Droughts| Class 11 Geography Notes

Droughts are a subpart of the Class 11 Geography Chapter Natural Hazards and Disasters: Causes, Consequences, and Management. This subpart describes the Droughts and the different factors related to it. Drought is a natural hazard that happens due to the lack of precipitation for a long time or the water shortage. Droughts can happen due to the lack of snow, changes in the wind patterns, or the loss of enough moisture.

In this article, we are going to discuss the drought and its consequences in detail.

Types of Drought

Drought is a period when a place has the absence of water abnormally for a long time. Here are the different types of drought as mentioned below.

Meteorological Drought

A meteorological drought happens when a place does not receive the average precipitation for a long time. This type of drought can occur due to the high sunlight and above the average of a high-pressure system.

Agricultural Droughts

Agricultural droughts can happen due to the use of excessive water for irrigation. This condition affects the ecology and drastically changes the precipitation levels for the poor soil conditions. Due to this type of drought, erosion can happen which can cause the water shortage for further farming in the leading seasons.

Hydrological Drought

Hydrological drought happens when the water level decreases in the natural water reserves like in streams, reservoirs, and groundwater. This type of drought appears slowly and can not fix them up in the future due to the involvement of the stored water. It is the most severe type of drought which is much more harmful than the loss of rainfall.

Drought in India

Here are some major information about the Drought in India as mentioned below.

• In India, there are so many drought-prone districts. Around 1/6th portion of India falls under the drought-prone area.
• The drought-prone areas always receive rainfall of 60 cm or less per year.
• There are almost 67 districts in India that were identified as prone to droughts.
• 74 % of Indian districts are extremely vulnerable to drought and related consequences.

Consequences of Drought

Let us discuss the Consequences of Drought as mentioned below.

• The drought can cause the short term and long term health issues. The short term droughts create massive illnesses and diseases in humans. On the other hand, long term droughts may cause water shortages and death.
• Drought can change the human lifestyle like hygiene, sanitation, and daily life.
• Drought stress can kill so many plants and reduce the chances of farming.
• Economically drought can kill humans. In this situation, agriculture, food production, and related activities will stop which can lead to economic losses.
• Due to the drought and water shortages, energy production will stop which can pause the whole system.

Drought Prone Area and Vulnerability Zones

There are some Drought Prone Area and Vulnerability Zones as mentioned below.

Extreme Drought Affected Areas

These areas are those places where the rainfall is around 90 mm per year. Marusthali and Kachchh regions of Gujarat and some parts of Jaisalmer fall under this category.

Severe Drought Prone Area

These areas are those places where the rainfall is around 400 mm per year. Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh falls under this category.

Moderate Drought Affected Area

In India, 46 % of areas fall under the Moderate Drought Affected Area. Madhya Pradesh, Chhota Nagpur, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, and Tamil Nadu fall under this category.

People Also View:

• Natural Disasters – Types, Examples, & Effects
• Importance of Water Conservation and Management
• Government Steps to Control Floods and Droughts
• Panama Canal Drought – Causes, Impact, Strategies
• Water Scarcity in India: Causes, Effects & Problems

FAQs on Class 11 Notes Geography Droughts

What is drought Class 11 geography?

Drought is such a period of time when an area or a region is exposed to below-normal precipitation conditions. Drought condition, also known as the Water Drought condition means the lack of necessary precipitation, which is either in the form of rain or snow. This causes the soil to reduce its moisture.

What is drought notes in geography?

Drought can be defined as a relatively long time where there is not enough water than there usually is, as a result of dry weather, to support human, animal and plant life. Droughts become an issue only when it begins to affect water supply for irrigation, municipal, industrial, energy, and ecosystem function.

What are the 5 effects of drought?

Water scarcity, crop failure, famine and hunger – drought provides too little water to support food crops; malnutrition, dehydration and related diseases. Mass migration, resulting in internal displacement and international refugees. Social unrest. War over natural resources, including water and food.

What is drought in India geography?

In parts of India, failure of the monsoons causes water shortages, resulting in poor yields. This is particularly true of major drought-prone regions southeastern Maharashtra, northern Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Telangana, and Rajasthan.

What is an example of a drought?

A drought is defined depending on the average amount of precipitation that an area is accustomed to receiving. For example, in Atlanta, Georgia, the average rainfall is about 127 centimeters (50 inches) a year. If significantly less rain falls, there may be water shortages and a drought may be declared.