The limiting factor in almost all forms of production in the arid zones is water, for ‘arid zone’ means areas where rainfall is somewhere below 600 mm/yr (although aridity also depends on potential evapotranspiration). Almost as much of a problem as the amount of water, however, is the precariousness of supply, for good years can tempt expansion, and bad years ruin hopes.
The worst recent drought in the African Sahel was in 1984, when millions had to migrate and many died. Its effect was so catastrophic partly because it came after a sequence of dry years that began in the late 1960s, before which there had been nearly two decades of rainfall that had been above the long-term average (Glantz, 1987). In the last few decades other serious droughts have been experienced in northeast Brazil, Australia, and southern Africa. The problem is getting worse because of the greater demands being placed on water supplies as population expands.
The reliability of rainfall is strongly related to the...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Beaumont, P., 1989, Environmental Management and Development in Drylands. London: Routledge, 505 pp.
Blaikie, P. M., 1985, The Political Economy of Soil Erosion. London: Longman, 188 pp.
Cooke, R. U., Brunsden, D., Doornkamp, J. C., and Jones, D. K.C., 1982. Urban Geomorphology in Drylands. Tokyo: United Nations University, and London: Oxford University Press, 324 pp.
Glantz, M. H. (ed.), 1987. Drought and Hunger in Africa: Denying Famine a Future. New York: Cambridge University Press, 457 pp.
Heathcote, R. L., 1983. The Arid Lands: Their Use and Abuse. London: Longman, 323 pp.
Johnson, D. H., and Anderson, D. M. (eds), 1988. The Ecology of Survival: Case Studies from Northeast African History. London: Lester Cook, 339 pp.
Sandford, S., 1983. Management of Pastoral Development in the Third World. Chichester: Wiley, 316 pp.
Western, D., and Finch, V., 1986. Cattle and pastoralism: survival and production in arid lands. Human Ecol., 14, 77–94.
Worster, D., 1979. Dust Bowl: the Southern High Plains in the 1930s. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 277 pp.
Cross-references
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this entry
Cite this entry
Warren, A. (1999). Arid zone management and problems. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_21
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-74050-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4494-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive