North American Droughts

North American Droughts PDF Author: Norman J. Rosenberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429727372
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
Recognizing drought as a characteristic feature of the North American climate, the contributors to this volume seek to organize available evidence of both prehistoric and modern drought events and to provide information on the severity of droughts, especially those which have occurred since weather records have been kept. The impacts of modern-era droughts on production and the potential impact of future droughts on the productivity of North American agriculture are examined. The authors explore the effeats of past droughts on the social, cultural, and political life of the population; the possible effects of drought on today's energy- and techno logy-intensive society; and the ramifications of drought for the national economy. The social and political strategies that local, state, and federal governments may use to meliorate the effects of drought are also considered, as are some possible technological defenses against drought—weather modification, expanded irrigation, new techniques of water harvesting and storage, and new agronomic adaptations. Finally, the critical question of whether future droughts can be forecast is examined.

North American Droughts

North American Droughts PDF Author: Norman J. Rosenberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429727372
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 147

Get Book Here

Book Description
Recognizing drought as a characteristic feature of the North American climate, the contributors to this volume seek to organize available evidence of both prehistoric and modern drought events and to provide information on the severity of droughts, especially those which have occurred since weather records have been kept. The impacts of modern-era droughts on production and the potential impact of future droughts on the productivity of North American agriculture are examined. The authors explore the effeats of past droughts on the social, cultural, and political life of the population; the possible effects of drought on today's energy- and techno logy-intensive society; and the ramifications of drought for the national economy. The social and political strategies that local, state, and federal governments may use to meliorate the effects of drought are also considered, as are some possible technological defenses against drought—weather modification, expanded irrigation, new techniques of water harvesting and storage, and new agronomic adaptations. Finally, the critical question of whether future droughts can be forecast is examined.

Review of the Draft Fourth National Climate Assessment

Review of the Draft Fourth National Climate Assessment PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309471699
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
Climate change poses many challenges that affect society and the natural world. With these challenges, however, come opportunities to respond. By taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, the risks to society and the impacts of continued climate change can be lessened. The National Climate Assessment, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a mandated report intended to inform response decisions. Required to be developed every four years, these reports provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of climate change impacts available for the United States, making them a unique and important climate change document. The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report reviewed here addresses a wide range of topics of high importance to the United States and society more broadly, extending from human health and community well-being, to the built environment, to businesses and economies, to ecosystems and natural resources. This report evaluates the draft NCA4 to determine if it meets the requirements of the federal mandate, whether it provides accurate information grounded in the scientific literature, and whether it effectively communicates climate science, impacts, and responses for general audiences including the public, decision makers, and other stakeholders.

The West Without Water

The West Without Water PDF Author: B. Lynn Ingram
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520268555
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
"Documents the tumultuous climate of the American West over twenty thousand years, with tales of past droughts and deluges and predictions about the impacts of future climate change on water resources."--Back cover.

Atmospheric Rivers

Atmospheric Rivers PDF Author: F. Martin Ralph
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030289060
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
This book is the standard reference based on roughly 20 years of research on atmospheric rivers, emphasizing progress made on key research and applications questions and remaining knowledge gaps. The book presents the history of atmospheric-rivers research, the current state of scientific knowledge, tools, and policy-relevant (science-informed) problems that lend themselves to real-world application of the research—and how the topic fits into larger national and global contexts. This book is written by a global team of authors who have conducted and published the majority of critical research on atmospheric rivers over the past years. The book is intended to benefit practitioners in the fields of meteorology, hydrology and related disciplines, including students as well as senior researchers.

Dry Spring

Dry Spring PDF Author: Chris Wood
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
"As it warms, our world is running out of fresh water--fast. Lakes, aquifers and rivers are disappearing, but we consume more water than ever. What will this mean for North Americans? Dry spring shows dramatically how water loss will devastate countless communities over the next 25 years--cities and farms, forests and coastlines, ranches and orchards. The scarcity of water challenges the soaring success of some of our continent's fastest-growing regions: the American Southwest, the arid plains of Western Canada, the cross-border Great Lakes Basin. Yet while unprecedented dryness afflicts such areas as these, violently wet storms pummel many others. And drought and flooding will only worsen over time. In years to come, Canada will get more water and the U.S. less; Wood demonstrates provocatively what this will mean for political relations. He concludes with inspiring examples of choices we can all make that will help us preserve our water for future generations."--Book jacket.

The North American Drought Monitor

The North American Drought Monitor PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781100258171
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 2

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Book Description


Remote Sensing of Drought

Remote Sensing of Drought PDF Author: Brian D. Wardlow
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1439835578
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 487

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Book Description
Remote Sensing of Drought: Innovative Monitoring Approaches presents emerging remote sensing-based tools and techniques that can be applied to operational drought monitoring and early warning around the world. The first book to focus on remote sensing and drought monitoring, it brings together a wealth of information that has been scattered throughout the literature and across many disciplines. Featuring contributions by leading scientists, it assembles a cross-section of globally applicable techniques that are currently operational or have potential to be operational in the near future. The book explores a range of applications for monitoring four critical components of the hydrological cycle related to drought: vegetation health, evapotranspiration, soil moisture and groundwater, and precipitation. These applications use remotely sensed optical, thermal, microwave, radar, and gravity data from instruments such as AMSR-E, GOES, GRACE, MERIS, MODIS, and Landsat and implement several advanced modeling and data assimilation techniques. Examples show how to integrate this information into routine drought products. The book also examines the role of satellite remote sensing within traditional drought monitoring, as well as current challenges and future prospects. Improving drought monitoring is becoming increasingly important in addressing a wide range of societal issues, from food security and water scarcity to human health, ecosystem services, and energy production. This unique book surveys innovative remote sensing approaches to provide you with new perspectives on large-area drought monitoring and early warning.

Drought

Drought PDF Author: Justin Sheffield
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136540407
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Drought is one of the likely consequences of climate change in many regions of the world. Together with an increased demand for water resources to supply the world's growing population, it represents a potentially disastrous threat to water supplies, agriculture and food production, leading to famine and environmental degradation. Yet predicting drought is fraught with difficulty. The aim of this book is to provide a review of the historical occurrence of global drought, particularly during the 20th century and assess the likely potential changes over the 21st century under climate change. This includes documentation of the occurrence and impacts of major 20th century drought events and analysis of the contributing climatic and environmental factors that act to force, prolong and dissipate drought. Contemporary drought is placed in the context of climate variability since the last ice age, including the many severe and lengthy drought events that contributed to the demise of great civilizations, the disappearance of lakes and rivers, and the conversion of forests to deserts. The authors discuss the developing field of drought monitoring and seasonal forecasting and describe how this is vital for identifying emerging droughts and for providing timely warning to help reduce the impacts. The book provides a broad overview of large scale drought, from historic events such as the US Dust Bowl and African Sahel, and places this in the context of climate variability and change. The work is soundly based on detailed research that has looked at drought occurrence over the 20th century, global drought monitoring, modelling and seasonal prediction, and future projections from climate models.

Drought in the United States

Drought in the United States PDF Author: Peter Folger
Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
ISBN: 9781478326809
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Book Description
Drought is a natural hazard with potentially significant societal, economic, and environmental consequences. Public policy issues related to drought range from how to identify and measure drought to how best to prepare for, respond to, and mitigate drought impacts, and who should bear such costs. This report provides information relevant to drought policy discussions by describing the physical causes of drought, drought history in the United States, examples of regional drought conditions, and policy challenges related to drought. What is drought? Drought is commonly defined as a lack of precipitation over an extended period of time, usually a season or more, relative to some long-term average condition. While the technology and science to predict droughts have improved, regional predictions remain limited to a few months in advance. History suggests that severe and extended droughts are inevitable and part of natural climate cycles. What causes drought? The physical conditions causing drought in the United States are increasingly understood to be linked to sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Studies indicate that cooler-than-average SSTs have been connected to the severe western drought in the first decade of the 21st century, severe droughts of the late 19th century, and precolonial North American “megadroughts.” The 2011 severe drought in Texas is thought to be linked to La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean. What is the future of drought in the United States? The prospect of extended droughts and more arid baseline conditions in parts of the United States could suggest new challenges to federal water projects, which were constructed largely on the basis of 20th century climate conditions. Some studies suggest that the American West may be transitioning to a more arid climate, possibly resulting from the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, raising concerns that the region may become more prone to extreme drought it was in the 20th century. Some models of future climate conditions also predict greater fluctuations in wet and dry years. California's 2007-2009 drought exacerbated ongoing tensions among competing water uses. While drought is most common in California and the Southwest, drought also can exacerbate water tensions in other regions. For example, the 2007-2008 drought in the Southeast heightened a long-standing dispute in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River (ACF) basin. Both California and the ACF are again experiencing drought conditions, as are the Rio Grande and Upper Colorado River basins. What are some drought policy challenges? Although the impacts of drought can be significant nationally as well as regionally, comprehensive national drought policy does not exist. Developing such a policy would represent a significant challenge because of split federal and non-federal responsibilities, the existing patchwork of federal drought programs, and differences in regional conditions and risks. While a comprehensive national policy has not been enacted, Congress has considered and acted upon some of the recommendations issued by the National Drought Policy Commission in 2000. In coming years, Congress may review how federal agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation respond to droughts. Congress may also assess other federal programs or choose to reassess the National Drought Policy Commission's recommendations.

Technocrats and the Politics of Drought and Development in Twentieth-Century Brazil

Technocrats and the Politics of Drought and Development in Twentieth-Century Brazil PDF Author: Eve E. Buckley
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469634317
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
Eve E. Buckley’s study of twentieth-century Brazil examines the nation’s hard social realities through the history of science, focusing on the use of technology and engineering as vexed instruments of reform and economic development. Nowhere was the tension between technocratic optimism and entrenched inequality more evident than in the drought-ridden Northeast sertão, plagued by chronic poverty, recurrent famine, and mass migrations. Buckley reveals how the physicians, engineers, agronomists, and mid-level technocrats working for federal agencies to combat drought were pressured by politicians to seek out a technological magic bullet that would both end poverty and obviate the need for land redistribution to redress long-standing injustices.