A Drought Season – Multiple Droughts From the U.S. to China

This summer has seen a sudden influx of droughts and drought warnings worldwide. From the U.S to China, we’ve had multiple droughts everywhere. These droughts have had multiple causes but most can be attributed to low rain and high temperatures. It wont be entirely incorrect if we call the summer season a drought season. With droughts come famine, failing crops, wildfires, and many more problems. There has also been a significant crisis in energy supply in various parts of the world. Most places in the world are unsure on how to deal with this new problem. Places that have cold weather and rain year-round have no infrastructure to deal with droughts. The severity increases in poorer countries that cannot use the same quick fixes that others use. For example, China has taken to cloud seeding, which comes with its own risk, but is a short-term solution. Most countries would be unable to follow this same method.

The droughts are having a rather violent effect on both the power industries and the economies of many countries in general. Companies have quickly come to the conclusion that the only way to survive this and keep their investors sustained is to develop better ways to address this problem. But this cannot happen fast enough; in the meantime, food and energy prices continue to surge as the drought razes farmlands. This drought has had a major effect on China with its many hydroelectric stations. Other sectors such as manufacturing and tourism are also losing major business as the drought continues to rage. According to some sources, a little less than half of all of the U.S cotton crops may fail this year and about a third of the olive harvest across Europe, and Spain is predicted to suffer.

The droughts have also dried up many rivers, which often acted as trade routes, tourist attractions and fueling hydroelectricity. This has affected shipments, and many companies across Europe that used to rely on the rivers are suffering losses with the supply chain dried up. The rivers have also heated up, causing them to be useless for cooling. This means many countries using Nuclear energy can no longer rely on their power plants. The Horn of  Africa horn is also looking at an extended drought like situation considering the continuation of dry spell. Water levels have dropped heavily and the UN has issued warnings.

India, a majorly agrarian economy, has also suffered tremendously under these conditions. Farmers in our northwestern states are being suffocated in this heat as their crops continue to fail. Rainfall has reduced by as much as 44% in Bihar, with other areas reporting similar numbers. The UN warns against remaining immobile against this threat; unless concrete actions are taken, the global populace will continue to suffer under this wave of droughts.