EARTHSC 2GG3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Smog, Overgrazing
31 Oct 2013
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Document Summary
Many hazards are related to weather: floods, hurricanes and nor"easters, thunderstorms and tornadoes, droughts, heat waves, snow and ice. Natural events such as volcanoes can trigger changes in weather patterns that can be hazardous. Prolonged dry climatic event that dramatically lowers available water below that normally used. Definition varies depending on effect on people. Drop in usable water available in reservoirs, in groundwater storage or in stream flow. Timing of precipitation can matter: winter snowpack tends to melts slowly and seep into ground, summer rains tend to run off. Prolonged drought can lead to: migration, social and political upheaval, war. Crops weakened by drought are vulnerable to insect attack. Drought was widespread across us in 2007 (correlated with warm phase of. California, australia (not deserts but hot so can get droughts) Can get this natural event in different areas of planet. Hard to solve problem because money cannot stop a drought.
