Water is a very basic necessity for the survival of life on earth. Imagine life with insufficient amount of water, it will be impossible to do the daily activities of cleaning, cooking, drinking etc. Life will turn out to be a miserable chaos. Water cycle has helped in maintaining the quantity of water on the surface of earth. About 50 litres of water is needed per day per person in order to sustain a healthy life. There are many areas where people do not receive this basic quantity of water.
Areas that do not receive adequate amount of rainfall and have dry soil suffer from droughts. Whereas areas which receive heavy rainfall and have marshy soil generally get flooded. Floods and droughts are contrary concepts.
Causes and Effects of Floods
The amount of rainfall received by an area varies from one place to another depending on the location of the place. In some places it rains almost throughout the year whereas in other places it might rain for only a few days. India records most of its rainfall in the monsoon season. Rains are a big relief after the hot and sunny days of summers. The growth of crops is also dependent on the arrival of monsoons. However, excess rainfall is disadvantageous in many ways. Heavy rains lead to rise in the water level of rivers, seas and oceans. Water gets accumulated in the coastal areas which results in floods. These floods cause extensive damage to crops, domestic animals, property and human life. During floods, many animals get carried away by the force of water and eventually die.
Causes of Droughts and its Effects
If it does not rain for a long period of time, what will happen? The soil will continuously lose groundwater by the process of evaporation and transpiration. Since this water is not brought back to earth in the form of rains, the soil becomes very dry. The level of water in the ponds and rivers goes down and in some cases water bodies get dried up completely. Groundwater becomes scarce and this leads to droughts. In drought conditions it is very difficult to get food and fodder for the survival. Life gets difficult and many animals perish in such conditions.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
What are the effects of flood?
Floods have huge social consequences for individuals and communities. As most people are well aware, the immediate effects of flooding include loss of human life, property damage, crop destruction, livestock loss and deterioration of health conditions due to waterborne diseases.
What are the three effects of drought?
Examples of drought impacts on society include anxiety or depression over economic losses, conflicts when there is insufficient water, lower incomes, fewer recreational activities, higher heat stroke incidents and even loss of human life. Drought conditions can also make wildfire risk significantly higher.
What are the causes and effects of flooding?
Bacteria, moulds and viruses cause disease, cause allergic reactions and begin to do damage to products even after a storm. Floods can disperse massive volumes of water and floating sediments over vast fields, restocking essential soil nutrients to agriculture.
What is the conclusion of drought?
Droughts are a natural phenomenon that no one can stop coming, so we should make it less difficult to brace for the consequences of this natural disaster. There are multiple human and natural system effects of which we should be mindful this force of nature costs.
What are the impacts of water scarcity?
Power plants have to slash electricity output or shut down for a few days while there is water shortage. The decline in power output would trigger a rise in electricity prices & will in turn raise production costs in other industries. Companies who manufacture soft drinks use a lot of water to make them.
The article covers the significant causes and effects of floods and droughts. For any further detail download BYJU’S -The Learning App.
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