What is a drought?
What is a drought? According to a online definition it is "A prolonged period of abnormally low precipitation; a shortage of water resulting from this."
Droughts
The drought in Texas in 2011 was one of the worst drought that the people of Texas has seen. Droughts occur when there is no rainfall for a long period of time. Rain may occur, but it isn't enough for it to touch the ground before it's evaporated again. Most droughts occur in the summer since it's hot and water is evaporated more easily. Droughts will occur in hot areas like Texas since there is a very minimal amount of rainfall.
Effect on Ecosystems and Eco-regions
Droughts can dry out the plant's water. This leads to less food for herbivores, and this leads to less food for carnivores. So the food web is slowly breaking apart. Droughts impact water cycles , and this leads to the lakes drying up. Animals start to lose shelter from droughts. The land isn't fertile which means there is no water. This causes the ground to subside. If you see houses shift or pipes burst, this is happening of the ground starting to subside. The demand for water is way higher, and the roots can't anchor the soil anymore which causes the erosion of topsoil. Droughts immediately cause fish to die, and these killings are reported everywhere throughout Texas. Droughts have increased the risk of wildfires. In 2011, Texas has put a burn ban not allowing any person to start a fire because of the risk of wildfires.
The drought in Texas in 2011 was one of the worst drought that the people of Texas has seen. Droughts occur when there is no rainfall for a long period of time. Rain may occur, but it isn't enough for it to touch the ground before it's evaporated again. Most droughts occur in the summer since it's hot and water is evaporated more easily. Droughts will occur in hot areas like Texas since there is a very minimal amount of rainfall.
Effect on Ecosystems and Eco-regions
Droughts can dry out the plant's water. This leads to less food for herbivores, and this leads to less food for carnivores. So the food web is slowly breaking apart. Droughts impact water cycles , and this leads to the lakes drying up. Animals start to lose shelter from droughts. The land isn't fertile which means there is no water. This causes the ground to subside. If you see houses shift or pipes burst, this is happening of the ground starting to subside. The demand for water is way higher, and the roots can't anchor the soil anymore which causes the erosion of topsoil. Droughts immediately cause fish to die, and these killings are reported everywhere throughout Texas. Droughts have increased the risk of wildfires. In 2011, Texas has put a burn ban not allowing any person to start a fire because of the risk of wildfires.