Abstract
Droughts exercise a profound effect on the social and economic fabric of nations. Many nations of the world experienced droughts encompassing the full spectrum of severity, areal extent and duration. The result has been that the economic development was hampered and many countries have not yet recouped fully from the ravages of droughts. The first decade of the 21st century has also witnessed varying degrees of droughts across the globe. Therefore, we ask the following questions: (a) Do droughts affect every part of the world? (b) Are there similarities in major droughts around the world? (c) Are climate change and global warming impacting drought occurrences? (d) How much impact do droughts have on water resources? (e) What can be said about food security, energy security and water security? (f) What do different Global Climate Models (GCMs) and the IPCC report say about future drought scenarios? (g) How can our understanding of past drought episodes help with planning and managing future water resources?
Keywords
population, water use, water availability, conflicts, climate change, drought impacts
Date of this Version
6-21-2011
Included in
Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons, Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons