HOW A DROUGHT COMES ABOUT: Drought doesn't have a single cause; rather, it happens as several contributing factors converge all at once. But the most immediate cause is high atmospheric pressure. When the air sinks, producing high pressure, this keeps clouds from forming, so there is less humidity and therefore less rainfall. This is often seasonal in many regions of the world, but the Sahara and Kalahari deserts in Africa, and Asia's Gobi desert, for example, experience high pressure for most of the year. How long a drought lasts depends on how the air and sea interact to transfer moisture to the air, and how much moisture the soil retains in a given region, among other factors.
NOT-SO-THIRSTY PLANTS FOR LANDSCAPING (may vary with climate):
- Salvias
- Seddum
- Black-eyed Susans
- Coreopsis
- Coneflowers
- Ornamentalư grasses
TIPS FOR SAVING WATER:
- Turn off the faucet while shaving or brushing your teeth
- Wash only full loads of dishes and laundry
- Fix dripping and leaking faucets and toilets
- Take shorter showers
- Wash cars less frequently
- Keep fire hydrants closed
- Raise your lawn mower blade height; longer grass needs less water
The American Geophysical Union contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report