What are the causes of drought?

Answer 1

Many things cause global warming. One thing that causes global warming is electrical pollution. Electricity causes pollution in many ways, some worse than others. In most cases, fossil fuels are burned to create electricity. Fossil fuels are made of dead plants and animals. Some examples of fossil fuels are oil and petroleum. Many pollutants (chemicals that pollute the air, water, and land) are sent into the air when fossil fuels are burned. Some of these chemicals are called greenhouse gasses.

We use these sources of energy much more than the sources that give off less pollution. Petroleum, one of the sources of energy, is used a lot. It is used for transportation, making electricity, and making many other things. Although this source of energy gives off a lot of pollution, it is used for 38% of the United States' energy.

Some other examples of using energy and polluting the air are:

Turning on a light

Watching T.V.

Listening to a stereo

Washing or drying clothes

Using a hair dryer

Riding in a car

Heating a meal in the microwave

Using an air conditioner

Playing a video game

Using a dish washer

Answer 2

Columbia University scientists have linked recent water shortages in the northeastern United States with human activities.

"Researchers at The Earth Institute say the recent water emergencies in some northeastern states resulted from more than just dry weather. They found droughts had a more direct, human cause called demand-driven drought.

A recent study, conducted by Bradfield Lyon of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Nicholas Christie-Blick of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Yekaterina Gluzberg from the university's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, examined precipitation variability and drought in Rockland County, N.Y., over the last 100 years.

The scientists discovered factors such as development, population growth and failing water supply systems played as significant a role as climate in creating the water emergencies.

"The balance between water demand and supply is now so finely tuned that even a few months of lower than normal precipitation is sufficient to trigger an emergency," said Christie-Blick.

The research appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Water Resources Association."