Drought risk

Lehner B, Doll P, Alcamo J et al (2006) Estimating the impact of global change on flood and drought risks in Europe a continental, integrated analysis. Clim Change 75 273-299... 

It is likely that the risk of hydrological drought (as a result of precipitation and evaporation trends) will increase, in particular in summer in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean. 

The available water resources are linked to human health in several ways water for drinking, hygiene, recreational activities and food production. As water resources decrease as a consequence of droughts or increased demand, the need to use water sources of poor quality appears, and consequently the risk of an increase in the occurrence of outbreaks of infectious diseases related to water can be higher. 

Fire risk Temperature, rainfall, wind, moisture, drought etc. 

Indices of losses caused by natural disasters depend much on the preparedness of the regional population to reduce the risk of losses. The heaviest losses are caused by floods and hurricanes. The spatial distribution of natural disasters is also non-uni-form (Table 7.16). For example, the percentage distribution of natural disasters by type and continent is as follows tropical storms 32%, floods 32%, earthquakes 12%, droughts 10%, other disasters 14% Asia 38%, America 26%, Africa 14%, Europe 14%, and Oceania 8%. 

The risk of crop failure due to drought or pest damage is lower in organic production, mainly due to higher diversity and improved overall soil fertility (soil structure, biological activity etc.). 

Populations affected by a disaster may experience severely diminished environmental conditions that put them at risk for negative health outcomes. Health promotion and disease prevention initiatives must be implemented immediately to protect the health of all affected individuals, including meeting basic physiologic needs in a timely manner to ensure survival. Infectious disease outbreaks will usually occur in the postimpact and recovery phases of a disaster (not during the acute phase), and the risks of epidemics increase if drought, famine, and/or large displacements of people are involved. 

Along with the increase in temperature by 2100 will come a rise in sea level of 15-95 cm.97 Glaciers and islands will shrink. More frequent extreme weather events such as droughts and floods are expected. A 1-m rise in sea level would threaten half of Japan s industrial areas. An estimated 118 million people may be at risk from the rising sea level.98 Many species of plants and animals will have to... 

There are weather and climatic risks but these are the same for organic producers as for non-conventional farmers, and for farmers without irrigation, there is always the risk of drought. However, some organic farmers thought that they could withstand droughts better because of their investment in soil quality which allows their soils to hold water better than their conventional counterparts. 

The water supply for a sprinkler system must be reliable, automatic, capable of supplying the flow of water at the appropriate pressure and not subject to freezing or drought. The supply source can be town mains, automatic pumped, elevated private reservoir, gravity tank or pressure tank. Where pumps are used at least two must be installed, one working and one spare, from separate power supplies, e.g. electric and diesel, and automatic start-up. The water within the system must be free from debris which may block the sprinkler heads. The amount of water and its pressure is a function of the hazard rating of the fire risk and is given in Table 25.9. 

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