Running head: DROUGHT AFFECTING THE POOR

Annotated Bibliography: Drought Affecting the Poor

Brandon Vazquez-Gracida
The University of Texas at El Paso

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Introduction:
In recent years, an increasing problem has been the frequent presence of droughts in
many countries around the world. This issue is capable of devastating a huge percentage of the
fertile land in a country, and is also able to cause a great impact in the economy. This problem
affects most of the social class of a country, but it affects people living in poverty the most. The
occurrence of a drought is inevitable, but by taking several precautions people can help diminish
its impact.
Many people are unaware of the huge catastrophe that a drought brings. Many believe
that because they live in a high social class, that this issue does not concern them, but that is
completely wrong. Many laws are being approved in order to help save water in places were the
probability of suffering from a drought is great. In order for these laws to be able to cause a
positive impact, it is crucial that people understand that this problem is to really be taken in
consideration. People need to be humanitarian and donate water to people that are living in
poverty, because they are the ones who suffer the most in this circumstance.

Research analyzes the following four questions:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Why are droughts occurring more often in the world?

Who suffer from this issue the most?
What laws are being approved that help lessen the impact of a drought?
What certain actions must people adhere to in order to be able to save a great

amount of water?
5. How can people help the less fortunate survive the impact of a drought?

Reference A:

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Brewer, S., Alleaume, S., Guiot, J., & Nicault, A. (June 22, 2007). European Geosciences Union
(EGU). Historical Droughts in Mediterranean Regions during the Last 500 Years: A
Data/model Approach, 355-366. Retrieved from https://hal-sde.archivesouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/330757/filename/cp-3-355-2007.pdf
Summary: This reference written by Brewer, Alleaume, Guiot, and Nicault, gives information
regarding many droughts that have occurred in the past. The four authors gather important data
and statistics regarding the presence of droughts in Mediterranean regions. They also discuss the
important part that global warming takes in the increment of drought occurrences.
Citation: 26+
Evaluation: This reference addresses, for the most part, the first research question stated in the
beginning, regarding information as to why droughts are occurring more often. This reference
also gives statistical data in order to provide more evidence.
Direct Quote 1: The authors of the reference calculate the severity of a drought by using the
index of drought, they say The index is calculated relative to the climatology of the location and
the value of the index and the severity of the drought or wet spell is relative to the typical climate
variation of the location (p. 356)
Paraphrase Direct Quote 1: The index of drought depends on the climate of a specific region,
and by calculating this it is possible to know the severity of the drought (p. 356).
Direct Quote 2: The authors also explain the reason as to why the Mediterranean region gets
affected the most by a drought, they say A dry period will therefore be considered as more
severe in an area where the typical variation in climate is small (p. 356).
Paraphrase Direct Quote 2: Regions like the Mediterranean were the variation of climate is
small, suffer more severe droughts due to its dry period (p. 356).

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Block Quote 1: The authors of the reference claim to have found a new method of being able to
calculate the severity of a drought by using simulations from droughts that have occurred
previously.
Climate models built to predict future climate change under changing environmental
conditions, such as atmospheric composition, must be tested against available climatic
series. Available instrumental datasets only cover a few decades and the climatic
variability of these records are often inferior to simulated future changes. (p. 355)
Block Quote 2: The authors found out that they were able to compare the severity of a drought
in both dry and wet regions.
The value of the index obtained and the severity of the drought are therefore comparable
between locations that may have quite different amounts and seasonal distribution of
precipitation. The index ranges between negative values for dry conditions and positive
values for wet conditions. (p. 356-357)
Definition Word: Palmer Drought Index: a commonly used indicator of drought conditions
based on the climate of a certain area.

Reference B:
Paton, S. (October 2014). Drought and Poverty in Central Western Queensland. Regional
Development: Australia. Retrieved from http://rdafcw.com.au/wpcontent/uploads/Drought-and-Poverty-in-CW-Qld.pdf
Summary: This publication by Sandy Paton talks about the social impacts that a drought brings
to a country. It also talks about the vulnerability that people with poverty have when a drought
occurs, and also how the wildlife suffer from this problem as well. The author explains that small

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businesses suffer from this impact the most, and that because of this the owners go bankrupt and
sometimes even end up living in poverty.
Citation: 0
Evaluation: This publication addresses the second research question and is able to explain in
detail who are the ones that are affected the most by a drought. This publication contains data
that explains the correlation between climatic change and droughts.
Direct Quote 1: Sandy Paton talks about the vulnerability that primary producers have to
poverty due to the occurrence of a drought, she says The impact caused by drought is a complex
wicked problem with more than one contributing cause. The position of primary producers
experiencing drought differs from other businesses experiencing liquidity and viability issues.
(p. 4)
Paraphrase Direct Quote 1: A drought is able to affect everyone in a given area. Businesses
suffer from this issue because they are unable to produce as much as they were before.
Direct Quote 2: The author explains the negative social impacts that are produce by a drought
by saying, Families and communities that are living in these localities suffering wide spread
drought, are living with devastating change; experiencing loss of livelihood, and facing
challenges of loss of lifestyle and identity. (p. 8)
Paraphrase Direct Quote 2: People living in areas where a drought has impacted tend to
experience several problems in their daily life.
Block Quote 1: The author of the publication talks about how the economy of a certain country
suffers due to a drought.
Small business plays a major role in the economic health and social cohesion of all rural
and regional communities. There is strong empirical evidence that the drought is also

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impacting on small business in the RDAFCW region. Small business in some areas,
particularly the Central Highlands is also being severely affected by the well documented
downturn in the resource sector and subsequent loss of jobs. (p. 8)
Block Quote 2: Sandy Paton says that the government of Australia is planning to help farmers
by loaning them money in order to diminish their losses due to a drought.
Drought Concessional Loans are available to assist farm businesses recover from and
prepare for future droughts and return to viability in the longer term. Under the scheme,
the Australian Government will provide Queensland with $100 million for the provision
of Drought Concessional Loans in 2013-14 and 2014-15. (p. 9)
Definition Word: RDAFCW: Regional Development Australia Fitzroy and Central West area.

Reference C:
Peters, E., PhD. (January 13, 2012). Drought monitoring for rooftop rainwater-harvesting
systems. Institution of Civil Engineers, 165(WM6), 301. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/openview/0ccfa80cf8ec5bb665e213117b7e9b46/1?pqorigsite=gscholar
Summary: The Caribbean Islands have been receiving very low amounts of rainfall in the year.
For this reason, local authorities have decided that the best method to avoid any water shortage,
is to use the method of rainwater-harvesting. This method is done by trying to save good
amounts of rainfall in order to avoid using the water from rivers and lakes. This method could
lessen the impact of a drought in a region.
Citation: 0

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Evaluation: This publication written by Dr. Peters addresses the fourth research question that
deals with the methods people can follow in order to save water. The author provides important
data and statistics that validates the effectivity of rainwater-harvesting.
Direct Quote 1: Dr. Peters explains in the publication that in order for small islands like the
Caribbean to survive a drought it is important that they prepare well, he says Good preparation
for drought is critical to the life of many small island developing states that often experience
intense and/or extended dry seasons. (p. 301)
Paraphrase Direct Quote 1: Small islands like the Caribbean are prone to severe dry seasons.
For this reason, people must prepare and save water.
Direct Quote 2: The author also explains that droughts are unpredictable, he says The precise
timing of droughts is difficult to predict, making it difficult to prepare for them and to manage
properly. (p. 301)
Paraphrase Direct Quote 2: Droughts can be unpredictable, and for that reason it is difficult for
people to know when to prepare for them.
Block Quote 1: Dr. Peters explains that for the past year rainwater-harvesting has increased in
popularity due to its effectivity at diminishing the impact of a drought.
After a period of relatively little attention, rainwater harvesting has regained center stage
as a philosophy as well a technology for water management and supply, and may be
considered as a viable long-term strategy to tackle increasing pressure on freshwater
resources in many parts of the world. (p. 301)
Block Quote 2: The author says that small islands that have centralized watering system have to
impose water restrictions due to extreme water shortages.

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In islands with centralized water systems (i.e. with central storage tanks and water
distribution networks), restrictions on the use of water were enforced because of the
drought for the first time in decades: daily water disruptions became common in Jamaica
(DREF, 2010) and water restrictions were imposed in Trinidad and Tobago. (p. 301)
Definition Word: Rainwater-harvesting: This method is used in order to recollect good amounts
of rainwater, and this method is common in areas where water shortage is common.

Reference D:
Mann, M., & Gleick, P. (March 31, 2015). Climate change and California drought in the 21st
century. PNAS,112(13). Retrieved from http://0www.pnas.org.lib.utep.edu/content/112/13/3858.full.pdf
Summary: The state of California has been suffering from an extreme agro-climatic shock due
to water shortage. This agro-climatic shock has caused an extreme impact on fertile land, and for
that reason there is also a shortage of vegetable and fruit production. This issue is not due to the
lack of rainwater, but it is due to the increasing demand of water by humans.
Citation: 0
Evaluation: This article by Mann and Gleick, is in opposition with my hypothesis that droughts
occur, in part, due to the lack of precipitation. The authors gathered data and statistics in order to
show that the main contributor to this issue, is the increase of the demand of water by humans.
Direct Quote 1: The authors explain in the article that the government has raised concern over
the imposing threat that California is receiving due to droughts. They say, The growing threat of
climate change to California is one of the drivers for extensive efforts under the Brown (and
prior Schwarzenegger) administration to understand the risks to the state. (p. 1)

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Paraphrase Direct Quote 1: Authorities of California are trying to gain better understanding of
droughts in order to understand the risks that this issue imposes to the state.
Direct Quote 2: The authors explain in further detail that most of the cause of a drought is due to
the increasing demand of water, they say Drought, most simply defined, is the mismatch
between the amounts of water nature provides and the amounts of water that humans and the
environment demand. (p. 2)
Paraphrase Direct Quote 2: Droughts are caused, for the most part, by the increasing demand
of water by humans and the environment.
Block Quote 1: The authors explain that scientists have gathered important data with regards to
the increasing occurrence of droughts and its causes.
Climate science has advanced over decades from an initial focus on the development and
use of numerical models of Earths climate and compilation of rich networks of
observational data, to now being in a position to detect and attribute specific impacts
and events to anthropogenic climate change. (p. 1)
Block Quote 2: The authors conclude the article by saying that if we all cooperate and decrease
global warming, we then have a chance of diminishing drought occurrences in the country.
The good news, however, is that this is only one possible future. If society works to limit
global warming to under 2 C, which is still possible (1), then we can likely avoid
committing to a brown California. California still has a chance to remain the Golden
State. (p. 2)
Definition Word: Anthropogenic Climate Change: it is the climate change due to the increase in
greenhouse gasses produced by human activity.

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Reference E:
Hoerling, M., Eischeid, J., Kumar, A., Leung, R., Mariotti, A., Mo, K., Seager, R. (June 13,
2013). Causes and Predictability of the 2012 Great Plains Drought. American
Meteorological Society, 1-47. Retrieved from
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20140012058.pdf
Summary: In 2012 the Great Plains suffered from one of the worst droughts recorded. The
drought came by surprise and because of that nobody prepared for it. It was discovered that the
drought occurred due to the increase in temperature. It is predicted that more droughts will
happen due to global warming.
Citation: 0
Evaluation: This article done by the American Meteorological Society addresses the first
research question because it gives data and offers results from climate simulations, in which it is
revealed the reasons as to why there is an increase in drought occurrences.
Direct Quote 1: The authors describe that the reason as to why droughts are occurring more
often is because of the increase in temperature, they say As is common with 223 droughts,
atmospheric moisture in both absolute and relative measures is typically 224 deficient, and 2012
was no exception. (p. 9)
Paraphrase Direct Quote 1: The drought of 2012 occurred due to a change in atmospheric
moisture. This motive has cause many droughts throughout the years.
Direct Quote 2: The authors state a hypothesis that the drought of 2012 was caused because of
global warming, they say An additional question these results pose is whether the simulated
change in extreme drought risk is a symptom of climate change forcing related to global
warming. (p. 17)

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Paraphrase Direct Quote 2: It could be possible that the drought of 2012 was caused due to the
increase in greenhouse gases. This could result in less water vapor in the atmosphere.
Block Quote 1: The authors say that drought occurrence was reported in several parts of the
United States.
The U.S. Drought Monitor estimated that over three-quarters of the contiguous U.S.
experienced at least abnormally dry conditions by summers end with nearly half of the
region, especially the Great Plains, experiencing severe-unprecedented drought. (p. 4)
Block Quote 2: It is said in the publication that a good method to determine the intensity of a
drought, is by analyzing the amount of moisture in the soil.
Severe agricultural drought occurred throughout the region as affirmed by estimated soil
moisture anomalies that were in the lower decile of the historical distribution. And, as
expected from the deficient rainfall and depleted soil moisture, estimated surface runoff
was also in the lower decile, especially in the western Missouri and lower Ohio River
drainage basins. (p. 5)
Definition Word: Frontal Cyclones: this phenomenon is responsible for the transportation of
weather throughout the planet Earth.

Reference F:
Nuez, C. (May 4, 2015). The California drought is affecting some a lot more than others. Global
Citizen. Retrieved from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/the-california-droughtis-affecting-some-a-lot-mor/.
Summary: People who live in poverty are exposed to many horrible circumstances. Currently
many people living in poverty are being greatly affected by the drought that is occurring in

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California. Many are dying because of this issue, and the government needs to take every action
in order to help people get through these tough times.
Citation: 0
Evaluation: This article by Christina Nuez addresses the third and fifth question with regards
to how droughts impact people living in poverty the most, and the ways people can help those in
poverty survive this problem.
Direct Quote 1: The author offers a statement saying that in most situations, people who live in
poverty suffer the most, she says Heres a fact any person who has lived in poverty can tell
you: the poor pay more. (2015)
Paraphrase Direct Quote 1: In most bad circumstances, the people who have the less often
suffer the most.
Direct Quote 2: The author offers an example in order to illustrate the laws that are being taken
in order to save great amounts of water, she says For example, residents were asked to
reduce their use of water for landscape irrigation or pay a fine. (2015)
Paraphrase Direct Quote 2: In order to make sure that people save water,
authorities are making people pay fines if they waste unnecessary water.
Block Quote 1: Christina Nuez says that in many cases people are
deciding not to water their yards and not to wash their cars due to the fines
they could be paying for wasting water.
Driving around town, I could easily spot the homes that were in
compliance with the new restrictions. I could spot them, because they
stuck out in comparison to the others. Unlike the green, freshly mowed
lawns of their neighbors, these lawns had turned brown and patchy.

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Clearly, when faced with choice of ugly lawn vs. penalty fee, many
residents opted for the penalty fee. (2015)
Block Quote 2: The author of the article interviewed people living in

California and she found out the actions these people had to take in order to
save water.
Faced with expensive water bills, Alysia Thomas asks her children to
skip baths on days when they dont play outside. Lillian Barrera is
equally thrifty, serving dinner to her family on paper plates to limit her
familys water usage. (2015)
Definition Word: Reservoir: a natural or man-made lake that is used to
supply water for human use.

Reference:

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Brewer, S., Alleaume, S., Guiot, J., & Nicault, A. (June 22, 2007). European Geosciences Union
(EGU). Historical Droughts in Mediterranean Regions during the Last 500 Years: A
Data/model Approach, 355-366. Retrieved from https://hal-sde.archivesouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/330757/filename/cp-3-355-2007.pdf.

Paton, S. (October 2014). Drought and Poverty in Central Western Queensland. Regional
Development: Australia. Retrieved from http://rdafcw.com.au/wpcontent/uploads/Drought-and-Poverty-in-CW-Qld.pdf

Peters, E., PhD. (January 13, 2012). Drought monitoring for rooftop rainwater-harvesting
systems. Institution of Civil Engineers, 165(WM6), 301. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/openview/0ccfa80cf8ec5bb665e213117b7e9b46/1?pqorigsite=gscholar

Mann, M., & Gleick, P. (March 31, 2015). Climate change and California drought in the 21st
century. PNAS,112(13). Retrieved from http://0www.pnas.org.lib.utep.edu/content/112/13/3858.full.pdf

Hoerling, M., Eischeid, J., Kumar, A., Leung, R., Mariotti, A., Mo, K., Seager, R. (June 13,
2013). Causes and Predictability of the 2012 Great Plains Drought. American
Meteorological Society, 1-47. Retrieved from
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20140012058.pdf

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15

Nuez, C. (May 4, 2015). The California drought is affecting some a lot more than others. Global
Citizen. Retrieved from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/the-california-droughtis-affecting-some-a-lot-mor/.

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