Drought

How it is used

Used in hydrology, agriculture and climate reports. Droughts can be severe, prolonged or recurring; regions suffer from, face or are hit by drought. Related words are water scarcity, water stress and drought-resistant crops. An area badly affected is drought-stricken or drought-hit.

Example sentences

1. Last year's drought cut wheat yields in the region by almost a third.

2. After two dry winters, reservoir levels are at a ten-year low and the city has declared a drought alert.

Common collocations

• severe drought
• prolonged drought
• drought conditions
• drought-resistant crops
• be hit by drought

Related terms

• extreme weatherWeather that is much more severe than usual for a place and time of year, such as heatwaves, very heavy rain, floods, droughts and strong storms.
• heatwaveA period of several days of unusually hot weather for a particular place and season, often with high night-time temperatures as well.
• adaptationChanges in how people, cities, businesses and ecosystems work so that they can cope with the current and expected effects of climate change.
• climate riskThe possibility that climate change, or the policies and market changes it brings, will cause financial losses or other harm to a company, investor, community or asset.
• water footprintThe total volume of fresh water used to produce a product, or used by a person, company or country, including the water used along the whole supply chain.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• drought · Agriculture

More terms: Climate Change and Climate Science

• climate change
• global warming
• greenhouse effect
• sea level rise
• IPCC
• pre-industrial levels
• tipping point
• ocean acidification