The Water Cycle And Water Insecurity

Question 1

What is a drought?

Answer 1

A period of below average precipitation in a given region resulting in prolonged shortages in water supply

Question 2

What is water scarcity?

Answer 2

When the demand for clean fresh water exceeds the available supply

Question 3

Why is drought called a creeping hazard?

Answer 3

As drought has a long period of onset so it is hard to tell if its just a dry period or drought

Question 4

What are the four types of drought?

Answer 4

Socio-economic drought
Hydrological drought
Agricultural drought
Meteorological drought

Question 5

What is Meteorological drought?

Answer 5

Occurs when actual rainfall in an area is significantly lower than then climatological mean of that area

Question 6

What is agricultural drought?

Answer 6

Lack of sufficient moisture in the surface soil layers to support crop and forage growth

Question 7

What are indicators of agricultural drought?

Answer 7

Precipitation (reduced)
Temperature (increased)
Soil moisture (reduced)

Question 8

What is socioeconomic drought?

Answer 8

Demand for an economic good exceeds supply as a result of a weather related deficit in water supply

Question 9

What is hydrological drought?

Answer 9

The effects of periods of precipitation (including snowfall) shortfalls on the surface or subsurface water supply (reservoir, lake levels)

Question 10

What are the three atmospheric cells?

Answer 10

Hadley
Ferrel polar

Question 11

What is an example of an extreme meteorological drought?

Answer 11

ENSO
El Niño southern oscillation
2003 European drought

Question 12

What are the three phases of El Niño?

Answer 12

Neutral phase (normal)
El Niño (negative phase)
La Niña (positive phase)

Question 13

What is neutral ENSO like?

Answer 13

Trade winds blow from S.Am to AUS (easterly trade winds)
Warm surface water advected to western side of basin
Evaporation higher at area of warm water pool (west/ AUS)
More warm wet air near AUS
Air rises, cools and condenses
Rainfall over AUS coastal regions
Atmospheric divergence over AUS
Cold dry air sinks over AUS and S.Am
Upwelling near S.Am

Question 14

What is upwelling?

Answer 14

When the warm water sinks by Australia it becomes cold and dense it moves towards S.Am and then rises to replace moving warm water

Question 15

What is the positive of Neutral phase for S.Am/

Answer 15

Upwelling makes nutrient rich water that is good for fishing

Question 16

What are conditions like for El Niño?

Answer 16

Weakening of easterly trade winds (reversal- extreme)
Trade winds don’t reach AUS
Warmer water centred in centre of equatorial pacific
Evaporation is higher in this area (warm air rises, cools ,condenses)
Rainfall
Air sinks over AUS causing dry coastal conditions
Weaker upwelling

Question 17

What are conditions like for La Niña?

Answer 17

Stronger then normal easterly trade winds
Warm water advected closer to the Australian coast
normal rain production processes
Rainfalls just more inland then neutral phase
Flooding in AUS
Atmospheric divergence
Cold dense air sinks over S.Am leading to dry/arid conditions
Good commercial fishing in S.Am
Very strong upwelling

Question 18

How does ENSO affect the globe?

Answer 18

Heats up equatorial Atlantic
Increasing chance of storms as water might more readily reach 26.5*c needed for hurricanes

Question 19

What were the impacts on Australian climate from El Niño? (2014-16)

Answer 19

Counteracted by warm temp in Indian Ocean causing above average rainfall
Spring 2015 Australias third driest spring
Fewer clouds and less tropical rain resulted in mot severe coral bleaching on record
Bushfire season started earlier
Less rainfall
Increased temperature
Increased frost risk
Later monsoon onset
Increased fire risk

Question 20

What were the effects on the South American climate from El Niño? (2014-16)

Answer 20

September and December 2015 were generally dry
South east Brazil experienced extreme drought in 2015
Above average temperatures and decline in several rivers and reservoirs (Brazil)
Residents had to save water, cutoffs made
South region experienced a period of severe thunder storms causing flooding and homelessness

Question 21

What are the impacts of La Niña on the Australian climate? (2020-22)

Answer 21

Last La Niña was from 2010-12 wettest 2 yrs on record
Widespread flooding
5 tropical cyclones were in the severe category
Above average rainfall
Colder days
More tropical cyclones
Earlier onset of wet season

Question 22

What are the impacts of La Niña on the South American climate?

Answer 22

Positive impact on fishing industry (strong upwelling)
Drought affects coastal regions of Peru and Chile
December to February Brazil is wetter than usual
Higher then average rainfall in central Andes which causes catastrophic flooding

Question 23

What happened in August 2003?

Answer 23

An anticyclone stationed above Western Europe prevented precipitation and led to record high temperatures over sustained periods

Question 24

What type of system is an anticyclone?

Answer 24

High pressure

Question 25

What is the processes of a heatwave?

Answer 25

Anticyclone High pressure No clouds No rain Sunny hot days

Question 26

What areas was most affected by the heat of the 2003 heatwave?

Answer 26

France where temperatures met 40*c for mote than a week in some areas

Question 27

How long was it before there was precipitation in Europe again after the 2003 heatwave?

Answer 27

2 weeks for much of Europe

Question 28

What concerns were raised after the 2003 heatwave?

Answer 28

Anthropogenic climate change was partly the cause of such a severe heat wave

Question 29

What area experienced extensive forest fires in the 2003 heatwave?

Answer 29

Portugal 5% of countryside and 10% of forests were destroyed

Question 30

How many heat related deaths were there in France and Portugal?

Answer 30

France 21000 Portugal 2100

Question 31

What were the effects on agriculture during august 2003?

Answer 31

Crops suffered from drought in Southern Europe

Question 32

How was Wheat affected by the 2003 heatwave?

Answer 32

All reductions France= 20% Italy= 13% UK= 12% EU 10%

Question 33

What one agricultural product increased during the 2003 heatwave?

Answer 33

Grapes

Question 34

Why did the grape market increase?

Answer 34

Heatwave accelerated the ripening Wines from 2003 have exceptional quality (mostly french wine)

Question 35

How did the UK wine benefit form the heatwave?

Answer 35

The uk did quite well in the international wine contests

Question 36

How were livestock affected by the 2003 heatwave?

Answer 36

Many chickens, pigs and cows died

Question 37

What happened to the food market in 2003/04?

Answer 37

Prices increased due to supply and demand being affected

Question 38

How much did the 2003 heatwave cost the EU farmers?

Answer 38

13.1 billion euros

Question 39

What were the social impacts of the 2003 heatwave?

Answer 39

Reservoirs and rivers used for public water supplies and HEP dried up or ran extremely low Hosepipe bans Many peoples older relatives died

Question 40

What happened to nuclear power during the heatwave?

Answer 40

In the UK 2 nuclear power stations had to shut down as cooling water ran out and became too hot

Question 41

What are some examples of drought caused by human factors?

Answer 41

The Sahel Recent Australian drought

Question 42

What is the Sahel?

Answer 42

A semi-arid region spanning much of central/ North Africa Covers 11 countries but has become more and more arid and larger over time

Question 43

What has been happening in the Sahel since the 1960’s?

Answer 43

Has been decreasing rainfall levels and droughts are becoming more severe

Question 44

What does an increase in drought mean for the Sahel?

Answer 44

A decrease in crop growth

Question 45

How long. Was the millennium drought?

Answer 45

Lasted for 12 year from 1997-2009 The most severe years were 2001-2009

Question 46

How does the removal of vegetation affect water cycling?

Answer 46

A vegetated environment has high evapotranspiration so all of water returned to the atmosphere A deforested environment has low evapotranspiration so water doesn’t return to atmosphere as readily

Question 47

What are the purely physical causes of drought in the Sahel?

Answer 47

El Niño event can increase drought as it brings a easterly wind which added to drying conditions Particularly affects western Sahel La Niña also seems to interrupt rainfall (2011)

Question 48

What are the human and physical causes of drought in the Sahel?

Answer 48

Pollution in Europe and North America changed the heat budget and atmospheric circulation so tropic storms linked to ITZC don’t arrive as it shifts south NOAA suggests higher sea surface temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change Rain bearing winds of Sahel fall if the sea surface is warmer than average

Question 49

What are the humans causes of drought in the Sahel?

Answer 49

High poverty rates and low development rates which mean high population growth rates Lack of energy resources mean fire wood is main fuel source (reduce tree cover and evap-trans) Land grabbing of most productive land Over grazing

Question 50

How do poverty rates affect drought? In the Sahel

Answer 50

The population grows 2.5-4% a year increasing demand for food meaning land is being over cultivated

Question 51

How does the use of wood as fuel affect drought?

Answer 51

Reduces water recycling and reduction of vegetation cover increasing desertification and drought 40% of an area typical rainfall comes from evapotranspiration

Question 52

How does land grabbing affect drought?

Answer 52

Increases water use and pushes local subsistence farmers out onto more marginal land increasing dry land removal

Question 53

How does overgrazing affect drought?

Answer 53

Caused by population rise (demand) reducing size of grazing land Increasing cattle per square km causing overgrazing and lack of vegetation to hold moisture

Question 54

Where was the most affected area of Australia? (Drought)

Answer 54

Below average to record low rainfall across much of southwest and south east Australia

Question 55

What were the physical causes of the millennium drought?

Answer 55

ENSO was one of the main contributing factors ITZC which is a fluctuating band of Rain fall between the tropics that is slowly shifting north away from Australia

Question 56

How do humans contribute to the millennium drought?

Answer 56

Murray darling basin the water channel was being over abstracted for irrigation of water intensive crops like rice.

Question 57

What were the environmental impacts of the millennium drought?

Answer 57

Oxygen levels decreased due to over abstraction of water and algae dying so fish populations dwindled Cattle culled for going on peoples land for water or just dying from dehydration Largest recorded mangrove die back Wildfires destroying vegetation and animal habitats

Question 58

What were the social impacts of the millennium drought?

Answer 58

Low rainfall in growing period led to crop failures Had to import food so food prices increased for the whole country Water restrictions enforced (4 minute showers) Rural populations fund it hard to access clean drinking water and staple foods

Question 59

What were the economic impacts of the millennium drought?

Answer 59

Food prices increased due to importing large amounts of food Agricultural income fell by 46.2% Agricultural employment reduced by 100,000 Price of livestock goods increased Ships had difficulty managing reduced flow channels Payment for water transport