantic by as little as a few tenths of a degree.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC did not see a global trend toward increasing dryness or drought across the world in , when it released its most recent assessment. But global temperatures have unequivocally become hotter, and hotter conditions precipitate extreme weather —including severe drought. Hotter conditions also reduce snowpack, which provides a key source of water supply and natural water storage in many regions. Regionally, the driest parts of the earth are getting drier, while the wettest parts are getting wetter.

Looking forward, as temperatures continue to rise, the IPCC and other researchers anticipate an intensification of those regional trends. But by limiting our climate change contributions, reducing water waste, and using water more efficiently, we can prepare for —and maybe even curb—future dry spells. The impact of climate change, including more severe drought, can be mitigated only when countries, cities, businesses, and individuals shift away from the use of climate-warming fossil fuels to cleaner renewable energy sources.

It will succeed only if countries go beyond their commitments, and that includes the United States. Fortunately, American states and cities , as well as more than 2, U. Actions include speaking to local and congressional leaders about regional environmental policies and finding ways to cut carbon pollution from your daily life. Aging infrastructure—faulty meters, crumbling pipes, leaky water mains—costs the United States an estimated 2.

Meanwhile, a single leaky faucet—releasing just three drips a minute—wastes more than gallons of water in a year.