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Drought 101: Everything You Need to Know

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09 Nov, 2023

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

Quick Key Facts

  1. A drought happens when little-to-no precipitation occurs in a given area for a considerable time period. A drought can also characterize an area receiving precipitation far below its particular average.
  2. Droughts are ranked on a scale from D0 – D4, with D0 being more of an alert of potential drought and D4 indicating the harshest types of drought.
  3. Droughts can alter an ecosystem’s carbon, nutrient and water cycles, as well as impede plant growth, kill wildlife and open the door for outbreaks of vegetation-harming insects and fungi.
  4. As climate change continues, higher temperatures and heavier rains are expected to increase in frequency and duration, meaning flash floods and droughts could become more common.
  5. Droughts have a negative effect on both chronic and acute human health problems and can exacerbate heat-related concerns. 
  6. Droughts drive wild animals into greater competition for limited food and water, in some cases forcing them to enter human spaces to get the resources they need to survive.
  7. Hydropower production is diminished when water levels decrease, but it isn’t the only energy source that needs stable water availability.
  8. Xeriscaping, or landscaping with plants that don’t need much supplemental watering in your area, is one way to reduce water demand and help mitigate the impact of droughts.
  9. Rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse also help reduce the harm caused by droughts by recycling and repurposing as much water as possible.
  10. Local and state governments can implement water efficiency standards and maximum water use limits to help reduce the impact of active or potential droughts.

What Is a Drought?

A meteorological drought is when there is a severe lack of precipitation in a given area for a notable amount of time. But as the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska explains, whether or not an area is experiencing a drought is “in relation to the average conditions for a region.”

“Meteorological drought is region-specific since precipitation is highly variable from region to region,” the center notes. “For example, a location in Florida may receive more rainfall during a drought than a location in New Mexico receives during an entire year.”

The center notes that there are several other subtypes of droughts, including socioeconomic droughts, which occur when economic activities, like hydroelectric dams, are disrupted because of a lack of water. In parts of the world that rely on wintertime snow to provide water through the following seasons, like in the Upper Missouri River basin of the U.S., snowdroughts can result from lower snowpack totals that subsequently lead to lower water levels.

The Missouri River during a severe drought near Mobridge, South Dakota in 2002. MARLIN LEVISON / Star Tribune via Getty Images

A drought can last as little as a few weeks or as long as a few years. According to the National Weather Service, “there have been at least three major U.S. droughts in the last 100 years,” two of which lasted between five to seven years. The severity of a drought is denoted with a D0 – D4 scale, with D4 being the most intense types of droughts and D0 serving as an alert of potential drought because of abnormally dry conditions.

After lengthy, severe periods of drought, an area can experience desertification, meaning the existing ecosystem transitions to a desert devoid of the plant life it once hosted.

A report issued by the United Nations last year found that the frequency and duration of droughts had increased 29% from 2000  and that up to 75% of the global population could face water shortages at least one month per year by 2050.

How Does Drought Affect an Ecosystem?

An antelope walks through dry grass near the banks of the Great Salt Lake at Antelope Island during a severe drought on Aug. 1, 2021 near Syracuse, Utah. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Naturally, less precipitation means drier conditions throughout an environment. And since water is required for plants to grow and wildlife to survive, droughts have a profound impact on the viability of an ecosystem. The National Integrated Drought Information System says that droughts can interrupt the delicate balance of our carbon, nutrient and water cycles, in addition to stymying plant growth and causing wildlife death or even extirpation, which is the local extinction of a given species.

Those same conditions also lead to dry, infertile soils and vegetation, which when paired with windy days can fuel wildfires, destroying forests and homes.

“Drought and persistent heat set the stage for extraordinary wildfire seasons from 2020 to 2022 across many western states, with all three years far surpassing the average of 1.2 million acres burned since 2016,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

Scientists have also found links between lengthier periods of hot, dry conditions and fungi and insect outbreaks, which in turn further stress or decimate vegetation.

Flames of the Oak Fire approach a meadow with cattle near Midpines, California, during a drought on July 23, 2022. DAVID MCNEW / AFP via Getty Images

How Are Drought and Climate Change Connected?

As climate change continues, higher temperatures are expected to become more common year-round.

“Climate change increases the odds of worsening drought in many parts of the United States and the world,” explains the Center For Climate And Energy Solutions on its website. “Regions such as the U.S. Southwest, where droughts are expected to get more frequent, intense, and longer lasting, are at particular risk.”

Why Aren’t Heavy Rains Welcome After a Drought?

Scientists also see evidence that climate change will continue to bring more intense rain storms. That might initially sound like a good thing, since rain helps restore ecosystems experiencing drought.

But during a drought, soil becomes dry, which after a while means it has a tough time absorbing rainwater. That means that when rains do come after a drought, they can lead to flash floods since the ground is incapable of accepting it. That was the case last summer in the U.S. Southwest, when heavy rainstorms from Arizona to Texas after a period of extreme heat and drought led to flooding.

The Trinity River flows through a flooded area in Dallas, Texas on Aug. 22, 2022. Emil Lippe for The Washington Post

How Does Drought Harm Public Health?

Hot temperatures threaten human health without hydration and cooling measures in place, like shade or air conditioning. In the short term, heat can cause heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heatstroke and hyperthermia and worsen chronic conditions like cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, according to the World Health Organization.

During a drought, the impact of heat on the human body can be amplified by the lack of water for drinking, sanitation and crop production. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also says that air quality can decline during a drought because of an increase in dust and particulate matter that exacerbate chronic and acute respiratory problems.

Around 55 million people suffer from drought conditions every year across the planet, while “as many as 700 million people are at-risk of being displaced as a result of drought by 2030,” the World Health Organization estimates. Certain groups, ranging from athletes and outdoor workers to the poor, pregnant and elderly, are more vulnerable to heat.

How Does Drought Impact Wildlife?

Endangered desert bighorn sheep overlook urban developments abutting their native habitat near Indio, California on Aug. 8, 2023. During recent years of record drought, crucial water sources across the desert have become dangerously diminished. David McNew / Getty Images

Similar to humans, wildlife see their health and comfort levels decline during a drought. Less water means less to drink, but also less food that needs water to grow. That increases competition among different types of animals and animals of the same species that prefer the same food, like insects or plants, but it also means that those creatures may need to travel closer to human communities and infrastructure — like highways — to find enough food to eat.

“With fewer berries and acorns available, bears will eat garbage, grease from barbecues, bird seed and sugar water from hummingbird feeders,” explains the National Environmental Education Foundation. “Raccoons may seek out garden vegetables and pet food.”

And since droughts wipe out vegetation, that reduces the amount of habitat and hiding places for young prey creatures, like deer, elk and birds, the foundation says.

Drought has forced countries like the African nation of Zimbabwe, where dozens of elephants died because of drought within two months back in 2019, to relocate thousands of wild animals to a nature preserve in a different part of the country. In southwest Australia, mass camel culling was authorized in 2020 because drought conditions drove the creatures to drink too much water and enter towns seeking more.

Back in the U.S., an overpopulation of wild horses in the West has exacerbated resource availability problems, leading to an increase in the number that officials have rounded up and sterilized.

How Does Drought Affect Energy Production?

Hydroelectric turbines aren’t as effective during droughts because lower water levels cause lower water pressure, making it harder for the turbines to operate, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System.

But while hydropower facilities may be the most obvious energy production method that would rely on water levels, other sources of electricity also suffer during droughts. Any power plant that uses steam to rotate a turbine will be less efficient during a drought, while hydraulic fracturing and biofuel production both rely on water supplies for their operations.

How Can I Help Mitigate the Impact of Droughts?

Droughts reduce the amount of available water that could be earmarked for communities’ critical needs, like sanitation. Before a drought occurs where you live, there are large and small measures you can take to reduce your water demand. 

Doing anything to generally reduce water demand will help your community before or during a declared drought, but don’t feel discouraged if you can’t immediately make significant changes to your lifestyle. Your overall water consumption is likely nowhere near the excessive amounts that celebrities have been known to use even during droughts.

And local and state governments have the ability to set policies that can impact water availability at a broader scale, like instituting maximum water use levels and water efficiency standards.

Xeriscaping

A garden designed with xeriscaping in Boulder Colorado. Sammy Dallal / Digital First Media / Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images

Xeriscaping is the practice of landscaping an area in a way that requires little or no irrigation, or watering. It’s often deployed in areas with little water because of the water-intensive nature of planting vegetation that requires more water than the local ecosystem can naturally provide. But even though the concept may conjure up images of succulents and desert plants, you can xeriscape even if you don’t live in a community vulnerable to drought and water shortages. The premise is more about water reduction than water elimination. Reach out to your state’s cooperative extension program for information about what local vegetation you can plant on your property to reduce your landscaping water needs. 

Rainwater Harvesting

Depending on how much water your family uses and the size of your property, rainwater harvesting could help you bridge the gap between rain storms. Rainwater harvesting — also known as rainwater or stormwater retention — is a category of equipment that captures and stores rainwater for future use before it pours into the local stormwater or sewage drains. It can range from intentional plantings, like green roofs or rain gardens, to storage systems like cisterns or rain barrels

Greywater Reuse

Similar to rainwater harvesting, reusing greywater involves capturing water that would otherwise head to your town’s storm drains. But while rainwater essentially goes from the clouds to a storage container, greywater is water that has been used in the home for showers, bathtubs, sinks and washing machines, immediately sent into the sewage system after light use. But while you might not want to reuse your children’s bathwater for your shower, that water is suitable for other uses around the home, like watering ornamental plants, car washing or toilet flushing.

Help Collect Data

Knowing when and where droughts occur — as well as how they impact an area — helps experts craft strategies. To that end, the National Drought Mitigation Center suggests joining the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network or other drought impact data collection efforts to help track current trends and different problems that surface as a result of dry conditions.

Follow Water Conservation Alerts and Mandatory Measures

Regardless of whether your area is technically experiencing a drought or not, the American Red Cross recommends you follow any water conservation measures — whether voluntary or mandatory — that your local government puts in place to help the wider community stretch the amount of available, potable water. They also provide a series of their own recommendations as to how you can conserve more water, like using gray water for your plants, plugging up any leaks or drips in your pipes or faucets and covering pools to reduce evaporation.

The post Drought 101: Everything You Need to Know appeared first on EcoWatch.

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Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

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