the.com/drought
the slow-motion disaster that shows up by doing absolutely nothing at all
means A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, long enough to dry out the land, starve crops, and shrink the water supply.
from From Old English 'drūgath,' meaning dryness, built on the root 'drūg-' (dry) — the same dry ancestor that gives us 'drought' and, through related Germanic stock, 'drought's' near-twin 'drouth' and the everyday word 'dry' itself. The '-th' ending is the old noun-maker that also turns 'warm' into 'warmth' and 'deep' into 'depth,' so 'drought' is literally 'dry-ness' worn down by centuries of use.
- earth lifts
- Severe droughts make ground rise as water weight vanishes
- shipwrecks surface
- Falling water levels expose lost wrecks and ruins
- dust bowl
- 1930s drought displaced millions across the American plains
- longest known
- Chile's Atacama went 400 years without rain in spots
- flood risk
- Hardened drought soil sheds rain, worsening flash floods
dust bowl — american great plains, 1930s, caused massive crop failure and migration of 2.5 million people
horn of africa drought — ethiopia, kenya, somalia 2011, killed 260,000 people and affected 10 million
murray-darling basin drought — australia 1997-2009, reduced river flow by 40% and devastated agriculture across three states
california drought — 2012-2016, worst in 1,200 years, depleted groundwater reserves by 201 billion gallons annually