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Drought

Drought occurs when sufficient water needed to sustain an area is not available, causing economic
impacts on agriculture, society, and ecosystems. It is most often caused by lack of rainfall over a
long time period but can also be affected by unusually high temperatures and dry spells, particularly
during summer months.

Why do I care? Reduced amounts of precipitation for an extended period of time can lead to the
loss of plant life and crops. Without needed rainfall, crops and animals can suffer serious declines,
and food and water shortages can occur.

I should already be familiar with: Convergence and Divergence

Drought is a shortage of water supply across a region for an extended period of time. Most regions
experience drought-like conditions periodically, and some areas can remain in those drought phases
for several years. When an area experiences drought for an extended period of time, it
has enormous impacts on life in these areas. This shortage of rainfall also has impacts on the soil
hydration and animals living within these drought regions. Figure A shows the most current picture
of drought in the United States.

Figure A: Current Drought Conditions

Drought is defined as an extended period of time where rainfall is deficient. The amount of time
could be several weeks to several years. This is a general definition of drought, but there are
several types of drought:

1) Meteorological drought is a long-term measurement of lower than normal precipitation. However,

researchers cannot agree upon a numerical threshold that would define a drought (inches of rain or
duration without rain) because it depends on the time of year, the natural climate (even deserts can
have droughts, but they might look quite different than a drought in the Southeast), and the plant
development stage at the time of occurrence.
2) Hydrological drought is a lack of water in subsurface and surface terms. This includes the water
supply that is held in streams, lakes, groundwater and other types of reservoirs. Hydrologic
droughts tend to develop over an extended time period.

3) Agricultural drought is when there is not enough water to sustain crops. Rainfall deficits during
the critical growth periods of a crop (different from crop to crop) can result in large yield losses, or
even complete crop loss. Agricultural droughts can develop quickly during a dry spell if no rain at all
is observed or when a heat wave puts unusual stress on plants at critical growing stages.

Shortage of water supply is not the only cause of drought conditions, though usually drought
conditions begin with below average levels of precipitation. Any measures taken that reduce the
ability of the land to hold water may result in drought impacts. Overfarming techniques do this as
well as deforestation. Overfarming takes all the nutrients out of the soil that the plants/crops need to
survive and essentially kills or desertifies the land. In rainforests, the reduced precipitation triggers
the drought because the plants and animals in the rainforest depend on the overabundance of
rainfall throughout the year. Deforestation within a rainforest adds to the decrease in the amount of
precipitation. This decrease in the average amount of rainfall will reduce plant growth and kill the
trees. With fewer trees covering the rainforest ground, there is less water vapor to saturate the
surrounding air above the trees to form clouds and produce precipitation. Over an extended period
of time, the rainforest could dry out and absorb less carbon dioxide because of the reduced plant
growth. Essentially this will add enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Lessened precipitation over an area can occur for many different reasons. One cause in particular is
a persistent high pressure area or ridge over a region. Sinking air flows within the area of high
pressure, which leads to clear, fair skies during the day. This causes relatively warm temperatures
across the regions affected by this upper-level ridge. If this high pressure area stalls over an
encompassing region for an extended period of time, warm surface temperatures could lead to
maximum evaporation of water from the ground and nearby lakes. This evaporation can quickly dry
out surface soils and reduce streamflows and reservoir levels in conjunction with the lack of
precipitation input, increasing the strength of the drought both by lack of rainfall and by increased
removal of moisture by evaporation.

Another possible cause for drought conditions is the wind pattern blowing inland from the ocean. The
wind from the ocean brings warm, humid temperatures to the eastern coastal areas during the
summer months. If these winds shift direction or weaken during the summer, less water vapor is
brought inland from the ocean or Gulf of Mexico and lessened amounts of rainfall will fall over the
coastal regions. This below-average precipitation could also lead to a drought across the Southeast
US. Lack of tropical storm activity is also a factor in developing drought in the Southeast. If the
tropical storms that develop in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico follow a track towards Texas instead of
towards the Southeast, Texas gets flooded while the Southeast swelters in heat and dry conditions.
On the other hand, if a slow-moving tropical storm moves over dry land in the Southeast, a drought
can be reduced very quickly as the soils are moistened by the abundant rainfall.

Figure B shows the drought conditions as of June 2, 2009 and one of the drought conditions from
the prior year (June 10, 2008). Comparing the graphs, it is very noticeable that the drought
conditions have indeed improved over the course of a year. Compared to the 2008 drought
conditions, there is minimal drought throughout the Southeast US during this week in June 2009.
The drought conditions have drastically changed within a year and most of the Southeast US has
been relieved of the previous drought conditions; however, drought conditions can and will return
again in the future.
 Figure B
NOAA US Drought Monitor

How does this relate to agriculture?

 Figure C: Severe Drought Stress in Corn
www.ent.iastate.edu/images/plantpath/corn/spidermite/corn_drought_stress.jpg

This example primarily focuses upon agricultural drought. Drought stress affects the individual plant,
as well as the whole crop canopy. Drought stress on a plant can have irreversible damage upon a
plant, even before symptoms can be seen (i.e. wilt). Although drought tolerance varies among crop
plants, most need adequate water throughout their lifecycle (from germination to harvest) in order to
be high yielding. There are many plant breeding programs now that are looking to develop crop
plants that do not require as much water. Other breeding programs are looking at developing plants
that are salt tolerant in order to use reclaimed water (such as on golf courses).

Drought signs in a plant include decreased leaf area, leaf drop, root growth, stomatal close,
yellowing leaves, wilt, and finally complete death. It is interesting to note that plants undergo
damage from water stress, even before the wilt signs are seen.
 Figure D: Drought Stress in Tobacco
http://news.clas.virginia.edu/biology/images/tobacco_drought_stress.jpg

When a water deficit occurs, the plants first response is to limit leaf expansion (less water is lost
through transpiration). The size of each leaf might decrease, but also the number of leaves on each
plant is decreased. As the stress continues, the plant will respond by dropping its leaves. In some
arid places, a plant might go through this cycle three or four times in a season. Below the soil, the
plant is also growing longer and more dissected roots in order to seek out pockets of water, or
deeper sources of water. Continued water stress
also forces the plant to close stomata on the leaves
to decrease respiration, which in turn decreases the
amount of photosynthesis that occurs in the plant
(yellow leaves will appear). As the plant continues
to be stressed, leaves may wilt and droop (in
broadleaves) or curl inward (in grasses such as
corn). This action minimizes the amount of leaf
surfaces in contact with air and the sun. If the plant
continues to be water-stressed, it will finally turn
brown and simply die.

Some plants have more ability to develop drought

tolerance than others. Plants also have the ability to
take advantage of erratic water cycles if they
are indeterminatein their fruiting pattern (i.e.
peanuts and cotton). This means that they can
grow vegetatively, as well as reproductively at the
same time. Determinate crops such as corn have
a very small window of opportunity to set corn ears,
and if water is limited at that time, corn yield is
severely reduced.

Figure E: Indeterminate Peanut Plant

Kokalis-Burelle, N. et al. (eds) 1997 Compendium of
Peanut Diseases. St. Paul, Minnesota: APS Pres
Some plants, like cacti are much better adapted to dry weather (arid conditions). These plants are
usually very efficient at using water, but may also have thick fleshy leaves that store water. This
stored water allows the plant to survive in times of dry weather. In fact, many who live in the
Southwest areas of the US practicexeriscaping which uses drought tolerant plants as well as
construction practices that capture any available rainfall.

North Carolina, along with many other Southern states, experienced one of the worst droughts in
history during 2007 and 2008. Many farmers had lower than average yields, and people saw the
landscaping industry change in response to the lack of water. It was not uncommon for farmers to
completely deplete their water reservoirs that are used for irrigation. Many landscaping companies
resorted to using reclaimed water to irrigate residential and commercial landscapes. Many
homeowners were mandated to adhere to a restricted watering schedule, with severe fines from the
city if not followed. Some even resorted to drilling their own wells if they resided in the city to use for
irrigation water. A common sight in the landscape is now the rain barrel. These are used to capture
rainwater from roofs and gutters, and then used when needed to water the landscape or garden.

Want to learn more? Heat Waves, Drought and Wildfires, Southeast Temperature, Effects of
Climate Change on the Southeast

Last modified date: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - 8:49am