LIBRARY
Natural Disasters: Drought
Natural disasters; Earthquakes; Tsunamis; Hurricanes; Tornadoes; Floods
Catastrophic Drought
- Africa Faces its Worst Drought in 60 YearsPRI Live Stream
SOMALIA Thousands of refugees from Somali's drought-hit south are fleeing their country for refugee camps in Kenya, in hopes of finding food and medical care. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/30/somalia-refugees-mogadishu-food-aid]
Refugees wait to register with aid workers in Dolo Ado, Somalia. (Image by Flickr user DFID - UK Department for International Development (cc))
- UN Refugee Agency: "We're in a crisis right now": World's biggest refugee camp sees alarming spike in child deathsDADAAB, Kenya. News Stories, 11 July 2011
- World Food Programme"World Must Act Now To Avert Catastrophe In Horn Of Africa." WFP is the food aid arm of the United Nations system. Food aid is one of the many instruments that can help to promote food security, which is defined as access of all people at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life.
Websites on Drought in the US
- California Dept of Water ResourcesPlanning for, responding to, and recovering from drought
- The National Drought Mitigation CenterDefining; Forecasting; Climatology; History--Dust Bowl
- National Climatic Data Center.State of the Climate: Drought 2011.
Based on the Palmer Drought Index, severe to extreme drought affected about 26 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of July 2011, about the same as last month. About 33 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the severely to extremely wet categories. - National Science FoundationAncient Catastrophic Drought Leads to Question: How Severe Can Climate Change Become?
Worse than anything we've seen in written history, according to results of a study appearing this week in the journal Science. - NIDIS: US Drought PortalNational Integrated Drought Information System
- Texas Drought 2011: State Endures Driest 7-Month Span On RecordAssociated Press
Texas and parts of several surrounding states are suffering through a drought nearly as punishing as some of the world's driest deserts. - US Drought MonitorMaps.
Desertification
- Green Facts: Facts on Health and the EnvironmentScientific Facts on Desertification
Desertification occurs on all continents (except Antarctica). It affects the livelihoods of millions of people, some of the poorest and most vulnerable populations on the planet.
There is a close relationship between livelihood and ecosystem wellbeing, and soils that are rich in biodiversity. Healthy soils produce life, and yet soil health depends a lot on how individuals use their land. What we do to our soils determines the quality and quantity of the food we eat and how our ecosystems serve us. Our increasing ecological interdependence also means enhancing soils anywhere enhances life everywhere. [UNCCD]