What Are Droughts And Sandstorms?

Droughts are prolonged periods of rain. A drought may last a week or even several years, as in the Sahel region of the sub- Sahara in Africa where there is excessive evaporation, great heat and little rain. The presence of unusually warm ocean currents in some parts of the world, such as the well known E1 Nino, cause heat waves and severe droughts as in the Pacific coastlands of the USA and Chile.

Droughts can also be brought by the man himself through such activities as deforestation, overgrazing and unsound farming techniques which denude the ground, erode the soil and eventually turn the whole region into a drought prone district, as in the "Dust Bowl" in the US, where a prolonged drought lasted for eight years, from 1926 to1934.

Sandstorms are masses of loose sand blown upwards into the air by strong winds. The sand particles are seldom raised more than 30 meters and are not carried far from their source, which is usually a desert or semi-arid region. Violent sandstorms can bury farms, houses and even entire villages when the wind strength slackens and the sand particles are deposited on the ground. They can cause great discomfort to people.