Case study of Drought
Case Study: Southern Britain 1976 – An MEDC example
The drought was more than a long hot summer; it was a long sustained period of heavy rainfall and so fits the category of a drought
From the 23rd June onwards for the nest two weeks the temperature exceeded 32°C. Milton Abbas, Dorset had 45 days with no measurable rainfall.
The mean air pressure in Southern England was five millibars above the average, high pressure was constant on the British isles because of the sea surface anomalies in the Atlantic and intensification in the mid latitude westerly area of the Pacific.
The result of this was that many suffered from ill health and caused some forest fires.
The Sahel, Central Africa (1965 to present) – An LEDC example
Thousands of people have died as a result of the extended drought throughout the huge semi-arid transition zone between the Sahara Desert and Equatorial Africa. Nomadic herdsmen have suffered famine, starvation, dislocation, and political strife as a result of the drought. Some 200,000 have died in Ethiopia, along with countless cattle. Other meteorologists think the drought is only a local phenomenon caused by land over-usage. The drought was caused by cattle and goat herds, which stripped away plants and increasing ground reflectivity. This caused more sunlight to be radiated into space. This atmospheric reheating produced dry, hot air layers above the ground, drying it out and discouraging rain cloud formation.
What are the different types of drought?
This diagram shows that drought is indeed a term to describe many differing types of drought.
When rainfall is well below average the discharge levels will be decreased and the only factor maintaining water will be the groundwater flow. As I have shown it has serious affects on irrigation and other water uses such as a reservoir which will lose much of its water if the water is not replenished. A lengthy drought will cause rivers to dry up, destroying wetland habitats but more importantly water for those living nearby. During the UK drought of 1976 a hosepipe ban was introduced, in an African country such as Ethiopia the remedy is far harder to come by as reliance on the nearby river is far greater.
Human Impacts of Droughts are affected by 5 factors:
This is the routine that should be adopted when a country is threatened by drought, America use this when their Southern states such as Texas are affected.
This detailed map of a drought is exactly why America will never suffer a famine. Their superior technology can detect any hint of drought and can act accordingly using the instructions on the previous page. Poorer countries cannot afford to implement such technology so forecasting is harder which means the appropriate action is not taken resulting in famine.
This is the projected results of a drought in Texas, America. Although the effects are economically damaging to the local area, no one will suffer from a famine and no lives will be lost. Had this same table be drawn up for Eritrea it would have to include number of deaths too?
Desertification
Desertification is a human causation and is also a contributor to famine. It is caused by humans destroying land of biological potential and leaving it ‘desertified’ i.e. a desert like setting.
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Case Study for desertification; Karoo, South Africa
The great semi-arid area stretching eastwards from the Cape is called the Karoo. It is flat dry shrub land. There is less than 500 mm a year rainfall, with many areas far less than this. There have been many droughts, most recently, 1962 – 1973.
To aid the rural economy, the South African government subsidized farmers, in an attempt to replicate the successes of European agricultural methods; this led to farmers buying more livestock and overgrazing the land, leading to unsustainable development.
What’s more much of the water had dried up leading to further scarcity, as the land became drier, the types of shrubbery changed, this vegetation, however was not desired by livestock.
As the land became harder and less vegetation grew, surface runoff caused soil erosion, further damaging the plight of livestock, particularly sheep.
If this is the case, the desertification of the Karoo is an indictment of the introduction and development of European farming systems in fragile semi-arid landscapes that are subject to drought.
What are the factors which influence famine?
How responsible are Western Nations for worldwide famine?
Rome 1996, the UN met and large and exciting targets were agreed upon to help famine stricken countries – to halve the amount of undernourished people (to 400 million) by 2015 pledging $60 billion. As early as 1998 an FAO report concluded ‘progress is not being made any near the required targets.’
It now appears that this target will be met by 2030, the report concluded ‘people cannot wait another 15 years.)
Leaders of the free world were due to meet again in 2001, however due to the new international situation, the meeting has been postponed. This could have a negative effect on aiding the famine situation, particularly now as Western powers are diverting money to wars such as Iraq and Afghanistan, which are costing billions of pounds, and are perceived to be more important.
This table was taken from ‘State of the World 2004’ from the Worldwatch institute, it clearly shows that Western culture is not doing enough to help those who are less fortunate, hunger being a major issue. I would argue that the West is also culpable for famine in an indirect way for not doing enough to alleviate world hunger or improve their economies.
This outlines what is most needed by a country or community to be handle a drought, notice they do not include huge handouts of aid, as this has proved to be only a short termed and short sighted approach. Investment needs to be made in schools, health, science and infrastructure to relieve a nation struck by famine.
Case Study – Darfur, Sudan
Fighting within Darfur Sudan is set to quash international efforts to prevent the region from famine that could take millions of lives, according to the UN relief co-coordinator, Jan Egeland. When the UN tried to send helicopters containing relief foods they were attacked by rebels and government endorsed militia. It has culminated in withdrawal of aid until protection is guaranteed.
Only a year ago a similar famine threat was warned and appropriate action was taken by the international community to prevent it, with 4 million predicted to die according to Egeland, "now it is time to say we may not perhaps be able to do so in the coming months if the situation keeps on deteriorating as it has," with regard to resistance fighting.
Due to Darfur’s limited supplies rebels have risen to fight the government, leading to more loss of life and genocide through violent means. 70,000 people have died thus far from war and 2 million have lost their homes.
The international community needs to contribute $650 million in cash to keep humanitarian aid workers functioning in Darfur.
This is a very significant case study with regard to the title as it shows that famine is not just a physical problem. Famines have and can be anticipated and controlled by humans; however fighting and corrupt governments mean that famine still continues to happen despite the will of the international community to help.
Case study 2 – Ethiopia
This case study is another example of how famine is not purely physical and requires human subsistence and support in conjunction with the natural world to relieve it.
Ethiopia is one of the world’s poorest nations with an average annual per capita of $100 million.
Save the Children has predicted that 4 million Ethiopians would die each year if no food aid was given. They recommend efforts to bring out the 70 million people who are in poverty rather than to give handouts when a famine is threatened.
Aaronson, a member of the group feels there is a ‘lack of political will,’ he does however applaud efforts such as Band Aid, when in 1984 they raised 10 million dollars for starving Ethiopians.
Aaronson went as far to say that the manor of which aid is given may have compounded the hardship and poverty rather than relieved it.
He favors a more sustainable approach to ensure long term growth, suggesting investments in education, health and social welfare.
“A great deal of money has gone into keeping people alive with food aid,” Aaronson said. “However, in comparison, the sum invested in longer-term development to lift Ethiopia out of the cycle of poverty has been paltry.”
Annual water withdrawals, per capita of selected countries per capita ‘State of the World 2004’ from the Worldwatch institute.
The table shows a clear disparity of usage of water, Ethiopians at an alarmingly low level and likewise the United States alarmingly high. On top of this, Africa has a 36% share of the population without access to safe drinking water and 40% with a lack of acceptable sanitation.
Case Study 3: North Korea
North Korea has had major food shortages of its 22 million inhabitants. So broken is the economy that one third of all its food is donated, due to the corrupt government they refuse foreign aid from major nations such as the United States which has further worsened the situation.
In the mid to late 90’s a devastating famine claimed the lives of around 1 million. Why does this occur? The country has a short growing season which means food is scarce and there is little to trade with. What’s more the country is underdeveloped and thus has a poor distribution and trade system; recent economic reforms in the communist system have made food more expensive, and promise to boost the economy only in the long term. Due to the North Koreans uncooperative attitude to the international community culminating in the building of nuclear warheads, contributors such as America, South Korea and Japan, which make up for 90% of the aid given has been severely curtailed. Food levels are alarming low and the consequences would be catastrophic for the people. In 2002, America gave 155,000 tons of food that has dropped to 40,000 tons, although the Bush administration claims they are not using aid as a weapon, they also claim that they there are other more friendly and cooperative countries that America would rather help. Unfortunately the only people that are punished are the innocent civilians of a nation with a brute leader.
Likewise, Japan has suspended 10 billion dollars worth of aid and South Korea has cancelled all oil shipments, crippling the country, conditions for this package to be restored is to cancel all nuclear weapons programs.
An ensuing famine could not come at a worse time, with billions spent on conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as serious famines flaring in Africa.
This case study is a classic example of famine occurring due to irrational and rogue governments who have no social responsibility for their people and again is an artificial way of bringing about a famine.
We can see from these three examples that famine is far more than a physical symptom, there is also a huge human burden to carry when a famine occurs, I would go as far to say that every famine in the world is easily avoidable if all nations could come together using humanitarian aid, as was seen in Band Aid 1984, I would therefore conclude that famines root cause is natural, however beyond the core basis of famine it is human responsibility which can prevent it.
Why does Africa suffer from famine more than any other continent?
A recent Guardian article by Paul Harris rightly states that ‘famines rarely occur in countries with a free press and elected governments.’ He looks at Eritrea where there is a one party state, and when in 2001 journalists and politicians called for democracy where arrested and are still in jail without any due process, all independent newspapers have been closed down. The fit and able that may be able to work well and cultivate the land are conscripted in the army for 3 years or more following a boarder war with Ethiopia. The country is littered with 3 million mines making cultivation a very dangerous activity and causes much harm.
The Malawian government sold the states grain reserves and stole the money, with 166,000 tones of maize going to senior politicians. The main culprit of this was Leonard Mangulama, the minister for alleviating poverty.
Zimbabwe has 7 million who suffer from famine as a result of his brutal regime against white farmers, as they die he bought a fleet of Mercedes and had a huge birthday for his wife and on the state owned newspaper on the front cover was he feeding cake to his wife.
What’s more the aids situation is making the Africans weaker and so more susceptible to famine with around 30 million diagnosed.
Africa is caught in a vicious cycle. The droughts, floods and HIV epidemic have led to an increasing dependency on aid, which is flowing into the continent in ever greater amounts. Food aid is now a focus of life. Now in rural Malawi, parents choose which school to send their children to, not due to its quality, but whether it benefits from free food for pupils.
Many aid workers and those in government are unhappy about this. All agree that the key to breaking the cycle of disaster and relief is sustainable development to help Africans feed themselves in hard times. That does not mean a future of endlessly sending sacks of maize to feed the hungry; it means improved farming methods, cheaper fertilizer, deeper wells, education for all and an end to corruption.
I would conclude from this section that famine in Africa is almost entirely human induced, whether it is the corrupt governments who do not care for their people, Western governments for contributed so much to Global Warming or the people themselves for not adopting the appropriate agriculture techniques.
This is a useful diagram as it shows where the main areas of famine in the last thirty years in the continent of Africa. It is also relevant to the question as it shows that many of the areas of major conflicts are also areas where there has been famine. For example, Sudan and Zimbabwe. This provides evidence that famine is far more than a physical
problem.