What happens to the environment when drought happens?

Answer 1

There are numerous effects of drought on the environment.

Drought does the following:

• increases the danger of bushfires, duststorms and other drought-related natural disasters
• land degradation - as plants die off, winds can quickly strip the land of topsoil; the natural habitat of native animals is damaged and some may not survive; wetlands and lakes may dry up
• increased desertification, i.e. once fertile land becomes desert, a situation from which the land rarely recovers
• causes people to relocate, thus contributing to the death of towns
• causes death to native animals, not only from lack of food and water, but also because drought can drive introduced species such as foxes and feral cats, which tend to be hardier than the native animals, to kill more native animals in the quest to survive.
• droughts may be linked to a rise in temperature which may bring insects like locusts in plague proportions